BARE BONES

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.651, 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.650 is Deirdre Whitney, Castleknock, Dublin 15.

Across

1 Friendly talk about the French house 4 British bird after a dog 9 Greek character elected to have turned 12 Ice club shattered compartment 14 Has transformed into a tree 15 Religion is getting late start in the morning 16 Lowest point of drain layout 17 Criticise each new flamboyance 18 Point name out for invasive procedure 20 Safari is different without a tongue 22 Go on at a horse 23 Knocking down a garden platform 25 Drunken sot, wealthy – he can’t face reality 27 Articulate fellow left tune out 28 He prohibits a flag

Down

2 Hard to love dilapidated shack 3 One year to get an organ 5 Bemused holding a creature 6 Clear left turn by detectives 7 Leave results causing problem at the highest level (Two words) 8 Animal correct to make slight deviation (Two words) 10 I am spreading paint around drums 11 Brave, getting knight repairing socks 12 City that was elegant in the past 13 Been working out? Healthy? Good 19 Surpass a large size, say 21 Lift gets more money 24 No-one sounds more devout than her 26 Lose argument about the Baltic, say