The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 27NEWS REVIEW
CODEWORDKENKENTETONOR4x89x83+1610x156x109+848x46+10
8+426x718+916x3
9 x 18 10 + 15 48 + 4 7 + 2619 150
60 17 192 1632 7227 48162 25 52 3312 182SUDOKU 1476SUDOKU WARM-UPKILLER SUDOKULAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS
An underground car park has
rectangular walls, each
covered with 300 abutting
square tiles arranged in three
repeats of red, orange, yellow,
green and blue columns
twenty tiles high. A sharp
tapering shadow from a duct
played across one wall from
top to bottom (with straight
lines similar to that shown).Each shadow edge crossed
every colour and, curiously,
hit just two points where four
tile corners met. The upper
and lower pairs of these were
on levels the same distance up
and down from the mid-level
line. I also noticed that no
column was completely free of
shadow, but just one column
was completely in shadow.Sally BrockStephen Hogg
Underground umbra
conundrumTEASER 3106
Give the shadow’s area
relative to the wall area as a
fraction in simplest form.Send your solution to: The Sunday
Times Teaser 3106, 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.With the exuberance of
youth, South decided to go for
the maximum.
West led the king of clubs,
which declarer won with the
ace, played a heart to the ace,
ruffed a heart, cashed the jack
of spades, came to hand with
a diamond and drew the
trumps. With spades 5-1 and
West struggling to find
discards, declarer decided to
play him for his actual
diamond holding, so played a
diamond to the ten of hearts
to land his grand slam.
Last week’s problemNorth leads the queen of
hearts. With ten sure tricks
on a 2-1 spade break, win the
lead and cash the ace of
spades. When North shows
out, if you play a second
spade, you will probably
find your top heart gets
ruffed. Instead, simply play
four rounds of clubs,
pitching two diamonds from
hand. South has to win the
fourth club; you win his
return and knock out his king
of spades.♠ –
♥ Q J 10 7 4 3
♦ K Q 4 3
♣ J 9 6(^) N
W E
S
♠ J 9 8 7 6 2
♥ 9 6 2
♦ 9 6
♣ K 3
♠ A Q 5 3
♥ A K 8
♦ J 5
♣ A Q 7 2
♠ K 10 4
♥ 5
♦ A 10 8 7 2
♣ 10 8 5 4
West North East South
2 ♥ 3NT Pass
4 ♠ All Pass
acetyl, acyl, causey, cayuse, clay,
clypeus, cutesy, cypsela, cyst, easy,
espy, eucalypt, eucalyptus, eyas, lacy,
lusty, lysate, lyse, pacey, pacy, palsy,
paly, pasty, patsy, peaty, play, salty,
saucy, scaly, slaty, slay, sley, slype,
spacey, spacy, spay, splay, stay, stye,
style, suety, syce, talcy, typal, type,
yclept, yeast, yelp, yuca
MEPHISTO 3213
Across: 1 Spine, 5 Hovels, 10 Aerodynamic, 11 Maori, 12 Drama, 13 Bony, 14 Tranter, 16 Ita est,
17 Stated, 19 White van man, 23 Edible, 26 Eriach, 28 Acaroid, 29 Fora, 30 Saker, 31 Eusol,
32 Epistle side, 33 Tsetse, 34 Meant
Down: 1 Sambas, 2 Iron-mail, 3 Nor yet, 4 Edits, 5 Hybrid vehicle, 6 Ondatra, 7 Varnas, 8 Lime-scale,
9 Scarth, 15 Ethercaps, 18 Ambrosia, 20 Escorts, 21 Tea set, 22 Barest, 2 4 Infuse, 25 Eyalet, 27 Adeem
WEATHER
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE JUMBO CROSSWORD 311
Across: 1 Surbiton, 5 Rhesus monkey, 12 Agnus Dei, 13 Spurge-laurel, 15 Bugatti Veyron, 16 Nernst,
18 Lady Macduff, 20 Tumescent, 22 Ursine, 23 Katie Melua, 24 Ego, 26 Inigo Jones, 28 Elie Wiesel,
30 Eel, 31 Agoraphobe, 32 Batman, 35 Stockport, 36 Middle-earth, 38 Swords, 40 Conchita Wurst,
43 Auguste Rodin, 44 Krakatoa, 45 Mitrailleuse, 46 Chasseur
Down: 1 Spag bol, 2 Renegades, 3 Inset, 4 One-piece, 6 Hop trefoil, 7 Spring Temple Buddha,
8 Sienna Miller, 9 On air, 10 Kirk Stevens, 11 Yolk, 14 Jerusalem artichoke, 17 Stroll on, 19 Mungo Park,
21 Stabilate, 22 Universe, 25 Solomon’s seal, 27 Isle of Wight, 29 The Mendips, 33 Mark Rutte,
34 Plutarch, 37 Hat hair, 39 RoSPA, 41 Wakes, 42 Haim
POLYGON
Winners Crossword 4998 P Harmer, Hertford, D Heath, Witham Friary, Somerset, R Hillman, Evesham, Worcestershire, M Howarth, Bredbury, Greater Manchester Mephisto
3211 A Warren, London N6, J Bartlett, Shirley, West Midlands, I Clark, Luton, Bedfordshire, G Telfer, Baildon, West Yorkshire, S Chillingworth, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Teaser 3103 M Endy, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, G Rounce, Witley, Surrey Chess 1314 MA Low, Barton on Sea, Hampshire Sudoku 1474 M Andrew, Bersham, Clwyd
Amsterdam 7C sh
Athens 18 s
Auckland 25 f
Bangkok 30 f
Barcelona 8 r
Beijing 22 f
Belgrade 6 r
Berlin 7 sh
Bogota 18 th
Boston 11 r
Brussels 9 f
Budapest 6 sl
Buenos Aires 25 th
Cairo 32 f
Calgary 9 f
Cape Town 22 f
Caracas 28 th
Casablanca 21 f
Chicago 11 sh
Dubai 26 s
Dublin 12 f
Geneva 6 f
Gibraltar 14 f
Guatemala 32 th
Helsinki 3 sn
Hong Kong 20 f
Istanbul 15 sh
Jersey 9 s
Johannesburg 23 sh
La Paz 13 th
Lagos 30 th
Lima 23 f
Lisbon 17 f
London 10C f
Los Angeles 20 s
Madrid 11 sh
Mexico City 28 f
Miami 30 th
Moscow -1 sn
Nairobi 27 s
New Delhi 41 s
New Orleans 26 s
New York 11 sh
Oslo 7 f
Panama 30 th
Paris 9 f
Prague 6 f
Rio de Janeiro 26 th
Rome 13 sh
San Francisco 14 f
Santiago 27 s
Seoul 15 s
Seychelles 29 th
Singapore 30 th
Stockholm 6 f
Sydney 24 f
Tel Aviv 23 f
Tenerife 19 sh
Tokyo 15 r
Toronto 6 sl
Trinidad 29 th
Tunis 18 s
Venice 12 f
Vienna 5 f
Warsaw 5 f
Washington DC 13 f
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
¬ Much of Iberia will be dry
with sunny spells, but the
chance of wintry showers in
northern Spain
¬ Scattered heavy showers
in Italy, the Balkans and the
Alps, falling as snow on hills
¬ Mainly dry across Sicily,
Sardinia, Corsica and the
Balearics with just a few
isolated showers
¬ Rather cloudy with
outbreaks of rain, sleet and
snow in Ukraine, Moldova
and Romania
¬ Many parts of France,
Germany, the Low Countries,
Poland, Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Hungary will be
dry with sunny spells, just a
few isolated showers drifting
down from the north
¬ Cold in Scandinavia with
scattered wintry showers
EUROPE
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday
Cloudy and windy
with outbreaks of
rain.
Max 15C
Tuesday
Largely cloudy
with outbreaks of
rain in places.
Max 15C
Wednesday
Windy with rain or
showers, wintry in
the north.
Max 13C
Thursday
Colder, with
wintry showers
in the north.
Max 13C
Friday
Rain or showers,
wintry in the
north.
Max 14C
Saturday
Wintry showers
in the north, rain
further south.
Max 13C
SUN, STREET LIGHTS & MOON
NIGHT SKY
Aberdeen 06:31 19:51 06:28 07:23 22:53
Belfast 06:50 20:03 06:48 07:46 22:59
Birmingham 06:36 19:44 06:34 07:36 22:35
Bristol 06:40 19:46 06:38 07:41 22:34
Cardiff 06:43 19:48 06:40 07:43 22:37
Cork 07:03 20:10 07:01 08:04 23:00
Dublin 06:53 20:03 06:50 07:51 22:56
Glasgow 06:42 19:58 06:39 07:36 22:57
London 06:30 19:36 06:28 07:31 22:24
Manchester 06:37 19:47 06:34 07:35 22:39
Newcastle 06:32 19:46 06:30 07:28 22:42
Norwich 06:24 19:32 06:21 07:22 22:22
Plymouth 06:48 19:51 06:46 07:50 22:37
Sun
rises
Sun sets/
lights on
Lights
off
Moon
rises
Moon
sets
18
10 12
10
7
9
6
16
18
16
6
2
1
11
18
7
26
14
12
12
12
27
9
14
11
7
12
18
19
13
10
4
10
28
16
9
8
5
8
20
16
12
9
5
8
23
14
10
8
6
8
12
TODAY’S WEATHER
UK and Ireland forecast
Much of England and Wales will have a dry day with morning
sunshine replaced by more cloud into the afternoon, thick
enough for a few isolated showers in places. After a bright
start in parts of Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland,
cloud will increase with rain and mountain snow spreading
southeastwards through the day. Winds will be light to strong,
generally from the west
REGIONAL FORECASTS
London, SE England
Sunny spells, cloud building with isolated showers. Winds
light northwesterly. Max 11C. Tonight, clear intervals. Min -1C
Midlands, E England
Sunny spells, cloud building with a few isolated showers. Light
westerly winds. Max 11C. Tonight, rain later. Min 1C
Channel Is, SW and Cent S England, S Wales
Sunny spells and a few isolated showers. Light to moderate
northwesterly winds. Max 10C. Tonight, rain later. Min 0C
N Wales, NW England, Isle of Man
Sunny spells, small risk of a shower. Light to moderate
westerly winds. Max 9C. Tonight, cloudy and wet. Min 2C
Cent N and NE England
Sunny spells, the odd isolated shower. Light to moderate
westerly winds. Max 11C. Tonight, cloudy and wet. Min 1C
Scotland
Rain and hill snow developing. Winds moderate to strong
southwesterly. Max 10C. Tonight, further rain. Min 2C
N Ireland, Republic of Ireland
Sunny spells, rain in the northwest. Light to fresh westerly
winds. Max 12C. Tonight, further rain. Min 5C
11
10
9
10
7
10
11
23
16
9
9
slight
slight
slight
moderate
TODAY’S SOLUTIONS
CONCISE CROSSWORD 1775
Across: 3 Sadhu, 6 Unguent, 7 Now,
9 Dyed-in-the-wool, 10 Rapid, 12 Hectare, 14 Rotorua,
16 Bedim, 17 Watling Street, 20 HGV, 21 Signify,
22 Exact Down: 1 Ague, 2 Bewilder, 3 Stitch, 4 Doze,
5 Untoward, 6 Undergrowth, 8 Walter Mitty,
11 Putative, 1 3 Cabotage, 15 August, 18 Iota, 19 Emit
SPOT THE MOVE 1316
1 Ne5+! wins: 1...fxe5 2 Be4+ Kf6 (2...Kh5
3 g4+) 3 dxe5+ Ke7 (3...Kxe5 4 Qb5+ and
Black’s king will not survive) 4 Qxb7+
TEASER 3105
5, 37 and 97
CROSSWORD 5000
Across: 1 Five thousand, 9 Milestone, 10 Wonga, 11 Lead, 12 Hearing aid, 14 Pangolin, 15 Stolen,
17 Accept, 19 Reversal, 22 Nautiluses, 23 Beau, 25 Nylon, 26 Gastropub, 27 Record player
Down: 1 Family planning, 2 Villain, 3 Test, 4 O sole mio, 5 Skerry, 6 Now and then, 7 Entail,
8 Cardinal number, 13 Compliance, 16 Released, 18 Couple, 20 Steeply, 21 Gung ho, 24 Oral
SUKO CELL BLOCKS
The slim crescent Moon is low in the W at
nightfall, with 7% of its visible surface in sunlight
and the remainder bathed in earthshine, “the
old Moon in the new Moon’s arms”, reflecting
the light of the almost-full Earth. The Pleiades
cluster in Taurus lies above the Moon tomorrow
and below-right of the Moon on Tuesday. Orion
is unmistakeable to Taurus’s left. Alan Pickup
Today’s deal comes from a
top-level online tournament
Neither vulnerable, Dealer East
In one room North-South
were arguably the best pair in
the world: Eric Rodwell and
Jeff Meckstroth. They started
off with a strong club. When
North showed 5-5 in the
minors, South signed off in
three no-trumps and North
saw no reason to disturb that
spot, so they languished in
game, making ten tricks.
In the other room, South
was the youngest player in the
field: Zach Grossack,
partnering Jodi Edmonds.
This was their, largely natural,
auction:
Three clubs was fourth-suit
forcing, and four no-trumps
asked for key cards with
spades agreed. Five no-
trumps asked for specific
kings and six diamonds
showed the king of that suit.
CHESS
As part of my commentary
work on the Meltwater
Champions Chess Tour, I
have witnessed many
remarkable games. The
following masterpiece ranks
highly among those
memorable moments.
White: Rameshbabu
Praggnanandhaa
Black: Jorden Van Foreest
Charity Cup,
chess24.com 2022
Grünfeld Defence
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4
Nf3 Bg7 5 e3 0-0 6 cxd5 Nxd5
7 Bc4 Nb6 8 Bb3 c5 9 0-0
cxd4 10 exd4 Nc6 11 d5 Na5
12 h3 Re8 13 Re1 Bf5 14 g4!
White’s most ambitious
continuation. At the cost of a
slight weakening to his own
king, White gains space and
forces the black light-squared
bishop to a passive square. 14...
Nxb3 15 axb3 Bd7 16 Bg5 h6
17 Bh4 g5 18 Bg3 f5? The
wrong way to break out. 18...e6!
allows a passed pawn, but after
19 d6 Bc6 the bishop pair
obtains more influence. 19
gxf5 Bxf5 20 Be5! Removing
Black’s best defender. 20...
Bxh3? The decisive mistake.
20...Bxe5 21 Nxe5 Rf8 22 Qh5
Rf6 covers the kingside holes –
at least temporarily. 21 Bxg7
Kxg7 22 Qd4+ e5 A sad
necessity. 22...Kg8 23 Qd3! wins
on the spot: 23...Qd6 (23...Kg7
24 Ne5) 24 Re6! Bxe6 25 Qg6+
with an unstoppable attack. 23
Rxe5 Kg8 24 Qe4 Kg7
Praggnanandhaa now unleashes
a series of forceful tactical tricks.
25 Rxa7! Wonderful vision.
With the opponent’s attention
fixed on the kingside, White uses
his rook as a distraction. 25...
Rxa7 26 Rxe8 Qd6 27 Qd4+
Kf7 28 Qh8 The safer 28 Re1 is
sufficient, but Praggnanandhaa
wants to use every corner of
the board. 28...Ra1+ 29 Ne1
White has occupied the a7, h8
and e1 squares over the past
few turns. Unparalleled full
board awareness. 29...Kg6 30
Rg8+ Kh5 31 Rxg5+! This final
flourish wins the black queen.
31...Kh4 Or 31...Kxg5 32 Ne4+
with a fork. 32 Qd4+ Kxg5 33
Ne4+ Black resigns
Spot the Move 1317:
White to play.
Variation from Le-Anton
Guijarro, chess24.com 2022.
Can you find White’s winning
blow that relies upon a well-
known checkmating pattern?
Send your solution (first move only), to Sunday Times Spot the Move 1317,
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
♠ J 4
♥ J
♦ A K 10 7 6
♣ A 7 5 3 2
(^) N
W E
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♠ 7
♥ K 10 5 4
♦ J 8 4 2
♣ K Q J 9
♠ 9 8 6 3 2
♥ 9 8 6 3
♦ 5 3
♣ 10 6
♠ A K Q 10 5
♥ A Q 7 2
♦ Q 9
♣ 8 4
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West North East South
Pass 1 ♠
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Pass 3 ♣ Pass 3 ♦
Pass 3 ♠ Pass 4NT
Pass 5 ♥ Pass 5NT
Pass 6 ♦ Pass 7 ♠
All Pass
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Jeremy
Clarkson
night in the entire world. However,
awards ceremonies seem to make it
much more likely. Trust me. I know.
At the 2004 British Press Awards I ran
into Piers Morgan, who said something
unkind about my wife. So, even though I
was calm and sober, having just come
from a recording of Call My Bluff, I hit
him. And immediately a gang of portly
hacks gathered round, chanting, “Finish
it”, while the motoring editor of The Sun
held everyone back by warning them
that he was from Newcastle.
In the same year, at something called
the Vibe awards, a person called Dr Dre
was attacked on his way to the stage to
pick up a “legend” gong, and in the
resultant mêlée a man was stabbed.
Things were even worse at the 2016
Mobo awards — me neither — because
at the afterparty it seems that absolutely
everyone started lobbing glasses at one
another.
More recently you had the TV Choice
awards at London’s glittering Grosvenor
House hotel, where a man called Asan
N’Jie from Emmerdale is reported to
have thrown punches at Jamie Lomas,
who’s from Hollyoaks. I’m not certain
that Alan Yentob has ever hit Melvyn
Bragg over the head with a chair at the
Royal Television Society awards, but it is
surely only a matter of time.
I despise awards ceremonies so much
that a few years ago, at some kind of TV
gong festival where I’d been nominated,
I had a starter with friends at a Notting
Hill restaurant, excused myself and
dashed in a cab to the Albert Hall, where
I took my seat as the close-up camera’s
tally light came on, signifying it was live.
I then gurned until they said I’d lost,
whereupon I leapt back into the cab and
went back to enjoy my main course.
Later in the evening I heard that Sir
Attenborough had attacked Michael
McIntyre with a broken bottle.
Which brings me on to the Baftas. For
many years I’ve made many Tory noises
and jokes about Sir Starmer’s hair in a
desperate bid to never be nominated for
anything by the famously right-on
committee. The idea of spending the
night drinking chickpea water and
nibbling on nuclear-free eco peace celery
with people who call one another “they”
has always filled me with dread.
This year, however, I was a bit worried
because of Clarkson’s Farm. I know the
committee hates me and would rather
give a gong to Vladimir Putin’s banker,
but the show had been well received by
critics and the public. Some wise old
hands said it was a shoo-in for Bafta glory.
Mercifully, however, the nominations
were announced last week, and they’ve
gone for RuPaul’s Drag Race instead,
along with Gogglebox, a dating show for
dogs and a programme where people get
married having never met. Phew.
This means that on May 8 I won’t have
to get into a dinner jacket and go to
London so that I can spend the evening
watching Stephen Fry getting kicked in
the testicles by Nicholas Witchell.
Clarkson and Morgan in high spirits on Concorde in 2003
C
an you imagine what it must
have been like to be in the
audience at the Golden
Globes when Ricky Gervais
bounded onto the stage,
cleared his throat and got
cracking? Because you knew
he was coming for you, and
you knew he wasn’t going to
give you a metaphorical
tickle under the chin. He was going to
tear off your testicles and spend the rest
of the evening wearing them as earrings.
At the ceremony two years ago he said
that the new Leonardo DiCaprio film was
so long that by the time the premiere
ended, his date was too old for him. He
called Joe Pesci “baby Yoda”. He has
made jokes about Jodie Foster’s beaver.
He said The Two Popes was a paedophile
movie, and he said that every single one
of the grade-A cut-glass celebs in the
audience was a pervert. Ha. Yeah. Well,
he won’t be doing that any more.
Because last weekend at the Oscars,
when the presenter, Chris Rock, made
an unkind joke about Will Smith’s wife,
Will — in front of all those hand-wringing
Tinseltown luvvie perverts and a global
television audience of at least 12 — drew
on everything he’d learnt in the
playground, and slapped him. Hard.
It was hilarious, and then it got
better as all the idiotic commentators
struggled to give the moment social
nuance. What did it mean? How
was it a reflection of society?
And, most of all, who was to
blame for what they plainly
considered to be an even bigger
invasion of someone’s space than
the Russian advance into Ukraine?
Was it Will Smith for losing his temper?
Was it Chris Rock for making the joke?
Or could it have been Donald Trump
in some weird way?
There was just so much wokery
afoot. One TikTok observer tied
herself in such a complicated knot that
even a Boy Scout would have been
unable to undo it. She argued that the
commentators themselves were to
blame for suggesting that Mrs Smith
didn’t have the gumption to deal with
the matter on her own, which of course
was typical of the patriarchy etc etc etc.
Then we had those saying that, while
they understood a man’s desire to
protect the honour of his wife, there
should be no room in the modern world
for violence, even though the room was
full of people who’ve made millions out
of shooting people in the face and
chopping off one another’s heads with
chainsaws.
It was all too wonderful for words:
things could have been improved only if
Will Smith had been white. Because can
you even begin to imagine the brouhaha
that would have resulted from that?
Anyway, what everyone seems to have
forgotten is that no harm was done,
because in all probability there was a six-
inch layer of Botox between Chris Rock’s
skin and any nerve endings. It would
have been like hitting someone through
a pillow. He wouldn’t have felt a thing.
What’s more, when you boil the
incident down to its nub, a man abused
another man’s wife and got a slap. You’d
see much the same sort of thing in any
pub and any club in any town on any
I’m not certain
Alan Yentob has
ever hit Melvyn
Bragg with a chair
LEE BESFORD FOR THE TIMES
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a few. Just ask
Piers Morgan