Times 2 - UK (2020-12-11)

the times | Friday December 11 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

four 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 15 words, average;

20, good; 25, very good; 30, excellent

 
 



 



 
 


 

  


  



  


 
 


 
 


 
 


ANGEL

LAA

IPD

REVEL

NO

MAGE

TAX

IP

GA

HERON

TAI

SPECK

1 Floor or ground 2 Fireman Sam 3 Director of public

prosecutions. Max Hill, QC, currently holds the post

4 The Jam 5 Renée Zellweger — in Cold Mountain

and Judy 6 Iraq 7 Old Norse 8 Gareth Evans 9 V&A

Dundee 10 Jack Kerouac 11 Samuel Bentham —

brother of Jeremy 12 The Mangrove 13 Tywi or Towy

14 87. The superstition may originate with 87 being 13

runs short of 100 15 Celine Dion

Kakuro 2803

Futoshiki 3844 Lexica 5608

Cell Blocks 4025 Set Square 2806 Lexica 5607

Suko 3044

Train Tracks 1196

Word watch

Noodge (b) A person who

persistently whines and nags

Hoosegow (c) A prison [from

Mexican Spanish jusgado]

Hoplology (c) The study of

weapons or armour

Chess — Winning Move

1 Grass

2 White

3 Bellow

4 Mistral

5 Quasimodo

Quintagram

Quiz

Easy 364; Medium 288; Harder 462

Brain Trainer

KenKen 5134

Codeword 4142

1 Rxf5! gxf5 (1 ... Qxf5 2 Qxc4+)

2 g6 and White will emerge a

piece up as the only queen

move to maintain protection

of the rook is 2 ... Qe6 but the

3 Qd8 is mate

5 x 32 36 x 1 7 x 36 25 + 7

10 + 19 18 x 10 10 + 18 21 x 11

19x101+3634x621+

6+347+365+327x

204 32

40 43 37 175

190 37

252 32

29 180 28 231

160 36

Tetonor 108

Yesterday’s answers

agin, aging, agio, agog, align, along,

angling, gain, gang, ganglion, gaol, glia,

goal, going, gong, gonna, ling, linga,

lingo, loaning, loggia, login, long, longan,

longing, ngaio, ngoni, noggin, nong

times2 CrosswordNo 8459 Brain Trainer

AN

S

EASY^4 x^8 – 1^4 ÷^8 x^2 WER

AN

S

MEDIUM^1851 WER

AN

S

HARDER 74 DOUBLE WER

IT

+ 44 3

• 24


• 1 0

+ 12 0

÷ 5 HALVE

IT

÷ 81

(^16) + 4 1
(^333) / 1
OF IT

• SQUARE
  IT
  ÷ 8
  TREBLE
  IT


• 9 – 5
  HALVE
  IT
  SQUARE
  IT
  (^333) / 77
  OF IT

• x 6

(^777) / 161
OF IT

• x 1 5 + 14 8 – 137
  Across
  7 Extinctffflightlessbird( 4 )
  8 Indispensablepersonor
  thing(I,notYYY)( 8 )
  9 Substanceproducedby
  aphids( 8 )
  10 Notdomesticated( 4 )
  11 Slake(athirst)( 6 )
  1113 Suddenffflowfffromoutside( 6 )
  15 Nepallesesollddier(( 6 ))
  17 Use( 6 )
  19 Abominablesnowman( 4 )
  21 WWWasp-likeinsect( 8 )
  23 Skilledrepairworker( 8 )
  24 Compasspoint( 4 )
  Down
  1 CapitalofHaaawaii( 8 )
  2 Recentinstyle( 6 )
  3 Ranaaawaaay( 4 )
  4 Pointabovewhichmoun-
  tainsremainwhite( 4 , 4 )
  5 Brieffffallofrain( 6 )
  6 Slaughter,murder( 4 )
  12 Seekoutandrecruit
  (executiiives)( 8 )
  14 Absolutelyclean( 8 )
  16 Chesspiece( 6 )
  18 Naaavalpaaaymaster( 6 )
  20 Duellingsword( 4 )
  22 Tool;immorality( 4 )
  SolutiontoCrossword 8258
  1 2 3 4 5 6
  7 8
  9 10
  11 12 13 14
  15 16 17 18
  19 20 21 22
  23 24
  WARLOCK WASH
  M I A T E H
  WONDER WISDOM
  R V I T V
  WARCHEST WEED
  L H C A L
  WALLCHART
  P M O D C
  WASP WORKSHOP
  T A K O R
  WIGGLE WASABI
  N N Y E O E
  WADE WRINKLE
  Cell Blocks No 4026
  © PUZZLER MEDIA
  Polygon Set Square No 2807
  Please note, BODMAS does not apply
  Killer Moderate No 7486 Solutions
  Killer Deadly No 7487
  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).
  8833 ..SSSSSSSSwwwwiiittcchhiiinnggttooootthheewwrrroooonnggccaarrrddd
  Switching to a new suit is danger-
  ous and a defender should avoid it
  unless there is a pressing need to
  win quick tricks, or unless the
  alternatives are worse.
  In this ending, spades are
  trumps and West is on lead.
  Dummy
  West ♠6East
  ♠- ♦A 104 ♠-
  ♦Q93 ♣- ♦J 652
  ♣ 8 ---- ♣-
  Declarer
  ♠ 5
  ♦K 87
  ♣-
  Declarer has played well, drawing
  trumps but leaving a spade in each
  hand. They have eliminated hearts
  and clubs, and thrown West in.
  What can West do?
  Leading their club will give
  declarer the dreaded “ruff-and-dis-
  card”, enabling declarer to ruff in
  one hand while shedding a dia-
  mond from the other. Like it or not,
  West must switch to a diamond.
  Usually, a defender will lead
  “high for hate” eg the nine from
  ♦ 9 832 or “low for like” eg the two
  from ♦KJ5 2. However, certain situ-
  ations call for certain specific plays.
  If West switches to ♦3, declarer
  will play ♦4 from dummy, beating
  East’s ♦J with ♦K then finessing
  dummy’s ♦10 to avoid a loser.
  Leading ♦9 won’t work either —
  after ♦9,♦10,♦J, ♦K, declarer can
  run the ♦8. West must switch specif-
  ically to♦Q to prevent declarer from
  winning all three diamond tricks.
  HHooowwwwtthheeDDeefffffffffffeeeeeenncceewwweeeenntt
  West led ♦K, continued with ♦Q
  and switched at trick three to♣Q.
  The unfortunate mirror shapes
  meant declarer was faced with a
  third-round loser in both clubs and
  hearts. However, dummy’s ♥ 109
  offered interesting possibilities.
  After winning♣K, declarer drew
  trumps, crossed to♣A and exited
  with♣ 9. West won ♣J and had to
  open up hearts — to lead a dia-
  mond would give a ruff-and-dis-
  card, enabling declarer to ruff in
  one hand and shed a heart from the
  other. West chose to lead the nor-
  mal-looking ♥3. No good — the
  trick went ♥3, ♥9,♥J, ♥A, where-
  upon declarer could finesse
  dummy’s♥10 and chalk up their
  game without losing a heart.
  HHHooooooooowwwwtttthhhhheeDDeeeeffffffffffffffeeeeeennnnccceeeesshhoouullddhhaaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeegggoooonnee
  West should have exited with ♥Q
  — it’s their only chance. Declarer
  can (and perhaps should) still suc-
  yy
  ceed by winning♥Q with ♥K and
  running ♥10. However, if declarer
  places ♥J with West for♥Q lead,
  they’ll win♥Q with ♥A and lead to
  ♥10. And down they’ll go.
  [email protected]
  ygyg
  Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither
  N
  W E
  S
  ♠Q109 64
  ♥K
  ♦ 43
  ♣A9 4
  ♠AKJ 52
  ♥A 84
  ♦ 72
  ♣K8 6
  ♠-
  ♥J 752
  ♦A108 65
  ♣ 7532
  ♠ 873
  ♥Q6 3
  ♦KQJ
  ♣QJ1 0
  Contract: 4♠, Opening Lead: ♦K
  1 ♠ Pass 3 ♠ Pass
  4 ♠ End
  S W N E
  Bridge Andrew Robson
  3,&. -(:(//(
  $ 2 % / $ $
  3529(5% 21(
  ( / 2 2 ' (
  5(%87 :,1./(
  6 / 8 6 2 7
  $/36 $-$
  $ & $ , ' %
  81.(037 1(67$

• 2 $ 7 5
  87851 $7/($
  6 7 & ( / 2
  78662&.6 :,&.
  Sudoku 12,
  Killer 7484
  Sudoku 12,
  Killer 7485
  Sudoku 12,
  8458 Quick Cryptic 1763