BARE BONES

WIN A COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS SET, AND A BRADFORD’S CROSSWORD SOLVER’S DICTIONARY

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 fourway symmetry: both top and bottom and left and right match, so you can fill in 12 more squares straight away. Across 5 Go the other way concerning some poetry

8 Member born in French island can be read

11 Quiet soldier goes back for an animal 12 Play about church having money that’s obsolete 13 Chewed on a piece 14 Sharpener found in a bad mood

15 Stuff in a ravine 20 Starts to heat old bananas on top of the cooker 21 Every character within a dynasty is incredible 22 Answer returned, say, in time

23 Mild liberal in fix 24 Making domiciles around field Down 1 Diagram shows head of geography playing harp

2 Copper maybe getting some food with the leader 3 Brightest star in terminal phase

4 Has old-fashioned energy inside moor 6 Gave belt away to European – a Swede, perhaps 7 Transporter of sound gets medium greeting (Two words)

9 Cricket team finds form of rock keyboard...

10 ...as imposing youngster starts on another (Two words) 16 Small wine – that’s quite a surprise

17 Animal taken around island

18 Choose your top, being fussy

19 Sounds like precious stone might be a means of access