BARE BONES

no.539

Our Bare Bones Crossword is unique because you have to complete the grid – numbers and squares – as well. We have inserted four black squares and four clue numbers to get you going. The crossword has a four-way symmetry: both top and bottom and left and right match, so you can fill in 12 more squares straight away. There is a prize of a Collins Pocket Thesaurus. Send your solution to: Bare Bones Puzzle No.539, The Irish Mail on Sunday, PO Box 5332, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2. Entries must arrive by Friday (photocopies not accepted). The winner of Bare Bones No.538 is Carmel Finn, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare.

Across 1 Walk like a small monster 4 Shirt part that holds the record 9 Bid a lot to secure a newspaper 12 Toy with river snake 14 About to have nothing but eggs 15 Smell around end of gutter – that’s sharp 16 Called after parking collision 17 Almost revere a trainee officer 18 Rinse off part of the varnish 20 Actor gives more than expected 22 One worked for a long time 23 Joined Scottish football and got frozen 25 German star cook in charge of the stomach 27 Learnt to play the horn 28 Tyrant puts last of dissenters in warehouse

Down 2 Forbidden to throw a boot 3 Flowers found in sleigh 5 Meadow of fertile appearance 6 Virginia gets sick of the house 7 Block reporters getting the latest news (Two words) 8 Method of carrying amphibian on procession 10 No cigar production is chemical–free 11 Tapped one’s fingers like Ginger Baker? 12 Bringing up angrier composition 13 Slept so badly when not fully dressed 19 Loans negotiated at the hairdresser’s 21 Developing roots or trunk 24 Level with the first woman 26 The primate in the tapestry