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 A white guy out in the cold? 5 Academic clash or struggle 9 Medusa’s not exactly

expected

10 Somebody witty aboard a cart 12 An opponent of Yemen

bungled

14 Earth acquired by a US city

for grassland

15 Fruit not planted inside before 16 Recognised king currently

closer to queen

17 A brief interest in puff

adders?

19 Wild time in the middle of

conflict

21 A phonecard working, he says 24 Caregiver and so on attending

fourth rave

25 An old flame sat for artists

naked

26 Money earned cheers leading

men

DOWN

1 Lead is defaced, by the way 2 A Russian man beginning to

overact on stage

3 Empty lines gasmen repaired 4 Nitrogen, like aluminium, is

pinched

5 An island group an uncle or

aunt faces

6 Hunter’s game? (Hyphenated) 7 Tie a hotshot put on last of all 8 Some crumbs next to a stone 11 Fruit drink very quietly

consumed...

13 ...(fruit many, but not all, grow) 17 Doomed fellow consumed

delicious starter

18 Party arranged but not a

certainty

19 A small flute provided with a

coating of iron

20 Researchers opening a snake

file

22 Second and last dropped

complaint

23 Fools can point in the

opposite direction