SOLUTION TO PRIZE CROSSWORD No. 15,861:

ACROSS: 1 Rock salt. 5 Balsam. 9 Language. 10 Venous. 12 Exam. 13 Millstream. 15 Nursery rhymes. 19 Rack-andpinion. 23 Heatstroke. 25 Menu. 28 United. 29 Mourning. 30 Evenly. 31 Meatball. DOWN: 1 Roller. 2 Conga. 3 Soup. 4 Lignite. 6 Adept. 7 Spokesman. 8 Mishmash. 11 Slay. 14 Orca. 15 Nectarine. 16 Rap. 17 Hail. 18 Archduke. 20 Dory. 21 Irksome. 22 Cudgel. 24 Swell. 26 Erica. 27 Brat.