BARE BONES

no.655

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.655, 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.654 is David Foxe, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.

Across

1 Flier right to tug back on evidence of drinking (Two words) 5 Tolerate immense, endless sign of affection (Two words) 9 Scared to include a personal vehicle 10 Clean American city below 11 Unprepared for war breaking out 12 Hard to merit transformation into a recluse 13 Problematic getting deity to Norway’s borders 14 In front of sun god, turn sun back into a planet 17 Veneer about to lose colour outside 21 Chubby around the middle 22 Poor Ted set off a missile 23 Catch in one trap 24 Offender sees copper record unfinished ceremony 25 He imagines red mare running around

Down

1 Rabbit that’s worth something across the pond 2 Eastern lake is strange and frightening 3 Lizard got minerals in a different way (Two words) 4 Have faith in a managed company 5 Arrange debit for a bathroom item 6 Part of the military with single presidential conveyance (Three words) 7 That woman – no different to a bird! 8 Admit starting with girl’s first dress 15 Film about British member of armed resistance 16 Swagger, revealing a bit of reinforcement 17 Ogre, perhaps, makes European discovery outside 18 Mined carelessly for tough material 19 Elegant bird has no knowledge 20 Mix in prison