CROSSWORD

No 1,546

TO ENTER Complete the crossword and count how many times the letter ‘A’ appears in the grid. Post your entry to YOU Crossword No 1,545, PO Box 5332, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2. Closing date is Friday, June 16. One random winner from all correct entries will win €100 and five runners-up will win €25 each. Winners will be notified within 14 days. Solution in two weeks.

ACROSS

6 Snake that kills its prey by constriction (6)

8 Warmed up (food) (8)

10 (and 25 across, 4 down, 20 down) Proverb suggesting that sometimes you have to do something you would rather not (5,4,4,3,5,6)

11 Thrown in athletics (6)

12 South African currency (4)

13 Repossessed, fetched back (9) 15 Denounce (7) 17 Unsuccessful contestant (4-3)

19 Risky undertakings, adventures (9)

22 The longest river in the world (4)

23 Person who helps a vicar (6)

24 Of, relating to or resembling a sheep (5) 25 See 10 across 26 Followed (6) DOWN 1 George Bernard Shaw play on which the musical My Fair Lady was based (9)

2 Small arthropod with six legs and one or two pairs of wings (6) 3 Dire, severe (7) 4 See 10 across 5 In Roman mythology, he was the twin brother of Romulus (5)

7 Unit of weight equal to 112 pounds or just over 50 kilograms (13)

9 Diligence, steadiness, perseverance (13)

14 The _________: ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to Massachusetts in 1620 (9)

16 Surname shared by the late US senators Eugene and Joseph (8)

18 Choose or assign a person to a position (7) 20 See 10 across 21 Capital of South Korea (5)