FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Perforated like a sieve (8) 5 A gentle slope, especially in a fortification (6) 10 Large Norwegian city (pop about 190,000), founded in 997 (9) 11 An ancient short sword (5) 12 Academic introduction to a subject (7) 13 Ile __ (b 1946), Romanian tennis player who won two Grand Slam singles titles (7) 14 Part of the mid-brain where the optic nerve emerges (8) 17 Erik __ (1866 - 1925), French composer who wrote the music for the opera Parade (1916) (5) 19 A cessation of breathing (5) 21 The black medick plant (8) 24 Shape (metal or plastic) using a metal mould (3-3) 25 A portion of something, especially money or shares (7) 27 A book of the Old Testament (5) 28 Growing in swampy places (9) 29 A boat rowed by three, the second with two oars (6) 30 Market town in Derbyshire on the River Wye (pop about 4,000) (8)

DOWN

1 A mint-like labiate plant (6) 2 Small town in northern Italy (pop about 70,000), which used to host the San Marino Grand Prix (5) 3 Small passerine bird of the finch family (7) 4 An upright stone slab or tablet (5) 6 Loamy deposits of aeolian origin (7) 7 A purgative medicine (9) 8 Fish of a species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean (8) 9 Roald __ (1872 - 1928), Norwegian explorer who was the first man to reach the South Pole (8) 15 Thomas __ (1798 - 1844), Scotland’s first Astronomer Royal (9) 16 Cretan monster slain by Theseus in Greek mythology (8) 18 City in southern Afghanistan (pop 500,000), founded in 329 BC (8) 20 US state (52,463 sq miles; pop 5 million), nicknamed the Cotton State (7) 22 An abstract construction lacking movement (7) 23 Small amphibious military vehicle (6) 25 A marshy pine forest (5) 26 The burdock plant (5)