The Times - UK (2022-05-26)

the times | Thursday May 26 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

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;

17, good; 21, very good; 26, excellent

 

 

  


 ^ 


 


 

   


  

 
 (^) 
 

CH I RP
EU
INSURE
CHG
OONE
NP
CHERRY
HE
ASL
LETHAL
KA
G
1 Adam and Eve 2 Portugal 3 Wham! 4 Penguin
5 Fist 6 Civil war or intrastate war 7 Copenhagen
8 Frogs’ legs 9 Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan 10 Septimius Severus 11 Murder One
12 Turin 13 Red Tractor 14 Épée 15 Japanese
macaque or snow monkey (Macaca fuscata)
1 ... Qe2! is a very surprising
winning move that forces a
break through on d4. Black
threatens 2 ... Rh1 mate and
after 2 Qxe2 Bxd4+ 3 Bf2 Rh1
is mate
Kula (c) A ceremonial
exchange of gifts (Collins)
Nithsdale (a) A woman’s riding
hood (Chambers)
Verfremdung (c) Alienation of
a theatre audience (OED)
Kakuro 3182
Futoshiki 4223 Lexica 6366
Cell Blocks 4480 Set Square 3185 Lexica 6365
Suko 3499
Train Tracks 1639
Chess — Winning Move Word watch
1 Scar
2 Rebus
3 Strain
4 Sullivan
5 Awestruck
Quintagram
Quiz
Easy 44; Medium 379; Harder 5,421
Brain Trainer
Yesterday’s answers
ashet, ashy, ease, east, easy, eyas, haste,
hasty, heavyset, hest, sate, save, seat,
seta, shave, shay, shea, sheave, sheet,
stave, stay, stye, tase, tash, tease, these,
vase, vast, vest, vesta, yeast
times2 Crossword No 8914 Brain Trainer
ANSWER
EASY 40
ANSWER
MEDIUM 96
ANSWER
HARDER 151 x 4

• 7


• 659

• 47

+ 8

x 7 + 98

x 3

x 2 + 480

+ 15

+ 887

÷ 2

• 13

+ 77

50%

OF IT

/ 3

OF IT

2

+ 85

/ 3

OF IT

+^1 / 8

OF IT

7

+ 458

/ 8

OF IT

(^5) SQUARE
IT
70%
OF IT
/ 4
OF IT
(^3) / 2
OF IT
+^1
/ 6
OF IT
+^1
Across
2 Caught sight of (8)
6 Seafood dish (6)
8 Type of wall painting (6)
9 Ronnie —, comedian (7)
10 Vends (5)
12 (Of words) carefully
assembled (4-6)
16 State of being apart (10)
18 Of a former age (5)
20 Retaliation (7)
21 Type of fuel (6)
22 Salad plant (6)
23 Saw (8)
Down
1 Month (7)
2 Place to buy presents (4,4)
3 Sullen, bad-tempered (6)
4 Plant fibre (5)
5 Lethargic (6)
7 Prepare (troops) for active
service (8)
11 In a row and touching
(3,2,3)
13 Examined (a building) (8)
14 Excuse (a mistake) (7)
15 Caribbean cult (6)
17 Make beloved (6)
19 Liquid remnants (5)
Solution to Crossword 8913
1 2 3 4 5
6 7
8
9
10 11
12 13
14
15 16 17
18 19
20
21
22
23
F P GRATUITY
AURORA R N O
N L N NASSAU
CRYING C T N
U S W HEWING
ANKH A R N I
P N BYWAY C S
E I R Q UTAH
RITUAL U S W
I W V EXEUNT
TIESUP O F I
I A R UTURNS
FORWARDS L G
Cell BlocksNo 4481
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Polygon Set SquareNo 3186
Please note, BODMAS does not apply
KillerGentle No 8320 Solutions
KillerTough No 8321
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).
“It wasn’t your worst lead of the
year, although it may have been
your least successful.” That was
the verdict of my great friend
Oliver Segal QC as I sought sym-
pathy after giving away this slam
with my opening lead. The deal
comes from round four of the
Schapiro Spring Foursomes in
Stratford-upon-Avon — oh no,
wait, no longer in Stratford, now in
a motorway junction hotel nearby.
I pictured a dummy with, say
♠KQxx, ♥AKQJxx, ♦-, ♣AKx.
How else could North drive to slam
facing potentially nothing of note
apart from four cards in spades? If
that was the dummy, the way to
beat the slam was to lead diamonds
twice, forcing dummy to ruff and
so promote my jack of spades.
Knowing dummy had a void
diamond, it seemed better to lead
the jack of diamonds rather than
the ace, in case declarer elected
not to ruff in dummy when he
held the king. And that was my
choice — the jack of diamonds.
Declarer, David Gold, without
doubt one of England’s finest play-
ers, had little option but to run the
jack to his king, crucially shedding
dummy’s fourth club. He crossed to
the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart.
He then led a spade to dummy’s
ten. He ruffed a third heart (reveal-
ing the 4-3 split) and could now
lead the queen of spades.
The red-faced West could only
win the ace and concede, for declarer
could ruff West’s (say) ace of dia-
monds, draw West’s jack of spades
with dummy’s king and cash the
three top clubs plus the king of hearts
and the fifth heart. Slam made.
My teammates consoled me.
“I’d have led the same,” they said.
They continued, “And leading the
ace of diamonds is no better, for
declarer can ruff and lead a spade
to the queen.”
I much appreciated their kind-
ness but, actually, as long as I duck
the spade to the queen, declarer
cannot succeed. He cannot cash
the king of diamonds or I can force
dummy with a second diamond
(when I win the ace of spades); and
if he doesn’t cash that king, he’ll
lose a late club.
Only a non-ace of diamonds
lead (or a plain silly ten of hearts)
lets 6♠ make. A monkey defeats it
nine out of 13 times. Aaargh.
[email protected]
Contract: 6♠, Opening Lead:?
Dealer: West, Vulnerability: Neither
N
W E
S
Pass 1♥ Pass
1 ♠ Pass 5♦(1) Pass
5 ♠(2) Pass 6♠(3) End
(1) Exotic void-showing splinter, happy to
underwrite the Five-level.
(2) Hurriedly (so to speak) signing off.
(3) A tad undisciplined. Partner can easily
have ♠xxxx.
S(Gold) W(AR) N E
♠ 63
♥QJ3
♦Q953
♣J862
Teams ♠K1072
♥AK954
♦-
♣AKQ5
♠Q854
♥ 2
♦K7642
♣ 743
♠AJ9
♥ 10876
♦AJ108
♣10 9
Advanced
Bridge Andrew Robson
UND I PLOMAT I C
P A R P D N C
SINAI IMMENSE
E G V A I N
TIEATTENDANT
R T E I L R
MOOSE SPOKE
E U S C T N
DISREPAIR GIG
L C U A S R
ELASTIC TRI TE
Y L O U O D E
NEUROSURGEON
Sudoku 13,231
Killer 8318
Sudoku 13,232
Killer 8319
Sudoku 13,233
Quick Cryptic 2142
KenKen 5589
Codeword 4597