the times | Friday April 8 2022 19
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
four 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 12 words, average;
16, good; 22, very good; 28, excellent
ACROSS
LU
SMIME
OBO
LS
EASY
GS
TUM A
CE D
HAS D
ISELL
PE
Kakuro 3148
Futoshiki 4189 Lexica 6298
Cell Blocks 4439 Set Square 3151 Lexica 6297
Suko 3458
Train Tracks 1600
Word watch
1 Alice in Wonderland 2 Ben
Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
3 Kylie Minogue 4 Bitcoin
5 EL James 6 Achilles — in
The Shield of Achilles 7 Jane Wyman
8 The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It was founded in
1683 9 Submarine 10 Alicia Markova 11 46th Academy
Awards or Oscars 12 Henry the Fowler or Henry I
13 Luoyang 14 Wrestling 15 Isabel Marant
1 ... Re1! is a brilliant saving
move, the main point being
2 d8Q Rxf1+ 3 Kxf1 Qc1+ 4 Ke2
Qc2+ and White must allow
perpetual check with 5 Ke1
Qc1+ as 5 Kf3 actually gets
mated after 5 ... Qd3+ 6 Kg4
Qf5+ 7 Kxh4 Qf4+ 8 g4 Qxf2+
9 Kg5 f6+ 10 Qxf6 Qxf6 mate.
White tried 2 Qe8 but 2 ...
Rxf1+ 3 Kxf1 Qc1+ 4 Qe1 Qc7
5 Qxb4 Qxd7 was equal
Talion (c) The principle of
punishment fitting crime
(Collins)
Whid (c) A rapid noiseless
movement (Chambers)
Déménagement (b) Moving
house (OED)
Chess — Winning Move
1 Vivid
2 Mimic
3 Cocoon
4 Cucumber
5 Two-faced
Quintagram
Quiz
Easy 63; Medium 798; Harder 5,432
Brain Trainer
Yesterday’s answers
anal, anna, annal, anti, hail, halt, hiatal,
inhalant, ital, lanai, lath, lathi, liana, naan,
naiant, nail, nana, natal, taal, tahina, tail,
tala, tania, tannia, thali, than, thana, tian
times2 Crossword No 8873 Brain Trainer
ANSWER
EASY 26
ANSWER
MEDIUM 93
ANSWER
HARDER 241 x 6
x 2
x 4
+ 12 x 3 + 5
+ 87
+5
x 2 – 49
+ 337
- 8
80%
OF IT
- 773
- 6
+ 84
÷ 2
/ 2
OF IT
1
/ 4
OF IT
+^1 / 3
OF IT
2
/ 4
OF IT
3
/ 3
OF IT
+^2 +
+ 79 /^5
OF IT
+^1
/ 4
OF IT
+^1
- 577 /^8
OF IT
7
Across
8 Lover of fine food and
drink (7)
9 Labourer (originally on a
canal) (5)
10 Maker of false statements
about another (9)
11 Dull routine (3)
12 Jewish scholar (5)
14 Connection (7)
15 Enclose; restrain (7)
17 Place of entry (5)
19 Uncooked (3)
20 Consequently (9)
22 Prevent, ward off (5)
23 Alfalfa (7)
Down
1 Not so great (6)
2 Silicate mineral (4)
3 In four parts (13)
4 Seabird (6)
5 Unwillingness to
compromise (13)
6 Examine and repair (8)
7 Evergreen shrub (6)
13 Convolvulus (8)
15 US pen for livestock (6)
16 Sewing instrument;
annoy (6)
18 Ancient Greek or Egyptian
city (6)
21 Rowing blades (4)
Solution to Crossword 8872
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9
10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17 18
19 20 21
22 23
BESTOW SWIVEL
O A I C H E I
OTHELLO ERNST
T A N A A U
SCRUM TITULAR
A E R G G
FEN NIECE PRY
R T T R I
ESQUIRE MIGHT
E A O M T A
SITIN PERHAPS
I A E S H I T
ABRADE MOULDY
Cell BlocksNo 4440
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Polygon Set SquareNo 3152
Please note, BODMAS does not apply
KillerModerate No 8245 Solutions
KillerDeadly No 8246
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).
Similar ... but different
As a defender leading from the
king and one accompanying low
card, you should lead the king. Fail
to do so and you’ll block the suit.
With more than one accompany-
ing low card, you should lead low,
keeping back the king. This applies
whether or not partner has bid the
suit.
It was clear for West to lead a
spade given her partner’s 1♠ over-
call. And she selected the one card
in her hand to scupper the game
— the top of two ♠K. After ♠K
held, she led ♠2 to ♠A, East then
leading a third spade, lose to win.
Declarer won ♠Q and had no
choice but to play on diamonds,
hoping West, with no spades, held
♦A. It was not to be — East won
♦A and cashed her two long
spades. One down.
Note, if West had erroneously
led ♠2, East winning ♠A and
returning a second spade, West
would have won ♠K but had no
third spade to clear the suit.
Declarer would win any return
and peacefully force out ♦A, still
with her spade stopper — game
made plus one.
On our second deal, West must
lead ♠2, leading low from three
cards. East wins ♠A and returns
♠J (to pin dummy’s ♠10).
Declarer does best to withhold
♠Q but, after ♠J wins, East leads
♠4 (sophistication warning — this
should be a suit preference signal
for the lower-ranking clubs). After
winning ♠K, West duly leads a
club, East winning ♣A and cashing
two long spades. Two down.
Note, if West erroneously kicks
off with ♠K (from the dare-I-say-
it old-fashioned school of “I always
lead top of partner’s suit”), followed
by a second spade to East’s ace,
declarer wins the third spade with
♠Q, now a stopper. She cashes
♥A, crosses to ♥KQJ, then runs
♦J. With East holding ♦K, she
scores all five diamond tricks and
romps home with an overtrick.
[email protected]
♠A10743
♥ 976
♦A6
♣K97
♠ 986
♥KQJ3
♦Q103
♣Q62
♠QJ5
♥A5
♦KJ974
♣AJ3
♠K2
♥ 10842
♦ 852
♣ 10854
1 ♦ Pass 1♥ 1 ♠
1NT Pass 3NT End
(1) Showing 15-17.
S W N E
Deal One
Dealer S
N
W E
S
♠AJ974
♥ 976
♦K6
♣A97
♠10 8
♥AQJ3
♦J103
♣J642
♠Q53
♥K5
♦AQ974
♣KQ3
♠K62
♥ 10842
♦ 852
♣ 1085
Deal Two
Dealer S
1 ♦ Pass 1♥ 1 ♠
1NT Pass 3NT(1) End
(1) Upgrading as J10x in partner’s dia-
monds is worth more than one point.
N S W N E
W E
S
Bridge Andrew Robson
PAPERBACK
VISTA A A P I
E T SIMPLETON
GLOSS P L D
G P ATANYRATE
I D G S M R
ELEVEN AWNING
B A C R C A
UNDERTAKE A R
R E M AMB I T
GOESTOPOT L E
E F R U HAYDN
RETROUSSE
Sudoku 13,122
Killer 8243
Sudoku 13,123
Killer 8244
Sudoku 13,124
Quick Cryptic 2108
KenKen 5548
Codeword 4556
15 + 7 39 x 3 27 + 11 4 x 24
15 x 7 24 + 4 27 x 11 8 + 35
3+398x356+173x87
3 + 87 21 x 2 17 x 6 21 + 2
23 261
90 42 102 23
42 280
38 96
105 28 297 43
22 117
Tetonor 246