BARE BONES

no.614

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 four-way 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 Pocket Thesaurus. Send your solution to: Bare Bones Puzzle No.614, The Irish Mail on Sunday, PO Box 5332, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2. Entries must arrive by Friday (photocopies not accepted). The winner of Bare Bones No.613 is Kiana O’Sullivan, Conna, Mallow, Co. Cork.

Across

7 Surface temperature on Mars, for example 8 Woman is terribly clear about husband 11 System of rules that is internally flawed 12 Cited wrong notes on something cold (Two words) 13 Insane trapeze still has a measure of safety 14 Small boat reaches island off Normandy 15 Act sullenly when back falls off bike 20 State of agitation at a social event 21 Heartless young woman finds love affair an attraction 22 Originally called in one engineer 23 Essential part for an officer, by the sound of it 24 Harass a creature of the night

Down

1 Promotion of peace in rhyme (Two words) 2 Block terribly vain student 3 Bargain reportedly is strong stuff 4 Bully spread butter to waste time 5 Fight for some leftover food 6 Accountant finds embargo includes English table (Two words) 9 Everything by the Sun is composed wholly of celebrities (Two words, hyphenated) 10 Greets assembly with Latin classic (Two words) 16 In the past, city was in pain 17 The first friend to agree 18 One of the Kennedys was a lawman 19 Conceit displayed by lions