The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 29NEWS REVIEW
CODEWORDKENKENTETONOR63 + 1 16 + 2 14 x 13 6 + 55 + 51 75 + 3 14 + 13 84 x 3
51 x 5 63 x 1 3 x 75 27 + 6
5x627x62x163+84225 3330 162 32 87255 63182 11
56 78 27 25264 18SUDOKU 1480SUDOKU WARM-UPKILLER SUDOKULAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS
order and added them up to
give their 4-figure sum, which
is a perfect square: the digit 0
occurred nowhere in my sum.
Now I have attempted to
replace digits consistently
by letters and I have written
the sum as
CUP + AND + LIP = SLIPHowever, there’s “many a
slip twixt cup and lip” and
unfortunately one of those
thirteen letters is incorrect.
If you knew which letter was
incorrect then you should be
able to work out the three 3-
figure numbers.
What are they?Victor Bryant
Many a Slip
I have written down three 3-
figure numbers in decreasingTEASER 3110
Sally Brock
Back in January I spent a very
enjoyable day playing in the
West London Gay Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs, in a church hall in
Pimlico. I have played in this
event before and had a good
day out then too. The
premises are very light and
airy, the atmosphere
extremely friendly and the
facilities fantastic — plenty of
free tea and biscuits, with
wine for everyone at the end.
It doesn’t usually pay to bid
grand slams at pairs but I find
it such fun to bid them that
that doesn’t usually stop me!
Neither vul, Dealer SouthThis was our sequence:We are specially fond of
bidding grand slams without
using Blackwood (which we
feel is overused).
The two no-trump response
was forcing to game with at
least four-card support for
hearts. The three club rebidCHESS
The push by major companies
to turn chess into an e-sport
continues to gather pace. In
Oslo, an eight-player elite event
promoted the e-sport concept.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda from
Poland emerged as the surprise
winner after overtaking
Magnus Carlsen on the final
day. Vietnamese grandmaster
Liêm Quang Lê played the
game of the tournament.
White: Liêm Quang Lê
Black: Jorden Van Foreest
Oslo Esports Cup, 2022
Slav Defence
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3
dxc4 5 a4 e6 6 e3 c5 7 Bxc4
Nc6 8 0-0 Be7 9 Qc2 0-0 10 Rd1
Bd7 11 dxc5 Bxc5 12 b3 Qe7 13
Bb2 Rfd8 14 Ne4 Nxe4 15 Qxe4Positions with symmetrical
pawn structures require great
care from the side with less
active pieces. Here Black
underestimates the danger.
15...Be8? A step in the wrong
direction. Dealing with the
powerful white bishops was an
urgent priority. Hence 15...Na5!
is best, intending 16 Bd3 f5. 16
Qg4 The threats begin. 16...g6
Now the kingside dark squares
become terminally weak. 16...Qf8 is a sad retreat but at least
the integrity of the black
structure remains intact. 17
Ng5 The knight heads for f6 via
e4. 17...h5 18 Qg3 Rxd1+ 19
Rxd1 Rd8 20 Rf1! Keeping
pieces on the board is
necessary when building an
attack. 20...Bd6 21 f4 Ba3 22
Ba1 No exchanges! 22...Nb8
Black hopes to meet 23 Ne4
with 23...Nd7. 23 f5 Bd6 23...
exf5 24 Nxf7 Bxf7 25 Qxg6+ is
also fatal. 24 fxe6! A flashy and
effective queen sacrifice. 24...f6
24...Bxg3 is more tenacious: 25
exf7+ Bxf7 (25...Kf8 26 Nh7
mate) 26 Bxf7+ Qxf7 27 Nxf7
Rd7 28 Nh8 Bd6 29 Nxg6. White
holds two healthy extra pawns.
25 Bxf6 Black resigns 25...
Qxf6 26 e7+ decides the game.
Spot the Move 1321:
Black to play.Variation from Praggnanandhaa-
Carlsen, Oslo 2022. Sixteen-
year-old Indian phenomenon
Praggnanandhaa was close to a
milestone victory in Oslo, but
he eventually ran out of steam.
Can you find the winning tactic
for Black that he had originally
missed in his calculations?
Send your solution (first move only), to Sunday Times Spot the Move 1321,
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
♠ A 5
♥ K Q 10 5
♦ A K 10 9 4
♣ 6 5(^) N
W E
S
♠ K 10 8 6 2
♥ 9 2
♦ 6
♣ J 9 8 7 3
♠ J 9 4 3
♥ 6 4
♦ Q J 8 3 2
♣ 4 2
♠ Q 7
♥ A J 8 7 3
♦ 7 5
♣ A K Q 10
Ä((((((((Ä
4NÄbÄN/NÈ
?02N)p202È
@ÄN1N2NÄNÈ
INÄ,ÄNÄNÄÈ
HINÜNÁNÄNÈ
=NINÄ4RNÄÈ
GÄÛÄNÄ4I4È
FDÄNÂNÄÚÄÈ
DCB:;A<E
Ä((((((((Ä
ÄN4NÄN/NÈ
?N2NÄN20ÄÈ
@ÄÛÄN3NÄ0È
I0IN2NRNÄÈ
HINÄNÄ-ÄNÈ
=NÄNÄ4ÄNIÈ
GÄNÄNÄ4INÈ
FNÁÁÄNÄÚÄÈ
DCB:;A<E
West North East South
1 ♥
Pass 2NT Pass 3 ♣
Pass 3 ♥ Pass 3NT
Pass 4 ♦ Pass 5 ♣
Pass 5 ♦ Pass 6 ♥
Pass 7 ♥ All Pass
Send your solution to: The Sunday
Times Teaser 3110, 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.
was natural, and now three
hearts denied a singleton, as
did three no-trumps. Four
diamonds was a cue-bid,
denying club control, and five
clubs was also a cue-bid,
showing extra values and
denying a spade control. I bid
five diamonds now to show
that I held the ace and king,
thinking that when partner
signed off in five hearts I
would bid five spades, a clear
grand slam try. When partner
jumped to six hearts, he had
to hold the ace of hearts and
the ace-king of clubs — and
probably something else
besides. At worst, even
without a minor-suit queen,
the grand slam would depend
on either hearts 2-2 or
diamonds 3-3. We were one of
only three pairs to bid the
grand slam (though we would
have scored above average for
stopping in a small slam).
I can’t recommend this
event highly enough. For
details of future such events
(the next is on June 25)
contact David King
([email protected])
and visit their website
(wlgbc.co.uk).
This week’s problem
North leads the spade five.
Plan the play.
Solution next week.
(^) N
W E
S
♠ K 10 4
♥ 8 6
♦ 7 3 2
♣ K J 9 7 4
♠ A J 3
♥ A 9 4 3 2
♦ Q J 8
♣ A Q
West North East South
1 ♥ Pass
1NT Pass 3NT All Pass
dhol, dhoti, diol, doit, doll, dolt, filo,
flog, flood, floodlight, floodlit, foil, fold,
folio, food, fool, foot, foothill, gold, golf,
good, goof, goth, hold, holt, hood, hoof,
hoot, hotdog, idol, igloo, lido, lilo, litho,
loft, logo, loot, loth, loti, olio, oolith,
thiol, toil, toll, tool
MEPHISTO 3217
Across: 1 Pawnce, 5 Pappus, 10 Abecedarian, 12 Breasting, 14 Coltan, 16 Hoots, 17 Ostent, 18 Alfa,
19 Comodo, 22 If only, 25 Dyer, 26 Ankole, 29 Nyssa, 31 Eddoes, 32 Trampolin, 33 Camaldolite,
34 Attask, 35 Scaler Down: 1 Panchatantra, 2 Well-off, 3 Cerasin, 4 Edenic, 6 Arsis, 7 Pitt, 8 Paine,
9 Sage-thrasher, 11 Pooling, 13 Aloo, 15 Anoeses, 20 Mandioc, 21 Dysodil, 23 Leno, 24 Yields, 27 Kiaat,
28 Lipas, 30 Umma
WEATHER
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE JUMBO CROSSWORD 315
Across: 1 Descartes, 6 A Star Is Born, 12 Vaulter, 13 Aztec, 14 Preview, 15 Simply The Best, 16 Erotica,
17 End up, 18 Spartacus, 20 Egret, 21 Alan Sugar, 23 Anthony Hope, 25 The American Revolution,
29 Giant slalom, 30 Deadlines, 32 Ridge, 34 Macedonia, 35 Radar, 37 Versace, 39 Meet your Maker,
41 Dentist, 42 Ouija, 43 Coyotes, 44 Leeds Castle, 45 Enthrones
Down: 1 Dave Stewart, 2 Slummed, 3 Antelopes, 4 Tarot, 5 State Fair, 6 A Streetcar Named Desire,
7 Tick-tack-toe, 8 Rupee, 9 She Loves You, 10 Olivier, 11 Newcastle, 18 Sugarplum, 19 Scotomata,
22 Arena, 24 Orion, 26 Mathematics, 27 Cold Comfort, 28 No Surprises, 29 Gore Vidal,
30 Danny Kaye, 31 Lord mayor, 33 Durante, 36 Dakotan, 38 Extra, 40 Uncut
POLYGON
Winners Crossword 5002 P Lovidge, Camberley, Surrey, M Ashcroft, London W13, W Dunlop, Lincoln, K McCrindle, Frimley, Surrey Mephisto 3215 R Shapland, Stanley
Common, Derbyshire, J Moody, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, F Pearce, Lympstone, Devon, S Szulc, Ruislip, Greater London, P Tanner, Hertford Teaser 3107 C Archer, Beeston,
Nottinghamshire, E Marshall, Norton Hawkfield, Somerset Chess 1318 T Mackintosh, London N6 Sudoku 1478 R Nagi, Northend, Buckinghamshire
Amsterdam 13C f
Athens 21 f
Auckland 20 sh
Bangkok 36 th
Barcelona 20 f
Beijing 26 f
Belgrade 21 s
Berlin 16 f
Bogota 17 th
Boston 17 s
Brussels 17 f
Budapest 20 sh
Buenos Aires 18 s
Cairo 33 s
Calgary 14 f
Cape Town 19 s
Caracas 25 th
Casablanca 27 s
Chicago 11 sh
Dubai 28 s
Dublin 13 r
Geneva 19 f
Gibraltar 28 s
Guatemala 30 th
Helsinki 10 sh
Hong Kong 24 r
Istanbul 18 f
Jersey 15 f
Johannesburg 22 s
La Paz 14 th
Lagos 29 f
Lima 21 f
Lisbon 21 s
London 14C r
Los Angeles 24 s
Madrid 24 f
Mexico City 25 f
Miami 27 th
Moscow 12 f
Nairobi 25 f
New Delhi 45 s
New Orleans 33 th
New York 19 f
Oslo 14 f
Panama 29 th
Paris 17 f
Prague 18 f
Rio de Janeiro 28 f
Rome 21 f
San Francisco 14 f
Santiago 23 s
Seoul 17 f
Seychelles 29 th
Singapore 29 th
Stockholm 13 f
Sydney 20 f
Tel Aviv 21 f
Tenerife 21 f
Tokyo 18 r
Toronto 9 sh
Trinidad 30 s
Tunis 22 f
Venice 19 f
Vienna 20 f
Warsaw 18 f
Washington DC 14 r
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 Spain, Portugal
and the Balearics will be dry
with sunny spells, just a few
isolated showers in the east
¬ Sunny spells and scattered
showers in Italy, Sardinia,
Corsica, Greece and the
Balkans, some of these
heavy and thundery
¬ Showers in eastern Turkey
but drier with sunny spells
further west
¬ A mixture of sunny spells
and scattered showers in
Germany, Poland, Austria,
Switzerland, Hungary,
Ukraine, Moldova, Slovakia
and the Czech Republic,
locally thundery
¬ Often dry in France and
the Low Countries, just a few
isolated showers in the north
¬ Rain and mountain snow in
northern Scandinavia
EUROPE
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday
Sunny spells, but
a few isolated
showers.
Max 18C
Tuesday
Bright spells, but
cloudy at times
with showers.
Max 18C
Wednesday
Bright or sunny
spells and
scattered showers.
Max 19C
Thursday
Sunny spells and
scattered showers,
some heavy.
Max 20C
Friday
Sunny spells and
a few isolated
showers.
Max 21C
Saturday
Rain in northern
Scotland, mostly
dry elsewhere.
Max 20C
SUN, STREET LIGHTS & MOON
NIGHT SKY
Aberdeen 05:19 20:51 05:16 05:41 21:56
Belfast 05:44 20:56 05:42 06:06 21:59
Birmingham 05:35 20:33 05:34 05:57 21:32
Bristol 05:42 20:32 05:40 06:03 21:31
Cardiff 05:44 20:35 05:42 06:05 21:33
Cork 06:04 20:57 06:02 06:26 21:58
Dublin 05:50 20:53 05:48 06:12 21:54
Glasgow 05:33 20:55 05:30 05:55 21:58
London 05:32 20:23 05:30 05:53 21:21
Manchester 05:33 20:38 05:31 05:55 21:38
Newcastle 05:26 20:40 05:23 05:47 21:42
Norwich 05:22 20:21 05:20 05:43 21:19
Plymouth 05:51 20:35 05:49 06:13 21:33
Sun
rises
Sun sets/
lights on
Lights
off
Moon
rises
Moon
sets
26
25 21
17
17
22
15
19
20
15
23
15
2
25
21
17
7
17
16
14
15
9
17
16
15
12
15
6
16
18
16
14
16
3
21
18
17
14
16
9
17
19
17
15
15
7
16
18
16
16
14
14
TODAY’S WEATHER
UK and Ireland forecast
Many areas will start cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle,
heaviest and most persistent in Wales, southwest England
and eastern Ireland. Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern
England will become brighter with sunny spells developing
and a few isolated showers. Winds will be variable in direction,
light in most places but moderate near Irish and Celtic Sea
coasts, and over the Northern Isles
REGIONAL FORECASTS
London, SE England
Generally cloudy with patchy rain and drizzle. Light and
variable winds. Max 15C. Tonight, cloudy and misty. Min 5C
Midlands, E England
Rather cloudy with light rain and drizzle. Light south to
southwesterly winds. Max 15C. Tonight, overcast. Min 5C
Channel Is, SW and Cent S England, S Wales
Cloudy with rain in places. Light to moderate winds, variable
in direction. Max 14C. Tonight, damp and misty. Min 5C
N Wales, NW England, Isle of Man
Rain at first, brighter later. Light to moderate southerly winds.
Max 14C. Tonight, murky with isolated showers. Min 2C
Cent N and NE England
Cloudy and damp at first, brighter later. Light and variable
winds. Max 14C. Tonight, dull with isolated showers. Min 4C
Scotland
Bright spells and isolated showers. Light to moderate winds,
variable in direction. Max 16C. Tonight, a few showers. Min 2C
N Ireland, Republic of Ireland
Generally cloudy with rain or showers. Light to moderate
winds, variable in direction. Max 15C. Tonight, foggy. Min 4C
10
14
14
14
15
13
13
4
12
3
13
moderate
slight
slight
moderate
TODAY’S SOLUTIONS
CONCISE CROSSWORD 1779
Across: 1 Brassica, 7 Tress, 8 Popular, 10 Bedazzle,
11 Speak to, 12 Karst, 14 Mouth, 17 Noxious,
19 Together, 21 Requiem, 22 Monte, 23 Davy lamp
Down: 1 Blow-up, 2 Abundant, 3 Swab, 4 Attack,
5 Geezer, 6 Osteitis, 9 Rejoinder, 11 Sometime,
13 Avifauna, 15 Urgent, 16 Hotbed, 18 Upkeep, 20 Rely
SPOT THE MOVE 1320
1 Qxc4! wins: 1...Rxc4 2 Bb2. White will
soon enjoy a decisive material advantage
TEASER 3109
3, 17 & 35 and 5, 7 & 9
CROSSWORD 5004
Across: 1 Bridge, 4 Falstaff, 10 Macedonia, 11 Roger, 12 Set one’s heart on, 14 Used, 15 Stock-still,
18 Battledore, 19 Down, 21 Figure of speech, 24 Venin, 25 Maidstone, 26 Skin test, 27 Unison
Down: 1 Bump, 2 Increment, 3 Godson, 5 Agatha Christie, 6 Sargasso, 7 Aught, 8 Firing line,
9 Inverted commas, 13 Rugby fives, 16 Iron Cross, 17 Clarinet, 20 Lesson, 22 Genii, 23 Hewn
SUKO CELL BLOCKS
One hour after sunset tonight Mercury is 8°
high in the WNW and 2° to the left of the
Pleiades. The impressively earthlit Moon is 3°
left of Mercury tomorrow and 13° above-left of
the planet on Tuesday. Venus, brilliant, rises in
the E one hour before the Sun. Jupiter, one sixth
as bright, lies 1° right of Venus tomorrow and 7°
above-right of Venus next Sunday. Alan Pickup
Jeremy
Clarkson
But that hasn’t happened yet, which
brings me on to the big question. Where
are you going on holiday this summer?
Corfu? The Russian-free beaches of St
Tropez? Lovely. Except in all probability
you aren’t.
In recent weeks I’ve had one friend
turned away from the check-in desk
because his new wife still had her
maiden name in her passport. They had
a covering letter and permission from
the authorities in America to fly, but
because the name on the ticket didn’t
match the name on the passport, that
was that. And they ended up holidaying
not in New York, as planned, but in
Lechlade-on-Thames.
Last week another friend, also going
to New York, was turned away because
her Covid test came back as
“inconclusive”. And last weekend I was
talking to a couple who boarded their
flight to Nice and then de-boarded
because the plane was broken and the
engineers were too rich to come and
mend it.
In addition I know of three people
who had their flights cancelled at the last
minute over Easter, and I damn nearly
didn’t make it to the Seychelles in
February because I was flying via Dubai
and they had different rules about when
the Covid test should have been done.
As a result of all this, many
newspapers and magazines will fill their
pages in the coming weeks with ideas for
holidaying at home. They’ll tell you
about Corfe Castle and the bridge in
Knaresborough and canal boats, and
they’ll make it all seem idyllic, but I
know many of you are so desperate to
get away, you’ll ignore the appeal of a
staycation and simply hope your travel
experience won’t be so bad. Even
though you know full well it will be.
Don’t worry, though, because if you
are determined to go abroad for some
guaranteed summer sunshine, and you
can’t afford to rent a private jet, Uncle
Jeremy has had his thinking cap on and
has come up with a way of ensuring you
board the plane with no fuss at all, and
that it takes off, on time.
Here’s what you do. Slip into a black
leather jacket and a pair of ill-fitting
jeans, drive to the port town of
Folkestone and then rent a small dinghy.
Wait for the tides to be right and for a
northeasterly to be blowing, and then
hop aboard. If your nautical calculations
are correct, you’ll wash up a few hours
later on the shingle beach in Dungeness,
where you will be greeted by a kindly
Border Force chap who’ll want to know
what pronoun you’d like and if you have
any dietary issues.
After an agreeable lunch he’ll
chauffeur you in a Mercedes to a lovely
hotel, and then, the next morning, you’ll
be driven straight onto the tarmac at
Heathrow, where you will board a flight
to the sun-kissed, gorilla-filled paradise
of Rwanda.
Getting home? I haven’t worked that
one out yet, but, having been to this
lake-filled jungle country a couple of
times, I can tell you it’s so lovely you’ll
probably want to stay there for ever.
Chaos ruled at Heathrow last month but Jeremy has a plan
B
ritish Airways seems to be in
a bit of a pickle. On
Wednesday alone it
cancelled nearly a hundred
flights in and out of
Heathrow, and when bosses
say everything will return to
normal by June, you can’t
help raising a quizzical
eyebrow and wondering if
they’ve been taking lessons in optimistic
time-management from their local
builder.
The problem, it seems, is finding staff
for the airports. Many were sacked or
furloughed during the pandemic, and
when management asked them to return
to work, they found that a great many
had been driven by Brexit back to Latvia
or Romania or wherever.
Finding replacements is not easy
because these days unskilled workers
can earn around £8,000 a day washing
dishes in a pub or driving a lawn mower
or replacing the soap bars in a hotel. As a
result most baggage-handlers at
Heathrow now have their own
chauffeurs. Maybe that’s why Nicky
Clarke closed his Mayfair hairdressing
salon last week. He’s too busy doing
600-quid blow dries in Feltham.
There’s another issue too. Before
being given a job at an airport you must
be vetted by the security services, but
because the inspectors are basically civil
servants, they’re working from home.
It’s the same story with the
immigration officials: they also claim
they’re working from home. Right. I see.
And how exactly do you check
someone’s passport when you’re in the
park taking the dog for a walk before
picking the kids up from school? I flew
into Heathrow the other day, and while
there may have been several million
passport booths, only three were
manned.
Travel hasn’t been easy or even
remotely pleasant for many years, but
now it’s just horrific. Because you must
queue to check in, and then, after you’ve
taken off your shoes and your belt and
your watch and you’ve stood around
with your hands in the air while
someone checks your gentleman
sausage for explosives, you must prove
to someone in a high-visibility jacket that
you are not diseased. This means there
are now queues to join queues. And all
so that you can make it on time for a
flight that may or may not have been
cancelled.
One day I will revolutionise the entire
sordid travel experience with a business
model that I’ve been developing in my
head for some time. I’ll have an airline
and an airport where you just turn up
and get on the plane. There will be no
security checks. No one will push a
probe up your nose and into your brain.
No one will touch your penis. And on
board you’ll be able to drink as much as
you like, make phone calls when you
want and stand for landing if that’s what
takes your fancy.
Yes, it might explode, and, yes, you
might catch a disease, but this is an
airline for people who, to save time, are
prepared to risk it. It’ll be called I’ll Take
My Chances Air. And it’ll be more of a
disrupter to the travel industry than
Tesla was to the world of cars.
Drink as much
as you like and
stand for landing
if you fancy
Beat the queue
and fly with
me on I’ll Take
My Chances
Airways
STEVE PARSONS/PA