BARE BONES

WIN A COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS SET, AND A BRADFORD’S CROSSWORD SOLVER’S DICTIONARY

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 fourway 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 English Dictionary and Thesaurus set, and a Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionary. Send your solution to: Bare Bones Puzzle No 934, The Mail on Sunday, PO Box 3451, Norwich NR7 7NR. Entries must arrive by Friday, March 13 (photocopies not accepted). The winner’s name will be published on March 29 from the first correct entry drawn. Winner of Bare Bones No 931: Kay Taylor, of Edinburgh.

Across

1 Dodgy business involving sports equipment 5 About normal – not starting, and not formal 10 Back admitting drawback, being methodical 11 Occasional party is eccentric 12 Alcohol distributed around where the cargo should be 13 Domestic doctor has a student 14 Listen during the argument 15 The first to demand a mission 17 Duchess expected to claim a lot of land 18 King follows cake to bed 22 Gold item of crockery starts to level off 23 Cells transformed into a show of appreciation 24 See to it that English runes get translated 25 Overwhelming amount of French glue used

Down

2 Messenger joins a new set 3 Starts to know extras like poached seaweed 4 Scatter aura around like a condiment (Two words) 5 Shut on time, only just being a loser (Two words) 6 Playground item has no left or right, say 7 Conscious of a battle to the east 8 Classic car behind building is a representative example 9 Heard bank worker taking Garden of England to be an alter ego (Two words) 16 Cut down transgression overrunning American city 19 Employing is funny, but not in the morning 20 Boyfriend removes a ton from French vessel 21 Cry, giving wife trouble