THE SKELETON CROSSWORD – £325 in prizes

There is a £100 prize for the first correct solution drawn; nine runners-up receive £25.

Send your completed crossword to the address shown in the box below left. In the skeleton crossword, the black squares and clue numbers have to be filled in as well as the words. Four black squares and four clue numbers have been inserted to give you a start. The black squares form a symmetrical pattern; the top half matches the bottom, and the two sides correspond. You can fill in 12 more squares at once to correspond with those given.

Send to: Skeleton Crossword, PO Box 12578, Sutton Coldfield B73 9BT. The winners will be the first correct entries drawn after the closing date of noon on Friday. Please allow 30 days for prizes to arrive.

ACROSS

1 Henry Fonda’s first part 4 Parents back for good child 7 Additional mouth sound 9 Instrument beginning to

tremble with initial pluck 10 Forehead now a little close 11 A little piglet circles a

house

14 Discuss hiding in pruned

tree

15 Golfer held back by game

singer

16 Cut apple rings by cut

blackberry

19 They ultimately post

nothing bad

22 Too much empty river faces

a swimmer

24 Threat doesn’t lead to

outrage

25 Dirty food bafflingly without

filling

26 Bank genuinely short of a

pound

27 Material canny Londoner

conceals 28 Carry on turning round to

steal looks

DOWN

2 Right pocket?

3 A gas giant losing three

organisms

4 Composer put on diet’s

content

5 A storyteller raised the bar 6 Choose to turn pro

(2 words)

7 Negative medium

stateside?

8 Another creep’s on board all

right

12 Welcome gain, soldiers

admitted

13 A tree with a round top, say 17 Close face extremely greasy 18 Actress learning how

western ends

20 Gas canister back inside

since midmorning 21 Grouchy sort of legend

sitting on one’s seat

23 A group returning with one

in labour