BARE BONES

no.652

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.652, 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.651 is David Dunne, Listowel, Co. Kerry.

Across

1 Reward mistake in financial record 5 Judge caught first box 7 Declare time to change course 10 Enjoy a bit of archaeology 11 Pride shown by union team 12 Smell creates a commotion 13 Expand and learn about Greece’s borders 15 Fellow ate wrong dairy product 16 Asian connection, by the sound of it 17 Eternal fool has unbridled glee 21 Sadly, included one pseudonym 22 Pursues what heads are concealing 23 Dorothy comes to a full stop 24 Journalist gets soldiers to improve 25 Search for a weapon 26 That nobleman starts near the beginning (Two words)

Down

1 Passage only initially Gaelic, as such (Two words) 2 Sing unknown poem by student 3 Left and right, acquires period for a drink 4 Break feet, we hear 5 Pass note and surround area of growth (Two words) 6 Finally! A Richard Curtis film (Two words) 8 The Little Sparrow paid thief off (Two words) 9 Accept children disagree strongly (Two words) 14 Everything found in gallery 17 Whisper to a team 18 Bush senior 19 Guard lost head in arrival 20 Rigid part of a boat