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 four-way symmetry: both top and bottom and left and right match, so you can fill in 12 more squares straight away. Across

1 Thingummy may not thaw out

5 In Cairo, a chub is a fish

7 Your first chat about vessel

10 Turn up at British tavern

11 Current hit being religion

12 Place of birth

13 Notice bullet, say, meant for mollusc

(Two words)

15 Scot disturbed by price 16 Pals out of range

17 Reveal fellow entertainer

21 Finished on time, that’s obvious 22 Force enemy to land

23 Catch in one trap

24 Daughter and friend hang around

25 Writer goes to church to get money

26 The last manoeuvre displays furtiveness

Down

1 Urges husband during organised swim

2 Brightest star in terminal phase

3 Why one has to knock, say, for prize guy?

4 Attempting to remove second drawing 5 I move cauldron around for water supplier (Two words)

6 Reassuring assessment will sell a conversion (Three words)

8 Act mental – confused farmer

9 Let snakes out? Be serious (Two words)

14 Like this, with a pig

17 Remains and supports 18 Small part of a snow leopard

19 Copper maybe encountered a student 20 Speed follows city in spirit