This is part 23 of the puzzle series Around the World in Many Days. Each part is solvable on its own.
Dear Puzzling,
This puzzle is a crossword-jigsaw hybrid. Cover the white area of the grid with the given pieces, and then place additional letters into some squares of the central grey area, so that each row and column forms a word fitting the corresponding clue in the list. Some squares will be left empty, and the letters forming a word do not have to be in consecutive squares (there can be empty squares in the middle). Pieces must be used exactly as is, so flipping or rotating is not allowed. No piece may share an edge with another piece of the same type (L, I, T, S and O; coloured for convenience).
Today, I have returned from a 10-day expedition on what used to be a scientific research vessel and currently serves a passenger ship. I have seen penguins, humpback whales, leopard seals, and colonies of seabirds nesting on snow-covered rocks. Can you guess where I am?
Love, Gladys.
Across
1. Skilful, quick (4)
2. Imperial unit of area (4)
3. Plays on words (4)
4. Fully satisfy (4)
5. Military off-road vehicles (7)
6. With more abundant vegetation (6)
7. State bird of California (5)
8. Not urban (5)
9. Sprinter Bolt (5)
10. Bodily fluid produced in the liver (4)
11. Companion animals (4)
12. Multiple elongated fish (4)
Down
1. Disney chipmunk (4)
2. Small woody plant (5)
3. Provide weapons/tools/etc. to (5)
4. Creamy paste of e.g. tomatoes (5)
5. Necessity (4)
6. Customary (5)
7. Type of battle; e.g. Jutland and Midway (5)
8. Superfood seed (4)
9. Depends (on) (6)
10. Metal alloy (5)
11. Plant which has "bird's nest", "basket" and "silver" varieties (4)
12. D'Urbervilles protagonist (4)
Gladys will return in Changing Landscape.
