The Times - UK (2021-12-22)

22.12.21

Word watch Sudoku Difficult No 12,879 Fiendish No 12,880 Super fiendish No 12,881
David Parfitt

Golconda
a A rich source of any
commodity
b A Brazilian variant of
handball
c A valuable painting

Congé
a A partially frozen
dessert
b An energetic dance
c Formal permission to
leave

Haptic
a Prone to error
b Relating to the sense
of touch
c Sevenfold

Answers on page 11

The Times Quick Cryptic No 2032 by Orpheus

Across

1 Unsuitable environment for

Republican poet (4)

4 Refined European press chief

(8)

8 Snowstorm initially battering

reptile, it’s said (8)

9 Time to go back and make

improvements (4)

10 Eager to express grief (4)

11 Possesses objects Henry lost in

battle (8)

12 Dazed state disorientating

Proust (6)

14 Trendy group securing start of

county cricket, perhaps (6)

16 Dryer hotel cat damaged (3,5)

18 Vehicle used on farm? About

right (4)

19 Eg Sikes’s account (4)

20 Example of fashionable

attitude (8)

22 Poisonous plant identified by

male sailor (8)

23 Depart hurriedly, biting insect

being heard (4)

Down

2 Illness doctor met in LA (7)

3 Have forty winks before noon?

No, twelve (5)

4 Vegetable eaten at first in

Pennsylvania (3)

5 Female metalworker in once

besieged city (9)

6 Class extremely impressive in

glasses (7)

7 Observing the old up in

Gateshead at first (5)

11 Initially how any respectable

girl makes a wind instrument

(9)

13 Chose to cross lake, being the

worse for wear (7)

15 Start to consult adviser,

making small boat (7)

17 Girl from United States,

leaving in the morning (5)

18 Tease husband in popular

eating-place (5)

21 Institute legal proceedings

against university in Home

Counties (3)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

10 11

12 13 14 15

16 17 18

19 20 21

22 23

Yesterday’s solution on page 11

© PUZZLER MEDIA

15

ALAMY

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.

Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so

that the number in each circle is equal to

the sum of the four surrounding spaces,

and each colour total is correct

The Times Daily Quiz Olav Bjortomt

Answers on page 11

1 The SABC is the
public broadcaster in
which African country?

2 In December 1997,
Microsoft acquired
which free web-based
email service for
$400 million?

3 Which Balearic
island is larger than
Ibiza and smaller
than Mallorca?

4 Hot-dip galvanising is
the most common
procedure for coating
steel with which metal?

5 Which war memorial
in London SW1 derives
its name from the Greek
for “empty tomb”?

6 Which Japanese
loanword is used for one
of the five basic tastes?

7 Which 2019 album by

Harry Styles features

the singles Watermelon

Sugar and Adore You?

8 Anne Boleyn’s

Gateway is a passage

found in which palace

on the River Thames?

9 Which US jazz

pianist scored the 1966

Michelangelo Antonioni

film Blow-Up?

10 The perentie

(Varanus giganteus)

is Australia’s largest

what?

11 Mount Karisimbi is

the highest peak in

which volcanic

mountains of east-

central Africa?

12 Existing from 1967

to 1990, what was the

only communist state in

the Arab world?

13 Which swimming-

pool-based game of

tag is named after a

Venetian explorer?

14 The Winnipeg

Blue Bombers recently

beat the Hamilton

Tiger-Cats to win the

108th what?

15 Which beautiful but

poisonous flower is

pictured?

Suko No 3366

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