FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 The cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratensis) (5-5) 6 Country in north central Africa (496,000 sq miles; pop about 14 million), independent since 1960 (4) 10 A waterproof hat with a flap at the back of

the neck (3-6) 11 Relating to the moon (5) 12 A church-officer attending on a minister

(6) 13 The world of scholars (7) 15 Detested, or denounced evil against (9) 18 Any of many Chinese secret societies, often criminal (5) 19 County in the west of Ireland (1,231 sq miles; pop about 120,000) (5) 21 Engraving of fancy designs by sailors on

shells, whales’ teeth, etc (9) 23 A woman’s shirt, smock or straight dress

(7) 24 Another word for the piranha (6) 27 River rising in Switzerland and flowing 820

miles into the North Sea (5) 28 Port city in Alaska (pop about 300,0000, founded in 1914 (9) 29 River rising in the Monadhliath, and flowing about 100 miles into the Moray Firth (4) 30 Conspicuous, or easily recognised (10)

DOWN

1 Village in Dunbartonshire which was the setting for Take the High Road (4) 2 A fleshy fruit with a stone (5) 3 Stephen __ (1909 - 95), London-born poet, novelist and essayist, knighted in 1983 (7) 4 A gusset, a tapered insertion (5) 5 An umbelliferous plant whose seeds are used as spice, etc (9) 7 Paul __ (1895 - 1963), German composer who created the opera Cardillac (9) 8 A breed of sheep from south-west England (6,4) 9 Flexible, or easily influenced (6) 14 US government agency that sent volunteers to developing countries (5,5) 16 A rubber-like mineral resin (9) 17 Rare spelling of term meaning to mark as a mosaic (9) 20 Cuts off, as a syllable (6) 22 Christopher __ (1564 - 93), English dramatist and poet who wrote Doctor Faustus (7) 24 Small piles of hay, dung, etc (5) 25 Adam __ (1783 -1874), Edinburgh-born publisher who bought the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1827 (5) 26 A stupid person, or brute (Fr) (4)