the times | Thursday July 30 2020 1GT 15
MindGames
© PUZZLER MEDIADivide 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; 21, very good; 26, excellent  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  MC
CRASH
ELA
DR I P PY
AC
REEFPARROT
XR
EARA
GRD
YAKE
M1 Time flies 2 Libra 3 Ian Paisley 4 Tom and Jerry
5 Heston Blumenthal 6 Shaun of the Dead 7 Velocity
8 Andrzej Duda 9 Individual flower. It is also known
as the stinking corpse lily or corpse flower 10 SS
Andrea Doria 11 Kurt Vonnegut 12 The Iron Maidens
13 Sir Jeffrey Hudson 14 John Francome
15 Michaela CoelMoko (b) A Maori tattoo
Mastodon (a) An extinct
elephant-like mammal
Menhaden (c) A North
American marine fish1 Qg4! deflects the black queen
and after 1 ... Qxg4 2 Ne7 is a
beautiful mateKakuro 2707Futoshiki 3748 Lexica 5416Cell Blocks 3910 Set Square 2710 Lexica 5415Suko 2929Train Tracks 1082Word watchChess — Winning Move1 Yo b
2 Zambia
3 Wizard
4 Verbose
5 XenophobicQuintagramQuizEasy 165; Medium 50; Harder 136Brain TrainerYesterday’s answers
ethyl, herl, hilt, isle, islet, lest, list, lister,
lite, liter, lithe, litre, lyre, lyrist, lyse, relish,
rely, riel, rile, shelty, silt, silty, sley, slit,
slither, slithery, stile, style, styler, tile, tilertimes2 CrosswordNo 8344 Brain Trainer
A
N
S
MEDIUM^96 –^6 DOUBLEE WER
ITCUBE x 3
IT÷ (^88) – 391
(^333) / 88
OF IT
- HHALF OF
 IT
 (^999) / 1011
 OF IT
AN
S
EASY^6 x^9 +^6 DOUBLE WER
ITDOUBLE
IT÷ 3 + 2^5 – 6 4 +^10(^11) / 4
OF IT
- AN
 S
 HARDER 38 DOUBLE – 42^3 WER
 IT
 x 6 9 + 316 ÷ 9
 (^777) / 9
 OF IT
 TRIPLE + + 32
 IT
 (^555) / 888
 OF IT
 - Across 
 6 Italianredwine( 7 )
 7 Systemofbelief( 5 )
 9 Contemptuoussmile( 5 )
 10 Roomffforyoungchildren( 7 )
 11 Spinalproblem( 777 , 4 )
 14 Studyofbirds( 11 )
 17 Undermine(authority)( 7 )
 19 Inuitcanoe( 5 )
 21 Feellingoffbboreddom(( 5 ))
 22 Mistakenly( 7 )
 Down
 1 Frenchresort;subtle( 4 )
 2 Partyinfffiltrator( 8 )
 3 Abduct(aperson)( 6 )
 4 Maplegenus( 4 )
 5 Excessiiiveboldness( 8 )
 6 Prominenceonatooth( 4 )
 8 Solidcarrbondioxide( 3 , 3 )
 11 Problemffforriiiver
 naaavigation( 8 )
 12 Typeofhandle( 8 )
 1113 Lightdish( 6 )
 15 CapitalofCanada( 6 )
 16 Approve,endorse( 4 )
 18 Longheroicpoem( 4 )
 20 Hinduspiritualdiscipline( 4 )
 SolutiontoCrossword 8343
 1 2 3 4 5
 6 7 8
 9 10
 11 12
 13
 14 15
 16
 17 18 19 20
 21 22
 LONE CHEQUES
 I A B R A S T
 TORPEDO SPEAR
 T R L S E I
 LEAST SESSION
 E T U R N G
 IMPLEMENT
 C V F N E F
 OVERDUE CORGI
 S R R O A N
 METRO REDFLAG
 I W S E E I E
 CROSSED PAIR
 Cell Blocks No 3911
 © PUZZLER MEDIA
 Polygon Set Square No 2711
 Please note, BODMAS does not apply
 Killer Gentle No 7275 Solutions
 Killer Tough No 7276
 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).
 Reader Stephen Barney reports
 this fascinating grand slam from
 Bridge Club Live (an online site
 which has, incredibly, been run-
 ning for over 20 years). His part-
 y
 ner Andrew Brown brilliantly
 made 7 ♥ while no other declarer
 made even 12 tricks. Plan the play
 on (a) the queen of spades lead
 y
 and (b) a heart lead.
 (a) You win the queen of spades
 with the king and test diamonds
 — if they split 3-3, you’ll have an
 easy ride. You cash the ace, cross
 to dummy’s king and ruff a third
 diamond. No 3-3 split — East dis-
 cards (a spade). You cross to the
 ace of clubs and ruff a fourth dia-
 mond (East discarding another
 spade).
 You could play for hearts to split
 3-2, drawing trumps (king, then
 y
 overtake the queen with the ace
 and cash the jack), succeeding
 when they split 3-2 (not here).
 Better, though, is to play along
 cross-ruff lines.
 Cash the ace of spades then lead
 a low club. If West discards, you
 can ruff with dummy’s two of
 hearts. You ruff a spade/diamond,
 ruff a club with the nine of hearts
 and claim via a high cross-ruff.
 So West must ruff in with the
 three of hearts. You overruff with
 dummy’s nine and ruff a spade.
 You now cash the king of hearts
 then lead the winning king of
 clubs. West has to ruff but you
 overruff, draw West’s last trump
 and enjoy dummy’s fifth diamond.
 (b) On a heart lead, you are able
 yy
 to win the seven of hearts in hand,
 judging from East’s small heart
 that West holds the ten. Again, you
 test diamonds, cashing the ace,
 crossing to the king and ruffing a
 third diamond, East discarding.
 However, you must ruff it high, or
 your communications will be
 irreparably damaged.
 You cross to the ace of clubs and
 ruff a fourth diamond, again high.
 This allows you to lead your
 remaining eight of hearts and
 finesse dummy’s nine. You cash
 the ace-jack drawing West’s
 trumps and can now cash the fifth
 diamond and cross to the ace-king
 of spades and win the last trick
 with the king of clubs. Phew.
 [email protected]
 Contract: 7 ♥, Opening Lead:♠Q/♥ 3
 Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither
 N
 W E
 S
 1 ♣ Pass 1♦ Pass
 1 ♥( 1 ) Pass 4♥ Pass
 4NT( 2 ) Pass 5 ♥( 2 ) Pass
 5NT( 3 ) Pass 6♦( 3 ) Pass
 7 ♥( 4 ) End
 (1) May jump to 2♥ but there is much to be
 said for taking things slowly until a fit is
 found. Partner will seldom pass 1 ♥.
 ( 2 ) How many aces? Answer two.
 (3) How many kings? Answer one.
 ( 4 ) No obvious losers — although whether
 there will be 13 winners is another matter.
 S(Brown) W N(Barney) E
 ♠ 10984
 ♥ 6
 ♦ 105
 ♣QJ 9843
 Teams ♠ 763
 ♥AJ 92
 ♦K8 642
 ♣A
 ♠AK
 ♥KQ8 7
 ♦A
 ♣K10 7 65
 ♠QJ5 2
 ♥ 10543
 ♦QJ9 7
 ♣ 2
 Advanced
 Bridge Andrew Robson
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- 1 ( 7 3 & ,
 2/' 63(&7$
 Sudoku 11,
 Killer 7273
 Sudoku 11,
 Killer 7274
 Sudoku 11,
 Quick Cryptic 1667
 KenKen 5019
 Codeword 4027
