The Times - UK (2022-02-21)

the times | Monday February 21 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

three 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 17 words, average;

23, good; 29, very good; 35, excellent

13 34 897

21 1576893

421 89 689

986 54

(^346914732)
1269758 51
14 798
897 13 142
6897543 13
689 21 21
1 Republic of Ireland 2 Sistine Chapel
3 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
4 The Goon Show 5 Piscine “Pi” Patel — in Yann Martel’s
novel Life of Pi 6 Carlos Acosta 7 Aston Martin
8 Witchetty grub 9 John Wayne Gacy, Jr
10 Manolo Blahnik — for the show Quorum Black Magic
11 Wifredo Lam 12 Alizée 13 George Crumb 14 2013
15 Monkey tail beard
Buckle-beggar (c) A
person performing
marriages without a
licence (Chambers)
Uranology (a) Astronomy
(Collins)
Mesial (c) Situated down
the middle of the body
(OED)
Kakuro 3114
Sudoku 13,016
Killer 8170
Futoshiki 4155
Cell Blocks 4399 Set Square 3117
Suko 3418
Train Tracks 1560
Word watch
Quiz
Saturday’s answers
goth, gout, grot, grout, hurt, ought,
output, phot, phut, port, pout, putt, putto,
rotgut, rout, ruth, thorp, thou, though,
thought, through, throughput, thru, thug,
tort, tough, tour, tout, trog, trot, troth,
trough, trout, trug, truth, tutor, tutu
times2 Crossword No 8833 Brain Trainer
Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end.
ANSWER
EASY 16
ANSWER
MEDIUM^27
ANSWER
HARDER 48
x 6

• 24
  x 4 + 149


• 14 ÷ 2
  x 2 – 762
  / 4
  OF IT
  3

• 78

+ 9 – 8

x 4

x 2

/ 2

OF IT

+^1

x 5 + 477 /^2

OF IT

+^1 75%

OF IT

/ 9

OF IT

(^7) / 5
OF IT
(^3) + 14 70%
OF IT

• 51 60%
  OF IT
  / 5
  OF IT
  +^2


• 449
  Across
  1 Role of, eg, a charity board
  member (11)
  7 Mother-of-pearl (5)
  8 Source of light (3,4)
  10 Artistic, inventive (8)
  11 Gain through work (4)
  13 Central Asian wild ass (6)
  15 Natural roofing (6)
  17 Not at risk (4)
  18 Put in an awkward
  situation (8)
  21 Telling stories (7)
  22 Reddish-brown dye (5)
  23 Reticent, secretive (5-6)
  Down
  1 In a doggedly retentive
  manner (11)
  2 Family relative (5)
  3 Supporting frames (8)
  4 Develop gradually (6)
  5 Keep; grasp (4)
  6 Poor agricultural worker (7)
  9 Old means of data input
  (7,4)
  12 Chinese city (8)
  14 Initially (2,5)
  16 Sweet made with honey (6)
  19 Bowler's approach (3-2)
  20 Circle (4)
  Solution to Crossword 8832
  T2 CROSSWORD No 8833
  1 2 3 4 5 6
  7 8 9
  10 11
  12
  13 14 15
  16
  17 18 19
  20
  21 22
  23
  HORN FOREL IMB
  O E E L R A
  BEAM AUREVOIR
  N G D V C N K
  AMEL IORATE
  I N S E R D P
  LETHAL COP IER
  S S L B N N E
  OLEAGINOUS
  S D O R C S E
  HOODWINK RAIN
  A C E U U C
  DUKEDOMS TREE
  Cell BlocksNo 4400
  © PUZZLER MEDIA
  Polygon Set SquareNo 3118
  Please note, BODMAS does not apply
  Killer Gentle No 8171 Solutions
  Killer Tricky No 8172
  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).
  In modern aggressive bridge, there
  is something very satisfying about
  underbidding and being right to do
  so. It’s the equivalent of doing well
  by bowling four overs for 17 runs in
  20-20 cricket, as opposed to tonk-
  ing the ball for a quick 70. Take
  this board from the New Alt
  Competition featuring your
  columnist’s team — named Orca.
  At Table One, North led the ace
  and another diamond v 4♥, assisted
  by South’s opening bid. At trick
  three, South cashed the ace of
  spades to receive a signal from
  North — not knowing whether to
  cash two spade tricks or to play for a
  trump promotion. When North dis-
  couraged, South reverted to a third
  diamond. Declarer’s only chance
  was to ruff with the nine of hearts,
  hoping South held the queen-jack. It
  was not to be — North overruffing
  with the jack. One down.
  At Table Two, West opted to
  defend 3♠, thinking 4♥ would
  probably be one down, while 3♠
  rated to go down too. West cashed
  the ace-king of hearts and
  switched safely to a diamond.
  Declarer won the ace and ran the
  jack of spades, West winning and
  leading his second diamond.
  Declarer won, drew trumps,
  cashed the diamonds and led a
  club out of hand.
  West had a perfect count, know-
  ing both declarer and dummy held
  three clubs and a spade, while his
  partner held only one club. If East’s
  club was low, it wouldn’t matter
  which club West played — if he
  won the jack, he would be end-
  played. If, however, East’s club was
  the king, West had to rise with the
  ace, swallowing his partner’s bare
  king — a Crocodile Coup — to
  cash the queen-jack. My brilliant
  teammate made no mistake — two
  down. [email protected]
  Contract: 4♥ (by W) , Opening Lead: ♦A
  Dealer: North, Vulnerability: Both
  N
  W E
  S
  ♠J754
  ♥J4
  ♦A10
  ♣ 108743
  Pass Pass
  1 ♦(1) 1♥ Dbl(2) 3♥(3)
  Pass(4) 4 ♥ end
  (1) Playing Strong Notrump and Five-card
  Majors. Actually, South’s systemic opener
  is 1♣ (1♦ shows five cards or unbalanced),
  but, in third chair, it is important you bid
  suits you want led.
  (2) Negative, showing four spades.
  (3) Pre-emptive raise to the (nine-card)
  level of the fit.
  (4) Refuses to be bullied to 3♠, hating ♥Qx.
  Table One (Orca N-S)
  S W N E
  ♠AQ102
  ♥Q6
  ♦KQJ2
  ♣ 962
  ♠ 986
  ♥ 10872
  ♦ 97653
  ♣K
  ♠K3
  ♥AK953
  ♦ 84
  ♣AQJ5
  Teams
  Table Two (Orca E-W)
  S W N E
  Pass Pass
  1 ♦ 1 ♥ Dbl 3♥
  3 ♠ end(1)
  (1) I really admire this pass by Tunbridge
  Wells over-45 tennis champion (as well as
  bridge champion), teammate Espen Erichsen.
  Contract: 3♠ (by S), Opening Lead: ♥A
  Bridge Andrew Robson
  M U T U A L
  I O E
  T P G
  R O I L E
  E C N
  C A D
  P I N C H
  A H
  T I
  J E L L Y
  O L
  S T R I P
  1 Joy
  2 Slap
  3 Shooting
  4 Cocktail
  5 Sticky end
  Easy 56; Medium 147; Harder 4,787
  White can win with 1 Qd1! which
  threatens the black queen and
  both rooks. There is no good
  reply. After the blunder 1 Re1?
  Black could have forced mate
  with 1 ... Qe4+! 2 Rxe4 Rh1+
  C A J H C H L
  R E L E A S E A D A G E
  U L C A L R A
  S H O C K D R E S D E N
  A U O N I
  D E T R A I N E D E L M
  E F A A
  R A G T O P D R A W E R
  A E O E I
  M A N T R A S B A I R N
  E D A T E M A
  S P E L L E M E R A L D
  S R L R R R E
  Lexica 6230
  Lexica 6229
  Chess — Winning Move
  Quintagram
  Brain Trainer
  Quick Cryptic 2074
  KenKen 5508
  Codeword 4516
  Square Routes
  153
  Tredoku 1721
  S B B E A
  R E N C R
  I F O H E
  A T I T C
  H C E S K