The Times - UK (2022-04-05)

the times | Tuesday April 5 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 14 words, average;

19, good; 23, very good; 27, excellent

13 45123

7213 63241

94251 31

79386 64

(^97689731)
85 79 9752
63 65124
13 35249
14298 3125
32179 31
T C
T Y C O O N
P S U
S E M I M
N I B
B O R E
L E A D E R
O C I
D O T C
G I E
E G O
R N
1 Oxford English Dictionary 2 Oxygen 3 Official
Monster Raving Loony Party 4 Heart 5 Saul 6 Joe
Strummer 7 Head — as in “If you can keep your
head when all about you ...” 8 A second marriage or
remarriage 9 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
10 Dennis Potter 11 Spinner dolphin 12 Renée Cox
13 Patagonia 14 Diego Maradona 15 San Francisco
1 Qxf8+! Kxf8 2 Rc8+ Ke7 3 Rxh8
is a winning position for White
thanks to the mate threat on e8.
For example 3 ... Ng8 (3 ... f6 would
keep Black in the game were it not
for the remarkable 4 Nd6! Qxe5
5 Nc8+ Kf7 6 Be8 mate) 4 Rxg8 f6
5 Nd6 Qxe5 6 Nc8+ Kf7 7 Rh8
(theatening 8 Be8 mate) 7 ... f5
(forced) 8 Be8+ Kf6 9 Rf8+ Kg5
10 f4+ winning the black queen
Yellowback (a) A cheap
sensational novel (Chambers)
Spagyric (b) Pertaining to
alchemy (Brewer’s)
Grig (a) A lively person
(Collins)
Kakuro 3145
Futoshiki 4186 Lexica 6292
Cell Blocks 4436 Set Square 3148 Lexica 6291
Suko 3455
Train Tracks 1597
Chess — Winning Move Word watch
1 Storm
2 Oriel
3 Lancet
4 French
5 Window-shop
Quintagram
Quiz
Easy 72; Medium 274; Harder 1,495
Brain Trainer
Yesterday’s answers
ell, leu, lues, pew, plew, pule, pulse, sell,
sew, slew, slue, spell, spew, spue, sue,
swell, upswell, use, well, wels
times2 CrosswordNo 8870 Brain Trainer
Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end.
ANSWER
EASY 4
ANSWER
MEDIUM 37
ANSWER
HARDER 221 x 6

• 5

• 888

SQUARE

IT

÷ 7

x 2

50% + 11

OF IT

x 3 + 57

SQUARE

IT

/ 3

OF IT

1

x 2 + 91

+ 792 /^2

OF IT

+^1

+ 14

/ 4

OF IT

+^1 50%

OF IT

+ 88

20%

OF IT

x 5

+ x 3

• 44 /^3
  OF IT

2

/ 9

OF IT

7

+ 993

Across

1 Behave imperiously (8)

7 Kind of hard wheat (5)

8 Some other place (9)

9 Touch lightly (3)

10 Slide; undergarment (4)

11 Highest point (6)

13 Prime number (6)

14 Peaceful, tranquil (6)

17 Precious metal (6)

18 Turn quickly (4)

20 Suitable (3)

22 Permission to proceed (9)

23 Invitee (5)

24 A return to health (8)

Down

1 (Eg, coffee) residue (5)

2 Exceptionally large (7)

3 Small amphibian (4)

4 City in Devon (6)

5 Plot, chart (5)

6 Follow as a model (7)

7 Inhabitant, occupant (7)

12 Cause to deviate (7)

13 Official ban (7)

15 Completely remove (7)

16 Gradually diminish (6)

17 Scatter untidily (5)

19 Very poor (5)

21 Vigour, vivacity (4)

Solution to Crossword 8869

T2 CROSSWORD No 8870

1 2 3 4 5 6

7

8

9

10 11

12

13 14 15

16

17 18 19

20 21

22

23

24

BLADES PAELLA

O R L O N A

SWAY OVERHANG

B A V M A D

GRADUAL ANGST

O K A C

WILL IAMTELL

E A B I

DACHA CRYBABY

U A S O E E

GRAVITAS LARD

A R Y I O T

ALLEGE ALWAYS

Cell BlocksNo 4437

© PUZZLER MEDIA

Polygon Set SquareNo 3149

Please note, BODMAS does not apply

KillerModerate No 8239 Solutions

KillerTough No 8240

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).

Take this combination.

Dummy

West ♥AJ2East

♥Q103— ♥ 876

Declarer (you)

♥K954

Seeking to make all four heart

tricks (in say, Notrumps), you lead

♥4 to ♥3, ♥J and ♥6. You now

cash ♥A to ♥7, ♥5 and ...?

If West woodenly plays ♥10,

you’ll next lead to your ♥K, know-

ing you are felling West’s ♥Q as

your earlier finesse succeeded.

West should play ♥Q under ♥A

— the card he is known to hold.

You must now guess whether next

to lead to ♥K, or to finesse ♥9.

The important principle is that a

player should always play the card

he is known to to hold to avoid giv-

ing away extra information.

The stakes were high on today’s

deal from rubber bridge. Declarer

won West’s heart lead with the jack

and (fingers crossed) led a dia-

mond to the queen. Phew. At trick

three, he cashed the ace of dia-

monds, East following with the jack

and West the ten. Still with fingers

crossed, at trick four he led a club

to the jack. It was his lucky day.

At tricks five and six, declarer

cashed the ace-king of clubs, shed-

ding dummy’s two remaining dia-

monds, East following with the

eight-then-ten. Declarer ruffed his

fourth club low in dummy as East

followed with the queen; he ruffed

a spade back to hand and ruffed a

third diamond with the king.

All that remained was to ruff a

second spade back to hand, cash

the ace-queen of hearts drawing

trumps, and enjoy the last trick

with the long diamond. Grand

slam made.

“I was lucky,” said declarer.

Indeed. “Actually, you (the defence)

could have made it a bit more diffi-

cult for me, “he continued.

“Yes,” said West, “I should have

thrown the king of diamonds

under the ace.” (The card he was

known to hold when a diamond to

the queen won.)

“And I should have thrown the

queen of clubs under the king.”

“And I’d have had to guess,” said

declarer. (I think declarer would

have succeeded anyway — it makes

little sense to ruff the fourth club

high.) [email protected]

Contract: 7♥, Opening Lead: ♥ 10

Dealer: North, Vulnerability: Neither

N

W E

S

1 ♠ Pass

2 ♥ Pass 4♥(1) Pass

5 ♣(2) Pass 5♦(3) Pass

7 ♥(4) End

(1) A bit of a stretch but bear in mind 2♥

guarantees a fifth card.

(2) Hoping to hear a 5♦ control bid opposite.

(3) Showing the diamond control.

(4) Despite the lovely 5♦ control-bid oppo-

site, this is extremely optmistic.

S W N E

♠AQJ85

♥ 76

♦J8

♣Q1083

Rubber ♠K7432

♥K52

♦AQ74

♣ 6

♠-

♥AQJ43

♦ 6532

♣AKJ4

♠ 1096

♥ 1098

♦K109

♣ 9752

Bridge Andrew Robson

C O L U M N S C A R E D

O A I O O E

B U C K S C I N E M A S

Q D R S A O

G N U E M O T I O N A L

R E M W D A

E A R N E R D E S P O T

N A H R U E

A R G E N T I N A N O D

D E O G T S

I N T R U T H I N T E R

E U R O E A

R E P A S T A N D R E W

Sudoku 13,113

Killer 8237

Sudoku 13,114

Killer 8238

Sudoku 13,115

Quick Cryptic 2105

KenKen 5545

Codeword 4553