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.

There is a prize of a Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus set, and a Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionary. Send your solution to: Bare Bones Puzzle No 999, The Mail on Sunday, PO Box 3451, Norwich NR7 7NR. Entries must arrive by Friday, June 11 (photocopies not accepted). The winner’s name will be published on June 27 from the first correct entry drawn. Winner of Bare Bones No 996: Mr P. Burns, of Markinch, Fife.

Across

5 Croon wildly, having married one foreign character 7 Expert on a large, old animal 9 Weep, having drunk last glass 11 Flat pie cooked in dirty place 12 Daily importance given to ornament 15 Excellent, small selections 17 Play guitar, at heart, to a certain level 19 New game section requires some memory 20 Kitty pursues man as the top prize

Down

1 In cubism, artist is clever 2 Sauce over a bean 3 Owing to student conflict 4 Loud song conceals liberal talent 6 Solved acrostic on a country (Two words)

8 Memory returned after burst of light 10 Peers around a House 11 Runs from insects, we hear 13 You formerly incorporated right number 14 Spanish couple following king – union brings glory 16 Change during meditation 18 Slimy thing starts to trip over a drainpipe