The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-06)

The Sunday Times February 6, 2022 27

NEWS REVIEW

CODEWORD

KENKEN

TETONOR

5 x 39 12 x 3 16 x 6 5 + 39

29 + 6 29 x 6 9 + 11 9 x 11

57 + 4 25 + 3 57 x 4 16 + 6

6 + 41 25 x 3 3 + 12 41 x 6

228 22

47 75 15 246

61 28

96 44

35 174 20 99

195 36

SUDOKU 1468

SUDOKU WARM-UP

KILLER SUDOKU

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

necessarily all different) on

each of their faces. I throw

the two dice and add the two

numbers that are showing on

the top faces. The probability

of a total of 2 is 1/64, the

probability of a total of 3 is

2/64 and so on. The

probabilities of the totals are

the same as for a pair of

standard octahedral dice

(each numbered 1 to 8).

Interestingly, however, the

highest number on the first

die is 11.

What are the eight

numbers (in ascending

order) on the second die?

Michael Fletcher

Wonky Dice

I have two octahedral (eight-

faced) dice. There are positive

whole numbers (not

TEASER 3098

Sally Brock

This was one of the most

exciting boards in the final of

the South African National

Pairs Championship.

NS vulnerable, Dealer West

I will present the auction as it

occurred, though it may need

a bit of explaining:

Our two diamond opening

shows a very weak hand (at

most 7 HCP) with a long major

(most likely only five cards at

this vulnerability and

position). North’s overcall was

obvious and my double asked

partner to pass if he had

spades. South, with just about

the best hand at the table, was

unsure what would be

forcing, so made the one bid

he knew would be: three

hearts. North rebid spades, I

showed my diamonds, and

South thought using

Blackwood might help. West

decided to test his opponents’

knowledge of their system

and South bid what he

CHESS

It is tradition in Wijk aan Zee for

the organisers to invite the

world’s brightest young talents

to their “B-Group”. The 2022

edition was dominated by

India’s latest superstar, Arjun

Erigaisi. The 18-year-old scored

eight wins and five draws to

secure a place among the elite

in next year’s A-Group.

Erigaisi’s opponents were

unable to deal with the

relentless volley of tactics

thrown at them.

White: Max Warmerdam

Black: Arjun Erigaisi

Tata Steel Challengers,

Wijk aan Zee 2022

Catalan Opening

1 c4 e6 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 Nf6 4 Nf3

Be7 5 d4 0-0 6 0-0 dxc4 7 Qc2

b5 8 a4 b4 9 Nfd2 Nd5 10 Nxc4

c5 11 dxc5 Bxc5 12 e4 Nb6 13

Ncd2 N8d7 14 a5 The black

knight is trapped, but the tricks

are only just beginning. 14...Ba6

15 axb6 Rc8 Every move arrives

with a threat. 16 Rxa6? This

tempting sequence backfires. 16

Qd1 is safest, evacuating the c-

file. After 16...Qxb6 the position

remains sharp. 16...Bxf2+ 17

Kxf2 Rxc2 18 bxa7 White has

three minor pieces for a queen

and the a7-pawn appears

dangerous. Erigaisi has seen

further, however. 18...Nb6! The

knight keeps an eye on a8 while

the black queen prepares to

target the enemy monarch. 19

Kg1 Qc8 Simple yet brutal. The

queen creates a double-attack

against the a6-rook and c1-

bishop. 20 Rxb6 Qc5+ Another

double-attack ends White’s

resistance. 21 Kh1 Qxb6 22 Nf3

Qxa7 23 Bf4 Rxb2 24 Nbd2

Qa2 25 Rc1 Rd8 White resigns

The material deficit is too great.

In the final round Erigaisi

finished a promising endgame

with panache.

White: Marc’Andria Maurizzi

Black: Arjun Erigaisi

Tata Steel Challengers,

Wijk aan Zee 2022

Black’s e-pawn is one step away

from promotion. Erigaisi finds

a sophisticated way to block the

a5-bishop, the sole guardian of

the e1-square. 62...Rc3! 62...

Nc3+? would jeopardise the

win: 63 Bxc3+ Rxc3 64 Rd7+ Ke3

65 Re7+. White resigned since

63 Bxc3+ Nxc3+ gains time for

64...e1Q next move.

Spot the Move 1309:

White to play.

Dardha-Shuvalova, Wijk aan

Zee 2022. Can you find the

artistic winning blow for White?

Send your solution (first move only), to Sunday Times Spot the Move 1309,

The Sunday Times, PO Box 29, Colchester, Essex CO2 8GZ, or email to

[email protected]. The first correct answer drawn after next

Saturday wins a £20 Waterstones voucher. Open to 18+ UK & ROI residents only.

David Howell BRIDGE

♠ K Q J 10 8

♥ 9

♦ J 5 2

♣ A 8 7 4

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♠ 9 7 2

♥ 7 6 5 4 3 2

♦ 10 9 8 3

♣ –

♠ 5 3

♥ A J 10

♦ A K Q 7 6 4

♣ J 5

♠ A 6 4

♥ K Q 8

♦ –

♣ K Q 10 9 6 3 2

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West North East South

2 ♦ 2 ♠ Dble 3 ♥

Pass 3 ♠ 4 ♦ 4NT

5 ♦ Pass Pass 6 ♣

Pass 6 ♠ Pass Pass

Dble 7 ♣ Dble All Pass

thought he could make.

North went back to spades

and West made a Lightner

double, hoping for a club

lead, so North retreated to

clubs, hoping there might be

thirteen tricks on the wrong

lead. This time there was no

wrong lead, but West led a

heart anyway and that was

one down. Whew! A top score

for us.

Last week’s problem

West leads the diamond three.

Declarer plays low from

dummy and you, East win

your king. What now?

You can’t expect partner to

have any high cards. Your best

chance is to switch to the club

jack! Declarer will play an

honour and you watch

carefully for partner’s card. If

he plays a high card you can

play him for a doubleton, but

if he plays low, continue with

a low club when you are in

with the ace of trumps and

hope declarer plays you for

the ten.

Send your solution to: The Sunday

Times Teaser 3098, PO Box 29,

Colchester, Essex CO2 8GZ or email

[email protected].

The first two correct solutions opened

after next Saturday each win a £20

Waterstones voucher. Open to 18+ UK &

ROI residents only.

entropy, entry, eyot, henry, honey,

horny, hype, hyper, hyperon, hypo,

penny, pennywort, pennyworth, peony,

phoney, phony, poetry, pony, prey,

pyre, python, rhyton, ropey, ropy, ryot,

theory, thewy, they, thorny, toey, tony,

towery, towy, trey, trophy, troy,

twopenny, type, typo, tyre, tyro, whey,

worthy, wrythen, wynn, yore

MEPHISTO 3205

Across: 1 Crated, 5 Stedde, 10 Regolith, 11 Orang, 13 Marsh, 15 Terence, 16 Plied, 17 Prison,

18 Demissive, 19 Mercaptan, 24 Uptore, 26 Beare, 27 Row port, 29 Avail, 30 Clour, 31 Stomatic,

32 Ergate, 33 New-Age Down: 1 Croupy, 2 Agamid, 3 Tonk, 4 Distemperate, 5 Strepitation, 6 Elaeis,

7 Derns, 8 Discovert, 9 Ethene, 12 Gade, 14 Sleepover, 19 Murage, 20 Copita, 21 Abac, 22 Lakota,

23 Pearce, 25 Twang, 28 Flaw

WEATHER

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE JUMBO CROSSWORD 303

Across: 1 Plutocrats, 7 Fray Bentos, 12 Lusaka, 13 Nods off, 14 Rocket, 15 Esso Blue, 16 Napier’s bones,

17 Fraternal, 18 Syntax, 22 Scafell Pike, 24 Biathlon, 26 Arthur Lowe, 28 Goldie Hawn, 29 Analysis,

30 Parachutist, 32 Planar, 34 Dave Myers, 39 James Stewart, 40 Crediton, 41 Si King, 42 L-plates,

43 Avesta, 44 Flat season, 45 Sunglasses

Down: 2 Louis Armstrong, 3 Toad of Toad Hall, 4 Crawler, 5 Annie Hall, 6 Siding, 7 Foot passengers,

8 Alfred Nobel, 9 Barista, 10 Nachos, 11 O-level, 19 Miles per gallon, 20 The Hairy Bikers,

21 Hot-water bottle, 23 Euros, 25 Adieu, 27 Orson Welles, 31 Chances on, 33 Lasagne, 35 Eyeball,

36 Facial, 37 Heriot, 38 Otitis

POLYGON

Winners Crossword 4990 J Brown, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, N Browning, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, D Meechie, London E1, J Whitmarsh, Linton, Kent Mephisto

3203 M Lawlor, Middleton, Greater Manchester, R Bell, Helston, Cornwall, E Bundred, Liverpool, P Bush, Seaview, Isle of Wight, P Harrison, Blackpool, Lancashire Teaser 3095

C Archer, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, S Wood, Wolverhampton, West Midlands Chess 1306 S Foale, Farnham, Surrey Sudoku 1466 C Forde, Wallington, Greater London

Amsterdam 9C r

Athens 13 f

Auckland 23 th

Bangkok 34 f

Barcelona 15 s

Beijing 4 f

Belgrade 10 f

Berlin 6 r

Bogota 17 th

Boston -3 f

Brussels 9 r

Budapest 7 f

Buenos Aires 23 f

Cairo 19 f

Calgary 3 f

Cape Town 29 f

Caracas 23 th

Casablanca 20 f

Chicago -1 r

Dubai 21 s

Dublin 9 sh

Geneva 7 sh

Gibraltar 16 f

Guatemala 25 f

Helsinki 1 sn

Hong Kong 17 r

Istanbul 10 f

Jersey 11 sh

Johannesburg 23 th

La Paz 11 sh

Lagos 28 th

Lima 24 f

Lisbon 18 s

London 10C sh

Los Angeles 23 s

Madrid 13 s

Mexico City 22 f

Miami 25 th

Moscow -4 sl

Nairobi 24 th

New Delhi 22 s

New Orleans 14 s

New York -1 f

Oslo -0 f

Panama 31 th

Paris 11 r

Prague 6 r

Rio de Janeiro 31 th

Rome 15 f

San Francisco 16 f

Santiago 32 s

Seoul -1 s

Seychelles 28 s

Singapore 28 th

Stockholm 3 f

Sydney 23 sh

Tel Aviv 16 sh

Tenerife 18 f

Tokyo 7 f

Toronto -4 f

Trinidad 28 th

Tunis 18 f

Venice 11 f

Vienna 9 f

Warsaw 4 r

Washington DC 2 s

AROUND THE WORLD

Key c=cloud, dr=drizzle, ds=dust storm, f=fair, fg=fog, g=gales, h=hail,

m=mist, r=rain, sh=showers, sl=sleet, sn=snow, s=sun, th=thunder, w=windy

¬ Staying mainly dry with

sunny spells across Iberia and

the western Mediterranean

¬ Mainly dry across Italy

with sunny spells, but a few

isolated showers along the

west coast

¬ Dry across much of the

Balkans, including Greece

although a few showers in

Croatia later

¬ Windy with rain and

showers spreading into

France, the Low Countries,

Germany, Denmark, Poland

and the Alps, with snow over

higher ground

¬ Snow across the Baltic,

but drier in Ukraine and

southwestern Russia

¬ Mainly dry across

Scandinavia with snow

showers near the coast

of Norway and in eastern

EUROPE

THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday

Rain in the north

and west, sunny

spells in the south.

Max 13C

Tuesday

Dry in the south,

rain and showers

elsewhere.

Max 14C

Wednesday

Wintry showers in

the north, drier in

the southeast.

Max 13C

Thursday

Sunny spells in the

southeast, wintry

showers in the

north. Max 9C

Friday

Mostly dry, wintry

showers in the far

north and west.

Max 10C

Saturday

Rain spread in

from the north

and west.

Max 11C

SUN, STREET LIGHTS & MOON

NIGHT SKY

Aberdeen 07:57 16:47 07:55 09:54 23:56

Belfast 08:03 17:12 08:01 10:13 00:06(Mon)

Birmingham 07:40 17:02 07:38 09:59 23:45

Bristol 07:40 17:08 07:38 10:03 23:46

Cardiff 07:42 17:10 07:40 10:06 23:49

Cork 08:05 17:30 08:03 10:26 00:11(Mon)

Dublin 08:00 17:17 07:58 10:16 00:05(Mon)

Glasgow 08:01 17:01 07:59 10:04 00:02(Mon)

London 07:30 16:58 07:28 09:54 23:36

Manchester 07:44 17:01 07:43 10:00 23:49

Newcastle 07:47 16:53 07:45 09:55 23:49

Norwich 07:28 16:49 07:26 09:47 23:32

Plymouth 07:43 17:17 07:41 10:11 23:51

Sun

rises

Sun sets/

lights on

Lights

off

Moon

rises

Moon

sets

17

11 12

10

6

10

2

10

11

2

6

2

1

12

13

6

36

10

10

8

12

13

37

12

12

8

13

13

40

12

9

5

7

11

37

7

6

4

6

17

10

8

7

5

6

20

26

9

7

6

9

17

TODAY’S WEATHER

UK and Ireland forecast

A cloudy start with outbreaks of rain across southern England

and Wales, heavy in places. Rain will clear the southeast by

midday leaving sunny spells and blustery showers. Elsewhere,

there will be a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers,

wintry in the north and across Scotland, perhaps with a few

rumbles of thunder in western Scotland. Gusty winds are

likely across much of the UK and Ireland

REGIONAL FORECASTS

London, SE England

Rain at first, sunny spells and blustery showers later. Gusty

westerly winds. Max 11C. Tonight, dry and frosty. Min -1C

Midlands, E England

Early rain clearing to sunshine and blustery showers. Strong

westerly winds. Max 9C. Tonight, dry and frosty. Min -2C

Channel Is, SW and Cent S England, S Wales

Cloudy with rain giving way to sunshine and showers. Strong

westerly winds. Max 12C. Tonight, dry and frosty. Min -1C

N Wales, NW England, Isle of Man

Sunny spells and blustery showers, wintry on high ground.

Strong westerly winds. Max 9C. Tonight, icy in places. Min -2C

Cent N and NE England

Sunny intervals and frequent wintry showers. Strong westerly

winds. Max 7C. Tonight, dry with frost and ice. Min -3C

Scotland

Wintry showers with snow over higher ground. Fresh westerly

winds. Max 7C. Tonight, dry and icy in places. Min -6C

N Ireland, Republic of Ireland

Frequent showers. Strong to gale force northwesterly winds.

Max 11C. Tonight, mainly dry, rain in the west later. Min -1C

11

11

8

3

3

6

8

45

37

40

36

rough

rough

rough

rough

TODAY’S SOLUTIONS

CONCISE CROSSWORD 1767

Across: 1 Canary, 5 Digit, 8 Sotto voce, 10 Hatful,

11 Bali, 12 Coincident, 14 Responsive, 16 Gale,

18 Yoicks, 20 Atrocious, 21 Regal, 22 Snitch

Down: 1 Chota, 2 Nitric, 3 Revisionist, 4 Idea,

6 Gaffer, 7 Telltale, 9 Chuck it down, 11 Betrayer,

13 Asking, 15 Egoist, 17 Laugh, 19 Kale

SPOT THE MOVE 1308

1 Rxd7! wins: 1...Nxd7 2 Be6. Black’s knight

is lost, and the d6-pawn will soon promote

TEASER 3097

£32

CROSSWORD 4992

Across: 1 Watching briefs, 10 Atrophy, 11 Faddish, 12 Isosceles, 13 Outdo, 14 Butt in, 15 Corundum,

18 Rock star, 20 Plates, 23 Pasty, 25 Coriander, 26 Adamant, 27 Viscous, 28 Nudist colonies

Down: 2 Airport, 3 Capuchins, 4 Idylls, 5 Gift shop, 6 Radio, 7 Evicted, 8 Schoolmistress,

9 Salisbury plain, 16 Ugly as sin, 17 Narcotic, 19 Custard, 21 Tadpole, 22 Travel, 24 Yeats

SUKO CELL BLOCKS

♠ K J 9 6 5 4

♥ A 7

♦ A 7

♣ 8 5 4

(^) N
W E
S
♠ 7 3
♥ 9 8 6 5
♦ J 9 6 3
♣ 10 6 3
♠ A 2
♥ Q J 10
♦ K 10 5 4 2
♣ A J 7
♠ Q 10 8
♥ K 4 3 2
♦ Q 8
♣ K Q 9 2
West North East South
1NT *
Pass 2 ♥ ** Pass 2 ♠
Pass 4 ♠ All Pass

• 12-14 ** transfer to spades
  Jupiter is bright but low in the WSW as our
  evening twilight dims. The Moon is in Pisces
  tonight and, after moving through Aries, sits in
  Taurus on Wednesday, lying between the
  Pleiades and Taurus’s leading star, Aldebaran. It
  then tracks above Orion into Gemini. The
  brilliant Venus rises in the ESE by 5.30am and
  stands 8° high in the SE at 6.30am. Alan Pickup
  If my favourite
  restaurant has
  run out of
  cash, can I still
  order the fish?
  Jeremy
  Clarkson
  and hand it over to me. That was the
  natural order of things.
  Not any more, and that’s a worry,
  because here’s what I know. People who
  roam the world buying businesses are
  able to use private jets to do their
  roaming because they always win. To
  you, a contract is a legally binding thing.
  To them, it’s a basis on which
  negotiations can begin. These days,
  when you do a deal with an American
  operation, the contracts are often not
  signed at all, because as soon as the ink
  hits the paper, the lawyers can get to
  work. And no one wants that.
  Over the years I’ve done some
  business stuff, and every single time I
  vow that I’ll never do it again, because
  I’m always out of my depth. I never
  know what anyone is talking about until
  someone comes round and tells me I’ve
  got to hand over a quarter of a million
  pounds. Then, when I look surprised,
  they point to page 96 of the small print,
  paragraph 4, subsection 2b, which
  always says, “Blah blah blah you will
  then hand over £250,000.”
  It’s strange. When we go into a casino,
  we know we’re going to be walking
  home afterwards, and when we go to a
  bookie’s, we know we aren’t going to be
  passing Go and collecting £200 shortly
  thereafter. But when we take a cash
  injection to help our business expand,
  we think we’ve won. When in fact
  we’ve just set out on an often very
  short Stella-fuelled walk to the nearest
  railway arch.
  So why don’t we all just take it steady
  and build our businesses slowly and
  carefully, making savings so that one day
  we can open another butcher’s shop in
  the next village, and then another? Why
  don’t we all grow some patience?
  In the meantime, let’s hope Jeremy
  King can take back control of his
  wonderful restaurant, so that one day he
  can pass it on to me.
  Cindy Crawford without that mole.
  Pointless.
  Further, and rather desperate,
  investigations revealed that it was still
  open for business because the
  administration was somehow
  technical. So, to try to understand
  what that meant, I turned for the
  first time in my life to the business
  pages. And then to the most
  businessy business pages of all.
  The FT.
  And I was at a loss. I recognised
  that the words being used were
  English, but I’d never seen them
  written down in that order before.
  There was talk of restructuring and of
  unknown American institutions that
  seemed to have limitless funds and of
  private equity, and it all swam around
  like alphabetti spaghetti in a Zambezi
  whirlpool.
  So I went to see poor old Jeremy King
  — at the Wolseley, obviously — who
  explained what was going on and how he
  was due in court shortly. And, as he
  patiently went through the issues, I
  couldn’t help thinking that asking this
  gentle man to immerse himself in this
  weird world of finance was the same as
  asking Ricky Gervais to do a sword fight
  with someone from the Unsullied.
  Because business talk to normal people
  is like playing Wordle on mushrooms.
  It’s a salutary lesson to us all, though,
  because these days, whenever someone
  starts a business, they will explain how
  they plan to sell it long before they get
  round to saying what it is the business
  will actually make. If indeed it plans to
  make anything at all.
  When I was growing up, almost all
  businesses were family affairs. You had
  Smethurst and Sons, the coal merchant,
  and Arkwright and Sons, the family
  butcher, and my dad, the toymaker. It
  never occurred to him that he should sell
  his business, because one day he’d retire
  I
  don’t go to London much these
  days, but whenever I do I’m always
  bouncy with excitement. Because
  at home, in Chuntsworthy, I have
  a choice of two restaurants,
  whereas in the capital there
  are 17,999 to dismiss before I
  settle on the Wolseley. Of
  course I usually consider
  trying that new fusion gaff
  in Hackney, which merges
  traditional Somalian goat paste
  with Finnish chewing gum, but at
  the last minute I almost always
  decide to go instead to the Hungarian
  jazz café with nude waitresses in
  Clerkenwell. And then, on the way, I
  can’t help myself. I lean forward and say
  to the taxi driver, “Sorry, mate. Can we
  go to the Wolseley?”
  It doesn’t matter whether I’m going
  on a date, or with the kids, or with Uma
  Thurman and Nicholas Witchell — I
  always go to the Wolseley. I went there
  on Wednesday, and then, when I had to
  meet someone for lunch on Thursday, I
  went there again. And when I go, I
  always decide I won’t have the haddock
  Monte Carlo. So I study the menu for
  several minutes before deciding I want
  the haddock Monte Carlo.
  There are many reasons I like this
  restaurant so much. First, there’s always
  someone in there I know and can ignore.
  Then there’s the temperature, which is
  always set at a level where it feels as if
  there’s no temperature at all. Then
  there’s the haddock Monte Carlo. And
  then there’s the fact that I can always get
  a table at 20 minutes’ notice because I
  was a friend of AA Gill.
  But the main reason I like the
  Wolseley is the man who runs it. He’s
  called Jeremy King, and he doesn’t walk
  round making sure everything is all
  right. He glides. It’s as if he’s wearing
  hover shoes. And if you’ve booked on
  the same night as an ex, or Piers Morgan,
  Business talk to
  normal people
  is like playing
  Wordle on
  mushrooms
  Dish of every day: the Wolseley’s haddock Monte Carlo
  ALAMY
  he’ll call to warn you. He is the greatest
  restaurateur in the greatest restaurant in
  the world.
  So you can imagine my surprise, a
  couple of weeks back, when I read that
  the Wolseley had gone into
  administration. “Noooooo!” I wailed,
  while sinking to my knees and throwing
  my head back in anguish. London
  without the Wolseley would be like
  Sydney without the opera house or
  Cindy Cr
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  ALAMY