CROSSWORD

No 1,554 £500 TO BE WON

TO ENTER Complete the crossword and count how many times the letter ‘A’ appears in the grid. Text YOU followed by a space, your answer (the number of ‘A’s) and name to 65700, eg, YOU 9 Sue Smith. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network rate. Or telephone 0905 652 2141 and leave your answer and details. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Or post your entry to YOU Crossword No 1,554, PO Box 3451, Norwich NR7 7NR. Entries will be accepted until 11.59pm on Friday 18 August. One random winner from all correct entries will win £250 and five runners-up will win £50 each. If you enter after the closing date you will not be included but may still be charged. Phone and text helpline: 0808 272 0808. Winners will be notified by phone within 14 days. Solution in two weeks.

ACROSS

6 City in Devon (6) 7 Obvious, blatant (8) 9 Greek god – the equivalent of the Romans’ Jupiter (4) 11 Making amends for something (10) 12 Fish that has been boned (6) 13 Take up space (5) 14 All together (2,5) 16 Sequence of hereditary rulers (7) 18 (and 23 across, 3 down) Proverb suggesting that a placid manner might conceal a passionate nature (5,6,3,4) 19 In mythology, a monster that has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle (6) 20 Scientist who studies celestial bodies and the universe (10) 21 Demolish, spoil (4) 22 Shivers, shakes, trembles (8) 23 See 18 across

DOWN

1 (and 8 down) Proverb indicating that you learn more from things that happen to you than from reading about them (10,2,3,4,7) 2 Serious disease of wood found in some houses (3,3) 3 See 18 across 4 Roughness or sharpness of temper (8) 5 Person invested with full authority to transact business, eg, a diplomat authorised to represent a country (15) 8 See 1 down 10 Confident of one’s own worth (4-7) 15 Thinner (8) 17 Belgian language (7) 19 Write illegibly (6)