the times | Wednesday January 19 2022 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 11 words, average;
15, good; 20, very good; 25, excellent
89 1235
897 251483
13 413 241
4213 71
2135789 79
97 2568931
21 5312
986 976 98
793186 986
5123 76
D R
C A R E S S
I G W
S N I D E
O E
P L A N E T
A P
A V O W A L
I N
W A N D E R
R I A
Y E N
Locutory (c) A room for
conversation in a monastery
(Collins)
Bethel (c) A seaman’s chapel
(OED)
Clavis (b) A clue or aid for
solving problems (Chambers)
1 ... Qxc3+! 2 bxc3 Ba3 is mate
Kakuro 3091
Futoshiki 4132 Lexica 6184
Cell Blocks 4371 Set Square 3094 Lexica 6183
Suko 3390
Train Tracks 1532
Word watch
Chess — Winning Move
1 Fly
2 Middle
3 Bantam
4 Cruiser
5 Makeweight
Quintagram
1 Gold 2 Harpic 3 Stephen King 4 Guitar 5 Ed
Sheeran 6 Sten gun 7 Eduardo Saverin 8 Louis Wain
— in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain 9 Naomi Klein
10 The Alarm 11 Susan Ross 12 The Burial of Sir John
Moore at Corunna 13 Ratchet & Clank 14 Sonny Liston
15 Rachel Cusk
Quiz
Easy 93; Medium 355; Harder 2,148
Brain Trainer
Yesterday’s answers
berm, bice, bier, bio, biome, biro, boer,
bore, boric, brim, brio, bro, brome, cob,
comb, combe, comber, combi, corbie,
crib, cribo, microbe, mob, mobe, obi,
ombre, orb, rib, rob, robe
times2 Crossword No 8805 Brain Trainer
Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end.
ANSWER
EASY 13
ANSWER
MEDIUM^56
ANSWER
HARDER 247
+ 4 + 14
+ 78
+ 887
x 2
+ 89
+ 975
+ 16
/ 2
OF IT
+^1
- 13
- 885
x 4
- 77 /^2
OF IT
+^1 50%
OF IT
/ 6
OF IT
5
/ 6
OF IT
+^1
x 2
/ 6
OF IT
5
x 3
/ 2
OF IT
(^1) – 687
60%
OF IT
- 8 /^8
OF IT
7
- 76 + 60%
OF IT
Across
4 Indicate by suggestion (5)
7 Quibble about trivial
points (8)
8 Come down; country (4)
9 Removed contaminants
from (8)
10 Actor (6)
13 Main meal (6)
14 Brain's outer layer (6)
15 Put money into shares,
property, etc (6)
18 Jail (8)
19 Peaceful, undisturbed (4)
20 Becoming visible (8)
21 Tall conifer (5)
Down
1 Spread irregularly (6)
2 (Of food) heavy (6)
3 Fastener (6)
4 Combustion's start (8)
5 Card game for one (8)
6 Over there (6)
11 Plane's velocity (8)
12 Cosmetic (8)
14 Place for treatment (6)
15 Pay no heed to (6)
16 Person harmed by crime (6)
17 Type of fodder (6)
Solution to Crossword 8804
T2 CROSSWORD No 8805
1 2 3 4 5 6
7
8 9
10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17
18 19
20
21
ABSORB BALM
O P A S T N A
REEDS WHISKER
T C T E P L S
AGITATE TEETH
A T O Y
GLOVEPUPPET
A O O N
FI LLY TODDLER
R O A A E A H
INSIGHT PARRY
C E E O T G M
AGRA CHEESE
Cell BlocksNo 4372
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Polygon Set SquareNo 3095
Please note, BODMAS does not apply
Killer Tricky No 8120 Solutions
Killer Deadly No 8121
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)
12. Hand Evaluation
(b) Living In Sin (LIS)
“Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”
Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.
You open 1NT with 13 points —
middle of your range — and part-
ner invites game by bidding 2NT.
Do you accept? Do you feel lucky?
It’s more than luck — it’s hand
evaluation. There are good 13s and
bad 13s. There are three main fac-
tors — with the three-letter
acronym LIS as an aide-memoire.
L for Length. If you have a five-
card suit in your 1NT, that’s good.
And 4432 is better than 4333, for
you have two four-card suits with
which to make length winners.
I is for Intermediates. The
point-count method treats the ten
(and the nine) very harshly.
Particularly in the context of two
balanced hands playing Notrumps,
tens are worth about half a point.
S is for sequences. It is so much
easier winning tricks when your
high cards are sequential rather
than “gappy”.
Naturally, the LIS criteria over-
lap, such that a suit of, say,
♦AJ1092 is massive, worth way
more than its five high-card-point
value.
You open 1NT and partner raises
to 2NT. What now with these?
With the first, pass in a flash.
What a dreary 13-count, failing
each of the LIS criteria.
The second 1NT opener contains
only 12 points, however I would
accept the invitation in a flash. I love
my clubs and I have all four tens.
This hand is as good as most 14s.
The third is a decent 13 and,
given the five-card suit, it’s clear to
accept. However, you should bid
3 ♥ to show five cards and offer a
choice of games — if partner has
three hearts, she’ll raise to 4♥.
You win West’s ♠Q lead (not ♠ 6
— giving up a cheap trick) with ♠K
(East signalling with ♠2 — she’d
encourage if she held ♠10). At trick
two, you lead ♣2 to ♣8, the deep
finesse. West wins ♣K and, unable
profitably to lead spades, switches to
♥8. East wins ♥A and leads ♠8.
You win ♠A, cross to ♦K and lead
♣4 to ♣9, West discarding. You
cross to ♦A and lead ♣5 to (♣ 10
and) ♣J. The ♣A fells East’s ♣Q
and you enjoy ♣3 and ♥K. Nine
tricks. [email protected]
N
W E
S
1NT Pass 2♣(1) Pass
2 ♦(2) Pass 2NT Pass
3NT(3) End
(1) Stayman, asking for four-card majors.
(2) No four-card major.
(3) Accepting the invitation, despite the
minimum point-count, because of the five
five-card club suit (the ♣98 are valuable —
indeed made all the difference) and two
side tens.
S W N E
♠ 872
♥AQ102
♦ 95
♣Q1076
♠K4
♥J953
♦AK64
♣ 542
♠A105
♥K4
♦ 1082
♣AJ983
♠QJ963
♥ 876
♦QJ73
♣K
♠KJ2
♥Q42
♦ 8742
♣AQJ
♠A103
♥KJ982
♦KQ4
♣ 102
♠ 108
♥AJ10
♦Q107
♣AJ1093
Dealer: South
Vul: Neither
Bridge Andrew Robson
A D V O C A T E A C H E
M I O A O R
A R S O N R E B E C C A
T I S I L O S
E A T I N F L U E N C E
U D F N U
R A P I E R E D I T O R
L R S E E
C H A R A C T E R E L M
U T T A B X O
P R O V E R B U T T E R
I O L S R S
D O N E S E A S C A P E
Sudoku 12,940
Killer 8118
Sudoku 12,941
Killer 8119
Sudoku 12,942
Quick Cryptic 2051
KenKen 5480
Codeword 4488
41 x 7 9 + 27 7 x 10 7 + 41
5 + 18 27 x 9 10 + 7 18 x 5
(^) 12 x 7 24 + 12 5 x 55 7 + 12
55 + 5 6 x 11 6 + 11 24 x 12
5 5 6 7 7 7 9 10 11 12 12 18 24 27 41 55
275 19
60 66 17 288
84 36
70 48
23 243 17 90
287 36
Tetonor 223