BARE BONES

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

WIN

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 Prepared for couple

on the day

5 He’s animated,

but wilting

10 Chap with one cocktail

11 Fit for capture

12 Regret having

liberal law

13 Man rewriting lyric

14 Mother has say –

that’s excellent

15 Youngsters caught

different bus

17 Fluid fairness? No way!

18 His pectorals come

with instructions 22 Noticed stud breaking

carpenter’s product

23 I soiled new worship

24 Wild boars following

one line of pressure

25 New treat,

spreading gossip

Down

2 Countryside in

Outer Urals

3 First murderer gets

about at home

4 Girl on fast ship that

rolls along the ground (Two words, hyphenated)

5 Excellence shows

contrast 6 Void as depicted

by poet

7 Quill makes

excellent point

8 Vague, that is, about

medium summary

9 Beach dude,

terribly corrupt

16 Sport for British birds

19 Heard noses

got award

20 Two-thirds of digit?

That’s insensitive

21 Mislaid in

Amarillo station