The Times - UK (2021-11-10)

the times | Wednesday November 10 2021 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 13 words, average;

18, good; 22, very good; 26, excellent

 
 

 


 
 

 



 



 


 


   


 


 
 

PRIEST

AR

TA

CMOAN

AU C

NIMBLE

TD

BUBBLE

NOC

PAGODA

SD

TOE

Kakuro 3041

Futoshiki 4082 Lexica 6084

Cell Blocks 4311 Set Square 3044 Lexica 6083

Suko 3330

Train Tracks 1475

Word watch

Adytum (b) A place in a temple

inaccessible to the laity (Collins)

Siddha (b) A person who has

attained perfection (Chambers)

Stroam (c) To wander about

idly (OED)

1 Qh6! threatens both mate

and the h2-bishop so 1 ... Be5 is

forced. Now 2 Rh1 Rfd8 (or

anywhere along the back rank)

3 Qxh7+ Kf8 and White finishes

with 4 Qh8+! Bxh8 5 Rxh8 mate

Chess — Winning Move

1 Coven

2 Wince

3 Parsec

4 Medicate

5 Seagoing

Quintagram

1 Maria 2 Apple 3 Utopia 4 Abigail’s Party. The title

refers to another party taking place at the same time

5 Peloponnesian War 6 Derbyshire 7 The Wife of

Bath’s Prologue 8 The Juilliard School 9 The Stand

10 Stray Cats 11 Miracle in Milan 12 George Fenton

13 Sonic the Hedgehog — in Sonic Adventure 2

14 National netball team. The team is also known as

the “Vitality Roses” 15 Hugh Gaitskell

Quiz

Easy 49; Medium 348; Harder 3,178

Brain Trainer

Yesterday’s answers

aim, ambo, axiom, balm, bam, boma,

iamb, lam, lamb, limb, limbo, limo, loam,

mail, mailbox, max, maxi, mil, milo, mix,

moa, mob, moil, mol, mola, moxa, olm

times2 CrosswordNo 8745 Brain Trainer

ANSWER

EASY 28

ANSWER

MEDIUM^84

ANSWER

HARDER 56 x 7

+ 13 – 5

70%

OF IT

40%

OF IT

+ 93

(^3) / 5
OF IT

• ÷ 2 50%
  OF IT
  SQUARE
  IT


• 65 x 4 50%
  OF IT
  x 4 + 298


• 12 + 5^6
  (^1) /
  OF IT
  (^3) / 4
  OF IT
  x 2 – 18 + 79^4
  (^3) /
  OF IT


• 397 – 581 + 978^2
  (^1) /
  OF IT


• 
  

  Across
  7 Hangman's rope (5)
  8 Mythical man-horse (7)
  9 Place to sleep (7)
  10 Betting odds (5)
  11 Always (4)
  12 To a small degree (8)
  15 Move from location (8)
  16 Young sheep (4)
  19 Clocklike device (5)
  21 Become more viscous (7)
  22 Giant conifer (7)
  23 Wear away (5)
  Down
  1 Make possible (6)
  2 Volume of sound (8)
  3 Argentinian dictator (5)
  4 Speak with great hostility
  (against) (7)
  5 Uncontrollable anger (4)
  6 Reliable, faithful (6)
  8 Intricate (11)
  13 Expression of gratitude (5,3)
  14 Shrill war trumpet (7)
  15 Feeble old person (6)
  17 Woman's hat (6)
  18 Banknote (5)
  20 Way (of living/behaving) (4)
  Solution to Crossword 8744
  1 2 3 4 5 6
  7 8
  9 10
  11 12 13
  14
  15 16 17
  18
  19 20 21
  22 23
  CHICKENOUT
  P C A O X U E
  REALISM PANIC
  E V L M O C H
  SLOB EINSTEIN
  U R O T U I
  MATRIX TRAGIC
  P N I E U A
  TRACTION RI LL
  U B M D G T I
  OZONE INEXACT
  U V N N A R Y
  SWEETHEART
  Cell Blocks No 4312
  © PUZZLER MEDIA
  Polygon Set Square No 3045
  Please note, BODMAS does not apply
  Killer Tricky No 8010 Solutions
  Killer Deadly No 8011
  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).
  Five Instructive Themes (FIT)

  
  

10. Signal and Discard
    (b) Intelligent attitude
    Good signalling hugely improves
    defensive accuracy, cutting down
    guesswork. In the basic attitude sig-
    nal, you play an unnecessarily high
    card as a wake-up call to tell part-
    ner you’re keen on their lead and
    want her to continue. If you don’t
    like her lead and don’t want her to
    continue, play your lowest card.
    Use logic when making your
    signal. You may be quite keen on
    partner’s lead but, if you want the
    obvious switch even more, it’s
    wiser to discourage.
    Conversely, you may not be that
    keen on partner’s lead. However, if
    you want the obvious switch even
    less, you should encourage.
    On both Deals A and B, West
    has overcalled 2♥ and leads ♥A v
    4 ♠. How should you signal?
    Deal A. Although you hold ♥Q,
    the equal honour (to ♥AK), you
    should discourage (playing ♥5 —
    not very low but you hope partner
    can observe ♥234, so can work out
    it’s your lowest). Partner has adver-
    tised at least five hearts, so declarer
    has at most two. Leaving that aside,
    playing a discouraging low heart
    effectively tells partner you want
    the obvious switch — clearly, look-
    ing at dummy, a diamond. Perfect.
    At trick two, West switches to
    ♦J, top of two. You beat dummy’s
    ♦K with ♦A, cash ♦Q and,
    because partner would not have
    switched to ♦J from three cards,
    lead a third diamond. West ruffs
    and that’s one down.
    Deal B. You are looking at ♠AK.
    If you can only get partner to lead
    ♥K, 4♠ is down (assuming declarer
    holds a second heart). You should
    encourage by playing ♥9, even
    though you cannot ruff the third
    round. West will cash ♥K and lead a
    third heart, momentarily perplexed
    as to why you encouraged. She’ll
    soon be happy though, with ♠AK
    taking two more tricks. One down.
    Note, on ♦10 switch (West’s
    natural defence if you play ♥2),
    declarer wins ♦Q, crosses to ♣A,
    returns to ♦K and cashes ♣KQ,
    dumping ♥Q10. Game made.
    [email protected]
    Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither
    N
    W E
    S
    1 ♠ 2 ♥ 4 ♠ End
    S W N E
    ♠ 87
    ♥Q95
    ♦AQ853
    ♣J83
    ♠J9632
    ♥ 1074
    ♦K109
    ♣AK
    ♠AKQ104
    ♥ 6
    ♦ 764
    ♣Q1064
    ♠ 5
    ♥AKJ832
    ♦J2
    ♣ 9752
    N
    W E
    S
    ♠AK
    ♥ 952
    ♦ 7654
    ♣J1084
    ♠J96532
    ♥Q107
    ♦J32
    ♣A
    ♠Q10874
    ♥ 63
    ♦AKQ
    ♣KQ6
    ♠-
    ♥AKJ84
    ♦ 1098
    ♣ 97532
    A
    B
    1 ♠ 2 ♥ 4 ♠ End
    S W N E
    Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither
    Bridge Andrew Robson
    BRANCH TYRANT
    E N L O S U
    RETS INA SUPER
    E E P L E E B
    FINDFLAMINGO
    T N I E I T
    AXMINSTER
    M M D E A T
    ONEHORSE KNOW
    R R B U G S I
    SAUDI PAYWALL
    E P L R C I
    LITTERROCKET
    Sudoku 12,780
    Killer 8008
    Sudoku 12,781
    Killer 8009
    Sudoku 12,782
    Quick Cryptic 2001
    KenKen 5420
    Codeword 4428
    65 + 3 9 x 19 19 + 9 25 x 11
    28 x 7 56 + 4 4 x 62 28 + 7
    25 + 11 4 x 56 17 + 14 3 x 65
    17x1425+825x862+4
    31 195
    238 33 200 66
    36 224
    28 275
    196 60 248 35
    68 171
    Tetonor 203