Simon Shuker’s Code-cracker Wordwheel Wordbuilder

ACROSS

1. A wave to credit one politician with (5)

4. MG and Metro fashioned with a ring of rope (7)

8. Suitable place in life’s picnic held inside (5)

9. Around fifty, bosoms might flourish (7)

10. Pare the top off the edge (3)

11. Willingness to allow a certain amount of variation (9)

12. Keep it so secret that it won’t see the light (4)

13. Scottish lawsuit would be sure to give gratification (4)

18. Caroline dropped a hooped skirt in replacing it (9)

20. Busy person may gather with others for a spell (3)

21. Strive to be like one it put in wrong team (7)

22. Engineers will wager about part of their uniform (5)

23. Lack of care needs gentle handling around start of crisis (7)

24. Sort of blue (blooded?) (5)

DOWN

1. An inconsistency might contain cord it represents (13)

2. One not a native gets revenue right at the end (7)

3. More than enough ten-ply twist (6)

4. Eat too fast to talk Turkey (6)

5. Smells that do turn up are not theirs (6)

6. Subatomic particle thus to be held by people (5)

7. Highly excitable male met parent running about (13)

14. Freedom taken by one with undue familiarity (7)

15. Thick soup (pea) got cooked (6)

16. Write the address straight there (6)

17. He belongs with ship showing club status (6)

19. Finishing cake-making by chilling it (5)

Insert the missing letter to complete an eight-letter word reading clockwise or anti-clockwise.

How many words of three or more letters, including plurals, can you make

only once? No words beginning with a capital are allowed. There’s at least one

Good 7 Very Good 10 Excellent 12