BARE BONES
no.643
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.643, 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.642 is Ruthie Conroy, Malahide, Co. Dublin.
Across
5 District branch has gold interior 7 Talk about city getting old form of transport 10 Elderly fellow starts to cease trading 11 European with tax return has power, though he lives abroad 12 Trim a short bit of film 13 Basically, where Brazil is to be found (Three words) 16 Quantity of oil wasted behind back of derrick 17 A width has sadly become flooded 18 Penny has clue about student lacking colour 19 Split in road, as back in eastern desert 20 Destroy borders with unpleasant lineage
Down
1 Party, and not for a benefactor 2 Googled one’s new continuous source of income (Two words) 3 Irritable couple reported an edible orange fruit (Two words) 4 Fool to get involved with one sheet of paper 6 Naive, returned for some money 8 Start eating some grass, then go to bed (Three words) 9 Reuse a plastic endlessly, regarding area 14 Child works underground, by the sound of it 15 An appealing sort of angle