Times 2 - UK (2020-11-16)

the times | Monday November 16 2020 1GT 15

MindGames

© PUZZLER MEDIA

Divide the grid

into square or

rectangular

blocks, each

containing one

digit only. Every

block must

contain the

number of cells

indicated by the

digit inside it.

Enter each of

the numbers

from 1 to 9 in

the grid, so that

the six sums

work. We’ve

placed two

numbers to get

you started.

Each sum

should be

calculated left

to right or top

to bottom.

From these letters, make words of

three or more letters, always including

the central letter. Answers must be in

the Concise Oxford Dictionary, excluding

capitalised words, plurals, conjugated

verbs (past tense etc), adverbs ending

in LY, comparatives and superlatives.

How you rate 14 words, average;

19, good; 24, very good; 30, excellent

  

 
 

   


  


  


  


  


 
 



  


   

1 Rocky Balboa 2 The moon 3 Stephen Fry 4 Surinam

5 Ataturk or Mustafa Kemal 6 North Korea 7 Mount

Erebus 8 Pearl 9 The Deer Hunter 10 Finland 11 Allen key

or Allen wrench 12 Battle of the Metaurus 13 Georges

Hébert — the system is also known as Hébertism

14 Lara Croft 15 Dina Asher-Smith

Kajawah (c) A pannier

slung over a camel’s back

Nympholepsy (b) Violent

emotion caused by

wanting something

unobtainable

Rusma (a) A Turkish hair-

removing fluid (of lime

and arsenic trisulphide)

Kakuro 2784

Sudoku 11,

Killer 7444

Futoshiki 3825

Cell Blocks 4003 Set Square 2787

Suko 3022

Train Tracks 1174

Word watch

Quiz

Saturday’s answers

cent, chin, chine, ching, chink, chit, chitin,

cine, cite, echt, enticing, etch, etching,

ethic, ethnic, genic, heck, hick, icing, inch,

incite, itch, ketch, kinetic, kitchen, neck,

necking, nice, niche, nick, tech, tench, thick,

thicken, thickening, tich, tick, ticking

times2 CrosswordNo 8437 Brain Trainer

A

N

S

MEDIUM^1361 DOUBLE WER

IT

DOUBLE – 1 9

IT

(^555) / (^88) x 6
OF IT

-^333 / 121
OF IT

+

+ 2 5 ÷^2010

(^777) / 1
OF IT

• AN
  S
  EASY^14 x^2 +^6 DOUBLE WER
  IT


• 6 ÷ 5 5 x 9
  (^11) / 55
  OF IT
  DOUBLEE
  IT
  (^333) / 444
  OF IT


• 
  

  AN
  S
  WE
  R
  HARDER 1561 + 1^35 ÷^8
  DOUBLE
  IT
  (^333) / 444
  OF IT

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  • 81 11 / (^66) x 2 – 604
    OF IT
  
  
  
  

-^33 / 101
OF IT

Across

1 Drymatterffforlighting

fffires( 6 )

5 Slightlyalter( 6 )

8 Ratherbrashperson( 4 )

9 Treeofcoastalswamps( 8 )

10 Driedgrape( 7 )

11 Calloffff(amission)( 5 )

113 Improvement( 11 )

16 ((Offallighht))fffffllashhon//offfffff(( 5 ))

18 Drugffformusclebuilding( 7 )

21 Catholicpraaayer( 3 , 5 )

22 Electricalunit( 4 )

23 Violentexcitement( 6 )

24 Japanesefffighting

method( 6 )

Down

2 Withinanorganisation

( 2 - 5 )

3 Onegoingunderwater( 5 )

4 Cudchewer( 8 )

5 Aromaticplant;sweet( 4 )

6 Hard-wearing( 7 )

7 Banknote( 5 )

12 Parisianartisticqqquarter( 4 , 4 )

14 Executioner( 7 )

15 Groupofthree( 7 )

17 Bodilyorgan( 5 )

19 Eg,theSevern( 5 )

20 Unraaavel;battle( 4 )

SolutiontoCrossword 8436

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

10 11

12

13 14 15

16 17 18 19

20

21 22

23 24

ZOOLOGICAL

Z E V N D M

AGAVE SHOWBIZ

B L R I L E

AGO TEDDYBEAR

G U A E O O

LUSAKA DRIVER

I E B K E A

OFFENDERS NOT

N A D H I I

EURASIA IBSEN

S O U R O G

ZIMBABWEAN

Cell Blocks No 4004

© PUZZLER MEDIA

Polygon Set Square No 2788

Please note, BODMAS does not apply

Killer Gentle No 7445 Solutions

Killer Tricky No 7446

As with standard Sudoku, fill the grid so that every column,

every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set

of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number

in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted

lines, a digit cannot be repeated.

Need help with today’s puzzle? Call 0905 757 0143 to check the
answers. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company’s
network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).

Cluelines Stuck on Sudoku, Killer or KenKen? Call 0901 293

6263 before midnight to receive four clues for any of today’s

puzzles. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network

access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).

Terry Dwyer of Quorn,

Loughborough has been playing

and teaching the game we love for

7 4 years. He recently showed me

this instructive deal. How would

you declare 3NT on♦Q lead?

You have only five top tricks.

One possibility is to play on clubs

straight away and hope to guess

the location of the queen. The

trouble is if you misguess, you’re

down. Even if the king of spades is

onside and you make three spade

tricks, that’s only eight tricks

(three spades, three clubs and

y

♦AK). It must be better to play on

hearts — any tricks you promote

are extra tricks, and the solid

sequence means you’ll make two.

It’s the lose-to-win principle, the

hare and the tortoise.

At trick two, you lead the queen

of hearts, West winning and lead-

ing the jack of diamonds. You win

and lead the jack of hearts, taking

the small risk that West will win

and have three diamonds to cash.

We st does win but has only two

diamonds to cash, you discarding

two spades from hand while East

discards a spade.

At trick seven, West switches to

a spade. Do you finesse? Or do you

rise with the ace and hope to guess

clubs? Sift through the clues, start-

ing at the very beginning. And I

mean the very beginning.

West dealt and passed. He has

turned up with ten points — the

ace-king of hearts and queen-jack

of diamonds. If he held the king of

spades or queen of clubs in addi-

tion, he would have opened the

bidding. You rise with dummy’s ac e

of spades. You then cash the king

of clubs and lead and pass the jack.

A third club goes to East’s queen

and your ace, whereupon you can

table the ten of clubs and promoted

ten-nine of hearts. Game made.

As Dwyer confessed, “Alas,

when faced with this deal, not one

of my students could make the

contract. I even smuggled it in

front of them a month or so later

and they didn’t recognise it. Again,

very few pupils managed it.”

As Dwyer sagely notes, the deal

highlights the need to ...

• Count the tricks needed for the
  contract and plan ahead.


• Don’t rush thoughtlessly for the
  best-looking suit.


• Play on suits with inevitable losers
  rather than creating extra losers.


• Deduce facts from the bidding —
  not only what was bid but also what
  wasn’[email protected]

Contract: 3NT, Opening Lead:♦Q

Dealer: West, Vulnerability: North-South

N

W E

S

Pass Pass Pass

1NT( 1 ) Pass 2NT( 2 ) Pass

3NT End

(1) Almost too good for a 12-14 1NT — with

such fine intermediate cards, especially

♥ 1 09 to bolster ♥QJ.

(2) Conversely, barely worth the invite.

S W N E

♠K74 2

♥ 853

♦ 542

♣Q 54

Rubber ♠AQJ

♥ 76

♦ 8763

♣KJ9 3

♠ 1095

♥QJ

♦AK

♣A

♠ 863

♥AK4 2

♦QJ1 09

♣ 86

Bridge Andrew Robson

SW I N E

OEM

LOATHE

DR

R

MOU L DY

CRATE

ROJ

OSOME

SER

SUNK

D

1 Lyre

2 Bower

3 We ave r

4 Frigate

5 Get the bird

Easy 90; Medium 102; Harder 75

1 Nf6! uncovers a double attack

against the black queen. Black

must give up material as 1 ... Qxc

2 Qxh6+! Bxh6 3 Rh7 is mate

SPEEDL IMI T

I T A Y E T

HELPOUT SIXTH

A G N T T A R

NERO DEF I ANCE

D I M R Q A

LIMPETBUGGED

E T N E A B

BRACELET FLEA

A T O L I L R

RULER SOTHERE

S A I O C O

SECONDHAND

Lexica 5570

Lexica 5569

Chess — Winning Move

Quintagram

Brain Trainer

Quick Cryptic 1744

KenKen 5112

Codeword 4120

Square Routes

88

Tredoku 1656

Y M R A E

Z A R V W

O H C E T

N O A R N

E Y H P E