Times 2 - UK (2020-10-16)

14 1GT Friday October 16 2020 | the times

MindGames

Fill the grid

using the

numbers 1 to 9

only. The

numbers in each

horizontal or

vertical run of

white squares

add up to the

total in the

triangle to its left

or above it. The

same number

may occur more

than once in a

row or column,

but not within

the same run of

white squares.

© PUZZLER MEDIA

Kakuro No 2764

© 2010 KENKEN PUZZLE & TM NEXTOY. DIST. BY UFS, INC. WWW.KENKEN

.COM

Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains

each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between

the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller

(<) than the number next to it.

All the digits 1 to 6 must appear in every row and column. In
each thick-line “block”, the target number in the top left-hand
corner is calculated from the digits in all the cells in the block,
using the operation indicated by the symbol.

KenKenDifficult No 5087 Futoshiki No 3805

     


 





 

 



 



 



  

 



 







   



 



 

  

Optimism versus pessimism

Black’s position is parlous. Any

five or six will give White a full

prime which should see her well
on the road to victory. Black’s roll

of 54 is not what he wanted but is

Black an optimist or a pessimist?

The pessimist will resign him-
self to defeat and just hope to avoid

losing a gammon. He will play

13/9, 13/8. This is completely safe

for the time being and a couple

of small doubles could yet see
Black turn the game around.

However, most of the time White

will build her prime, escape her

rear checker and win without too
much effort.

Now let us look at the optimist’s

view. He will see that all his check-

ers are in play and that White cur-

rently has three blots. Is there any
way to take advantage of those

blots? There is indeed but it does

involve significant risk. Black can

choose the Double Tiger play of
9/5, 6/1*, voluntarily exposing two

blots in his home board.

This gives him two possible

game plans, blitzing or priming,

with blitzing being the more likely.

Crucially, hitting means that half

of White’s next roll must be spent

entering from the bar. Of course, if

she rolls 66, 44 or 64 she will stay

on the bar and give Black real win-

ning chances.

The optimist will seize this rela-

tively slim chance and also keep in

mind that even if his blot(s) are hit

he will retain some game-winning

chances because of his anchor in

White’s home board. The choice of

9/5, 6/1* is supported by Extreme

Gammon, which can calculate

things rather better than we mere

mortals. It tells us that the passive

13/9, 13/8 is an error.

I would always rather play

against a pessimist than an opti-

mist because the former rarely

tries to exert pressure. As we have

seen in previous articles the ability

to apply pressure is fundamental

to winning backgammon. There

are times when you have to resign

yourself to defeat but in the main

you should always adopt a positive

attitude and look for a route to vic-

tory. That works in backgammon

just as well as it does in life.

© PUZZLER MEDIA

Slide the letters either horizontally or vertically back into the grid to produce a

completed crossword. Letters are allowed to slide over other letters

Every letter in this crossword-style grid has been substituted for a number from 1

to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters

already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main

grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been

accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded. Yesterday’s solution, right

Cluelines Stuck on Codeword? To receive 4 random clues call 0901 293 6262 or

text TIMECODE to 84901. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network

access charge. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. For the full solution

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access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm).

Winners will receive a Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus

Solve the puzzle and text in the numbers in the three

shaded boxes. Text TIMES followed by a space, then

your three numbers, eg, TIMES 123, plus your name,

address and postcode to 84901 (UK only), by midnight.

Or enter by phone. Call 09012 925274 (ROI 1516 303 501)

by midnight. Leave your three answer numbers (in any

order) and your contact details.

Calls cost £1 (ROI €1.50) plus your telephone company’s

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SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm).

Fill the grid so

that every

column, every

row and every

3x2 box contains

the digits 1 to 6

What are your favourite puzzles in MindGames?

Email: [email protected]

Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village

B. The numbers indicate how many sections of rail go in each

row and column. There are only straight rails and curved rails.

The track cannot cross itself.

Win a Dictionary & Thesaurus

Train Tracks No 1149

Lexica No 5529 No 5530

C

L

U

C

R

D

L

I

N

E

D

C

A

BO

RS

KD

LN

GE

S

C

R

O

A

O

R

B

K

Y

B

RP

MY

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Codeword No 4095

Winning Move

Backgammon Chris Bray

---

árDWDWDri]

à1WDWDpDp]

ßphW0W)p!]

ÞDWDW)WDW]

ÝWDWDWDWD]

ÜDWDW0W)P]

ÛPDWDWDBI]

ÚDWDWDRDW]

WÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈW

White to play.

This position is from

Christiansen-Hnydiuk, “Titled

Tuesday”, chess.com 2020.

White is a rook down here and if

the kingside attack doesn’t yield

swift results he will undoubtedly

lose. The combination of the

pawn at f6 and the queen at h

is certainly dangerous but White

needs to find an accurate

continuation to exploit these

factors. Can you find the

sequence that does the trick?