GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 _____ of court, action showing disrespect to the authority or dignity of a judicial body (8) 5 Raúl, ex-Cuban president who formally succeeded his ailing brother Fidel in 2008 (6) 10 To cancel or repeal (7) 11 To mitigate or soften (7) 12 A blood-sucking worm once used medicinally for

sucking blood (5) 13 A person unable to sleep (9) 14 Informal designation given to a lion (4,2,6) 18 Expression describing a place where one is supremely

comfortable and relaxed (4,4,4) 21 The name of King Arthur’s sword (9) 23 River of Switzerland and France that flows into the

Mediterranean Sea (5) 24 European country once ruled by King Zog I (7) 25 The ____ , poem by English war poet Rupert Brooke (7) 26 Playground device in which children sit at each end

of a pivoted plank (3-3) 27 To develop or increase by successive stages (8)

DOWN

1 Matt, English singer/songwriter who won The X Factor in 2010 (6) 2 ____ Hussain, former England cricket captain (6) 3 French singer/actress noted for song La Vie en Rose (5,4) 4 Character in children’s literature created by Michael Bond (10,4) 6 Indian state on the southeast border of Bhutan (5) 7 Slavic form of the title used for a Russian empress (8) 8 Describing dull and gloomy weather with a covering of cloud (8) 9 Term for the dynastic conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne 1455-1485 (4,2,3,5) 15 Gypsy girl in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback Of

Notre-Dame (9) 16 Large slender spotted wild cats, the fastest on earth when chasing prey (8) 17 Friendly (8) 19 Alfred, English-U.S. actor who played George in the 2014 film Love Is Strange (6) 20 Greg and Jonny, British rowing brothers who won gold in the coxed pairs event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics (6) 22 Lotte, Austrian-U.S. actress and singer who played

Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love (5)