The Times - UK (2022-03-15)

(Antfer) #1

the times | Tuesday March 15 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 15 words, average;
21, good; 26, very good; 31, excellent

142 67 21
321 598713
1742 59
13 21 21
689531 879
897 457698
97 89 13
13 6824
432197 489
21 89 137

T H I N G
U L A
N L L
A P A W
E E
T O W A R D

B I B
O U K
W I N E I
L D L
S A L O O N
E

1 f6! Rxd4 2 fxe7 and Black
cannot stop promtion. He can
wriggle with 2 ... Rdd2 which
threatens mate but White wins
with 3 Rh8+! as he can then
promote with check. 1 ... Qf7
loses to 2 Qe4+ g6 3 Qa8

Protospatharius (a) An official
in the Byzantine imperial guard
(Collins)
Sooterkin (b) A spurious kind
of birth once said to be
achieved by Dutchwomen after
sitting on a stove (Brewer’s)
Autoclave (b) A vessel for
chemical reactions at high
pressures (OED)

Kakuro 3130

Futoshiki 4171 Lexica 6262

Cell Blocks 4418 Set Square 3133 Lexica 6261

Suko 3437

Train Tracks 1579

Chess — Winning Move Word watch

1 Lore
2 Bleach
3 Splice
4 Deflect
5 Completed

Quintagram

1 Sydney 2 Twenty Four Hours 3 Tea 4 Smallpox
5 Symphony No 9 or the New World Symphony
6 Royal Engineers 7 Albert Speer 8 Daffodil
9 Ramsay MacDonald and Tony Blair
10 Günter Grass 11 The Passion of the Christ
12 Spontaneous generation 13 SS Utopia
14 Francis Ouimet 15 HMS Belfast

Quiz

Easy 44; Medium 367; Harder 6,381

Brain Trainer

Yesterday’s answers
eon, nor, nose, nosey, nosy, one, oner, ore,
oyes, roe, rone, rose, rosy, sensor,
sensory, snore, son, sone, sonsy, sore,
soy, yon, yore

times2 CrosswordNo 8852 Brain Trainer
Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end.


ANSWER

EASY 19

ANSWER

MEDIUM^23

ANSWER

HARDER 214 x 7

x 6

+ 4 – 6 + 7

+ 78 + 97

70%
OF IT

/ 2
OF IT

1

50%
OF IT


  • 68


+ 694

x 2


  • 97


x 3

50%
OF IT

(^7) / 8
OF IT
SQUARE
IT
x 3



  • 882 + 50%
    OF IT

  • 19
    (^1) / 2
    OF IT





  • 418


÷ 13

+ 994 x 3

Across
1 Ponderous; oppressive (5)
4 Come safely through (7)
8 Helium nucleus given off
by radioactive substances
(5,8)
9 Arm joint (8)
10 One of seven deadly sins (4)
12 Mother or father (6)
13 Deep river gorge (6)

16 Drawback; sharp
projection (4)
17 Servant; fee (8)
20 View (7)
21 Earthy pigment (5)
22 Source of illumination (5)
23 Transport system (7)

Down
1 Tip-off (5,2)
2 Taking without permission
(13)
3 Young racehorse (8)
4 Lose strength (6)
5 Sparkling Italian wine (4)
6 London borough; cab (7)
7 High and thin in tone (5)
11 Variety of pasta (8)
14 Children's room (7)
15 Banknote (6)
16 Cylinder for winding (5)
18 Not in any way (5)
19 Loose earth; obscenity (4)

Solution to Crossword 8851

T2 CROSSWORD No 8852


1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8

9 10

11

12 13 14

15

16 17 18

19

20 21

22 23

SAFETYCURTAIN
O E O O O W O
CARAMEL YEARN
I M O A I E
AXE SENIL ITY
B N W Y B E
LI TTER FL IGHT
E E S U L H
OBSTACLE AGE
I U E H C R
RERAN OUTL INE
A M E O A E A
QUADRILATERAL

Cell BlocksNo 4419


© PUZZLER MEDIA

Polygon Set SquareNo 3134


Please note, BODMAS does not apply

KillerModerate No 8206 Solutions


KillerTough No 8207


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).

Here’s a gem sent in by Steve
Conrad of New York. West leads
the jack of his partner’s spades v
your 4♥, winning the first trick. At
trick two, East overtakes West’s
continuation of the ten of spades
with the queen, and you ruff.
At the table, declarer tried a heart
to the jack. This lost to East’s bare
king and there was no recovery,
declarer losing a trick in every suit.
“Drat. I should have played to
the ace,” said declarer. “It was
unlikely West would hold the king,
given his pass of 1♠.” Unlikely, yes;
impossible, no. I think declarer
should have faffed about a bit —
there’s no rush to guess hearts.
At trick three, lead a club to the
king, and (subtly), choose ♣5, so
that, after ♣5, ♣3, ♣K, East will not
risk ducking, for fear you have led a
singleton, and West is showing a
count (high-even) ♣3 from ♣J832.
East beats the king with the ace and
(say) leads the ace of spades.
You ruff and continue clubs —
after all, ♣J10 may fall in three
rounds, promoting ♣9 for a dia-
mond discard. You cross to the
queen and ruff a club (no short
♣J10). You now cash the king of
diamonds and cross to the ace,
noting East’s queen-jack, and and
lead the nine of clubs.
This apparently dangerous play
is pretty safe. If East discards, you
can ruff low. If (as here) East fol-
lows with the ten, you discard your
remaining diamond, West also
throwing a diamond.
East now has to play a spade (or
the bare king of hearts — err no).
You ruff low (say with the eight)
and West discards (overruffing

with the ten gains nothing).
Now stop and count. Assuming
East’s ♦QJ are true cards, East is
marked with a 6♠ 1 ♥ 2 ♦ 4 ♣ shape.
With hearts 3-1, your only hope is
East’s heart is the king. You cross
to the ace and, hey presto, the king
is felled. You cash the jack, ruff a
diamond, and cash the queen of
hearts, drawing West’s ten. Game
[email protected]

Contract: 4♥, Opening Lead: ♠J

Dealer: East, Vulnerability: North-South

N
W E
S

1 ♠
Pass(1) Pass Dbl(2) Pass(3)
2 ♥(4) Pass 2NT(5) Pass
4 ♥ End
(1) Wrong vulnerability for a frisky pre-empt.
(2) Too strong for a protective 1NT (11-16) and
not strong enough for a protective 2NT (19-21).
(3) There’s a case for a 2♣ or 2♠ bid here
but (i) East’s partner is bereft, and (ii)
East’s hand is so impure with those short
red holdings, better suited to defence.
(4) Jumping would imply more strength.
Partner is likely to have a strong balanced
hand as East-West have not been too vocif-
erous in their spade bidding, so probably
has another bid in him.
(5) In the protective seat, doubling and bid-
ding notrumps shows 17-18 balanced.

S W N E

♠AQ9532
♥K
♦QJ
♣A1074

Pairs ♠K74
♥AJ
♦A653
♣KQ96

♠ 8
♥Q986543
♦K72
♣ 52

♠J106
♥ 1072
♦ 10984
♣J83

Bridge Andrew Robson


H O S T A G E F A S T
U A N P L O
Y E S M A N S H I E L D
U I I N I
S T R E E T L I G H T
U A O A
S P R I N T N I T W I T
E R A R
R E N A I S S A N C E
N A C E G
D O A B L E P R E T T Y
V O P I N O
G A R B S P A R T A N

Sudoku 13,065

Killer 8204

Sudoku 13,066

Killer 8205

Sudoku 13,067

Quick Cryptic 2090

KenKen 5527

Codeword 4535
Free download pdf