BARE BONES

Complete the grid – numbers and squares. 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. Answer next week.

Across

1 Failure has been hard, and not acceptable 5 Spoke repeatedly of raid carried out at one

7 Owns German domain within terrible place

10 Also found among pandas

11 Late, having registered fear 12 Regretting destruction by force

13 Support conclusion on rose arrangement 15 Drifting around chasm 16 Four keys, getting old 17 Stops talking as seafood has increased in price (Two words)

21 Swimming in her river 22 Rosie ran round tree 23 Knock a style of music 24 Quietly read about clergyman 25 Shame about

English devotion 26 Lacking moisture in the maxilla, say? (Two words, hyphenated)

Down

1 Savage sound of a playwright

2 Injure rascal deliberately outside 3 Taking top off animal feed is more strange 4 Three ran to that place 5 Artist, back again with daughter, played part in police sting

(Two words)

6 Defied rep’s order – like fish and chips? (Two words, hyphenated) 8 Performing penalty and thriving (Two words)

9 Wise man goes to city for cheese (Two words) 14 Only his military starts some resistance 17 Church left notes for star, briefly

18 Article in favour of new protective gear

19 Tasty socialist leader gets paid off

20 See father settle without a flower