C ROSSWORD

No 1,554

TO ENTER Complete the crossword and count how many times the letter ‘X’ appears in the grid. Post your entry to YOU Crossword No 1,554, PO Box 5332, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2. Closing date is Friday, August 18. 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 City in Devon (6) 7 Obvious, blatant (8)

9 Greek god – the equivalent of the Romans’ Jupiter (4)

11 Making amends for something (10)

12 Fish that has been boned (6)

13 Take up space (5)

14 All together (2,5)

16 Sequence of hereditary rulers (7)

18 (and 23 across, 3 down) Proverb suggesting that a placid manner might conceal a passionate nature (5,6,3,4)

19 In mythology, a monster that has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle (6)

20 Scientist who studies celestial bodies and the universe (10)

21 Demolish, spoil (4)

22 Shivers, shakes, trembles (8)

23 See 18 across

DOWN

1 (and 8 down) Proverb indicating that you learn more from things that happen to you than from reading about them (10,2,3,4,7)

2 Serious disease of wood found in some houses (3,3) 3 See 18 across 4 Roughness or sharpness of temper (8)

5 Person invested with full authority to transact business, eg, a diplomat authorised to represent a country (15) 8 See 1 down 10 Confident of one’s own worth (4-7) 15 Thinner (8) 17 Belgian language (7)

19 Write illegibly (6)