THE SKELETON CROSSWORD – £325 in prizes

There is a £100 prize for the first correct solution drawn; nine runners-up receive £25.

Send your completed crossword to the address shown in the box below left. In the skeleton crossword, the black squares and clue numbers have to be filled in as well as the words. Four black squares and four clue numbers have been inserted to give you a start. The black squares form a symmetrical pattern; the top half matches the bottom, and the two sides correspond. You can fill in 12 more squares at once to correspond with those given.

ACROSS

1 Salute, when given to a

child

4 Sailor cheers navigator’s

end

6 Animal sound from a cow

half-seen

9 Farewell interrupted by one

playing alone

10 Sub located amidships

breaks apart

11 Fool perhaps aiming third

weapon

12 Beans mother turned over

on excellent starter

13 A vehicle demonstration

after tea

16 Material around heavy

Greek cheese

20 Funny sort of pear cut and

half skinned

21 Beastly cleaner getting tip

reduced

22 A tree died in a Lear

rewrite

23 The second person to hear

sheep

24 Old tenor admitted to

returning late

DOWN

1 Inventor upset by some

flak?

2 Titan takes beginner in

sadly

3 Weak brag ending an article 4 Game chased in a French city gets consumed - it’s food...

5 ...around crêpes, food that’s

decent

6 Comics the source of much

annoyance, we hear

7 Great post outshining first

letter

8 Result of putting some

phones back on charge 13 Cops not finishing first-class

drink

14 Targeted relief covering more

outsiders

15 Meet with fashionable

scoundrel

17 Institute adding nothing to a

nest egg

18 Order to change outside

early sign of contrariness 19 An insect concealed under

a piece of paper