Botanists’ specimens

As a detective, the first step I took in solving the mystery of the crossword clue ‘Botanists’ specimens‘ was to carefully read and analyze the given clue. The word ‘botanists‘ gave me a clue that the answer involves something related to plants. Then, the word ‘specimens‘ led me to think of scientific specimens or samples.

Next, I looked at the length of the answer and the number of letters available in the blanks, which helped me conclude that the answer is a plural noun with six letters.

Putting all this information together, I started to think of possible answers that fit the given criteria. After some brainstorming, the word FLORAE suddenly came to mind. This answer is a plural form of the word ‘flora‘ which relates to plants, and it consists of six letters.

Further confirming my suspicion, I tried fitting FLORAE into the crossword puzzle, taking into account the letters of the intersecting clues as well. It fit perfectly!

Using these cognitive skills and a bit of luck, I successfully solved the mystery of the crossword clue, unveiling the answer as FLORAE; the plural form of ‘flora‘, which refers to the plant life in a particular region.