NUMBERS

Giving our usual "26 L of the A" format a suitably dated rest, we have a new verbal puzzle to test your wits:

MAD APE MASTER LOCKS RUG MOTH!

The sentence above hides three one-word answers linked by a single theme. All you have to do is group the six words into three pairs, then rearrange the letters within each pair.

Three Chambers Dictionary prizes await correct disentanglings opened on 7 June. Entries to: Pastimes, the Independent, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL.

12 May Competition report:

Answers: 1 Foot in the Grave; 7 Veils in Salome's Dance; 49 Fifty Minus One; 147 Highest Break in Snooker; 336 Hours in a Fortnight.

Winners: Lesley Edens (Waterlooville), TE Thornton (Milton Keynes), Irene Greatorex Staines).