CROSSWORD AND HOROSCOPES

£500 TO BE WON

TO ENTER Complete the crossword and count how many times the letter ‘A’ appears in the grid. Text YOU followed by a space, your answer (the number of ‘A’s) and name to 65700, eg, YOU 9 Sue Smith. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network rate. Or telephone 0905 652 2141 and leave your answer and details. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Or post your entry to YOU Crossword No 1,587, PO Box 3451, Norwich NR7 7NR. Entries will be accepted until 11.59pm on Friday 6 April. One random winner from all correct entries will win £250 and five runners-up will win £50 each. If you enter after the closing date you will not be included but may still be charged. Phone and text helpline: 0808 272 0808. Winners will be notified by phone within 14 days. Solution in two weeks.

ACROSS

1 Uncomplicating something to the point of error (15) 9 Goods sold overseas (7) 10 Bravery (7) 11 Edit, revise (7) 12 Flourish (6) 14 Portable, battery-powered lamp (5) 15 Chilled, frosted (4) 16 To cry (4) 19 Bolt, rush (4) 21 (and 25 down) This beats 6 down in a game of 24 down (4,5) 22 Run up, sustain (5) 24 Difficulty, extreme hardship (6) 26 Sterility, disinfection (7) 28 On The Road author (surname) (7) 29 Descriptive nickname (7) 30 Delegates, agents (15)

DOWN

1 Too highly valued (9) 2 Authorise, enable (7) 3 This gets beaten by 6 down in a game of 24 down (8) 4 Enigmatic, strange (10) 5 Fortune, chance (4) 6 This beats 3 down in a game of 24 down (5) 7 Create, think up (7)

8 Lord Byron had four of these that he took with him everywhere he went (5)

13 Fittest, in best condition (10) 17 Pervades (9) 18 Languages expert (8)

20 Either of two metal loops on a riding saddle (7)

23 Russian playwright who wrote Uncle Vanya (surname) (7) 24 Card game (5) 25 See 21 across 27 Unit of area that is equal to 4046.86 square metres (4)