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 Hitch to small horse

4 Sophisticated, except around university

7 Firm doesn’t have one traded in

9 Cause amazement by juggling nuts

10 Sound idea got reversed

11 Stick to association

12 Braved changing a word

13 Roam, say, and marvel

14 Caught husband getting a bit overweight

18 Next to bed is unusual direction

20 Lied about being lazy

21 Sound system doesn’t start to irritate

22 Ring round for a smile

23 Cater for a satellite broadcast

24 Loans arranged at the hairdresser’s

25 Yet worried about his first pronoun

Down

2 Famous as a piece of music?

3 Redhead with money for some food

4 Firework usually encountered damp

5 Assistants working out ideas

6 Provide conclusion with old wife

7 Another look at clairvoyance (Two words)

8 Behold application for a parasite

15 Avoid commitment to a boundary

16 Listeners following, unknown for ages

17 Advisory group left sheet of glass in front

18 Order supplies through getting united at home (Two words)

19 Nonsense without last spin