the times | Wednesday April 13 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 13 words, average;
18, good; 24, very good; 30, excellent
7958 3124
79832 5312
986 12 31
86 9314258
5132 13
21 2135
8915326 68
97 51 689
1279 46897
3198 5897
W EBB
OAFO
LUN
FANCY
DA
DORMER
S P
P A L A C E
Y A R
Y E A R
E T
T R I E D
1 28 Days Later 2 Nicholas II 3 Black Beauty
4 Electric eel 5 Camembert 6 Bayeux Tapestry
7 Nairobi 8 Federico Garcia Lorca 9 Taylor Swift
10 Phonetics 11 John Sullivan 12 Isaac Julien
13 University of Bristol 14 Kyoto 15 Julia Child —
in the 2022 TV drama Julia
Kakuro 3151
Futoshiki 4192 Lexica 6304
Cell Blocks 4443 Set Square 3154 Lexica 6303
Suko 3462
Train Tracks 1604
Word watch
Fusain (c) A fine charcoal
pencil (Collins)
Georgic (a) Relating to rustic
matters (Chambers)
Preconise (b) To announce
publicly (OED)
Chess — Winning Move
1 Merit
2 Garter
3 Canada
4 Thistle
5 Ordering
Quintagram
Quiz
Easy 24; Medium 812; Harder 3,970
Brain Trainer
KenKen 5552
Codeword 4560
1 ... Qxe4+! 2 Qxe4 and now the
rook and knight co-ordinate
beautifully: 2 ... Rf2+ 3 Kh1 Rf1+
4 Kg2 Rg1 mate.
40 + 4 76 + 2 2 + 8 13 x 15
95 + 1 6 x 4 11 x 15 9 + 12
(^) 6 + 4 76 x 2 15 + 11 12 x 9
40 x 4 8 x 2 1 x 95 13 + 15
1 2 2 4 4 6 8 9 11 12 13 15 15 40 76 95
10 195
96 24 165 21
44 78
26 108
160 16 95 28
10 152
Tetonor 247
Yesterday’s answers
ado, aldol, doll, dollar, dop, dopa, dorp,
droll, drop, loa, load, lop, lor, lord, oar, old,
opal, oral, pallor, parol, plod, pod, pol,
polar, poll, pollard, pro, proa, prod, road,
rod, roll
times2 CrosswordNo 8877 Brain Trainer
Just follow the instructions from left to right, starting with the number given to reach an answer at the end.
ANSWER
EASY 13
ANSWER
MEDIUM^127
ANSWER
HARDER 224
x 4 + 8 75%
OF IT
SQUARE
IT
- 181 x 3
x 7
- 71
÷ 2
/ 2
OF IT
+^1
+ 685 /^2
OF IT
1
+ 15
+ 48
- 232 + 775
/ 3
OF IT
+^1
/ 3
OF IT
1
÷ 4
+ 17
- 89 + + 889
+ 6
- 38 /^2
OF IT
1
/ 8
OF IT
(^7) 75%
OF IT
Across
4 Block of metal (5)
7 Story teller (8)
8 Part of the eye (4)
9 Change location (8)
10 Foolishness (6)
13 Joined by treaty (6)
14 Margin of safety (6)
15 Avoiding work (6)
18 Grass cutter (8)
19 TImpatient desire (4)
20 Current affairs film (8)
21 Complete range or scope
(5)
Down
1 Resulting from closely
related parents (6)
2 In a quick tempo (6)
3 Bridge-like structure (6)
4 Not able to be assailed (8)
5 Wall scribblings (8)
6 Very hot and dry (6)
11 Frozen dessert (3,5)
12 Person bringing a civil
action in a court of law (8)
14 Mislaying (6)
15 Sudden inward flow (6)
16 Hang around (6)
17 Agreeably, delightfully (6)
Solution to Crossword 8876
T2 CROSSWORD No 8877
1 2 3 4 5 6
7
8 9
10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17
18 19
20
21
DEMURE AFAR
U I E B C R E
TONGA L IONESS
C O C O N U T
HERETIC SEDGE
C K U D
CANNIBAL ISM
F E U A
ASSET SATSUMA
M A T T I N G
INVOLVE METRE
L O E R E E N
YOYO ARARAT
Cell BlocksNo 4444
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Polygon Set SquareNo 3155
Please note, BODMAS does not apply
KillerTricky No 8252 Solutions
KillerDeadly No 8253
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).
Five Instructive Themes
- Declaring Trump Contracts
(d) Delaying Trumps to
establish a long suit
You have a long card suit in dummy
and want to establish it. If dummy’s
trumps contain entries, you must
delay drawing trumps or you will
squander those vital entries.
Dummy
West ♠Q102 East
♠ 987 ♥AK432 ♠ 65
♥Q10 ---- ♥J987
Declarer
♠AKJ43
♥ 65
In the above 4♠ game (only rel-
evant cards shown), you can cash
♠A, following with ♠2, but must
play no more spades as ♠Q10 are
both entries. Lead to ♥AK and
ruff ♥2 (with ♠K — to avoid
being overruffed). Lead ♠3 to ♠ 10
and ruff ♥3 with ♠J. Lead ♠4 to
♠Q and enjoy ♥4, a length winner.
On Deal A, you win ♣K lead with
♣A and count nine winners —
seven spades, ♦A and ♣A. You must
try to establish dummy’s fifth dia-
mond and this will require four
dummy entries — three ruffs plus an
entry to return to dummy to enjoy
the long card. You have four dummy
entries — ♦A and ♠KQJ, provided
you do not squander an entry by
drawing even one round of trumps.
At trick two, lead ♦5 to ♦A and
ruff ♦2. Cross to ♠J and ruff ♦3.
Cross to ♠Q and ruff ♦6. Finally,
cross to ♠K and cash the long ♦ 7
— your tenth trick.
On Deal B, West led ♠A, East
encouraging with ♠10, and fol-
lowed with ♠K and ♠5, East ruff-
ing. Declarer won ♦4 switch with
♦A and cashed only ♥A. She
could not afford a second trump, as
dummy’s lowly ♥4 was an entry.
She finessed ♣Q, cashed ♣A and
ruffed ♣2 with ♥Q. She led ♥6 to
♥K and ruffed ♣3 with ♥7. She
then led the carefully preserved
♥3 to dummy’s ♥4 and cashed
♣4, throwing ♦6. Ten tricks
made. [email protected]
Dealer: South, Vulnerability: Neither
N
W E
S
1 ♠ Pass 2♦ Pass
2 ♠ Pass 3♠ Pass
4 ♠(1) End
(1) Loving the seventh spade.
S W N E
♠ 7
♥K9862
♦KJ98
♣J93
♠KQJ
♥ 54
♦A7632
♣ 752
♠A986432
♥QJ
♦ 5
♣A84
♠ 105
♥A1073
♦Q104
♣KQ106
N
W E
S
♠ 104
♥J105
♦KJ74
♣J1087
♠QJ3
♥K42
♦ 93
♣AQ432
♠ 987
♥AQ9763
♦A6
♣ 65
♠AK652
♥ 8
♦Q10852
♣K9
A
B
1 ♠ Pass 1NT
2 ♥ Pass 4♥ End
S W N E
Dealer: West, Vulnerability: Neither
Bridge Andrew Robson
M I S E R R A A
O T O V E R S T E E R
B A R M Y V I X R
I A A B A D A P P L E
L T L M R S
E G O I M P R U D E N T
S S P S
I N P A T I E N T S O W
N H L O T H
S P E A R H E A D R E
T R A V A M A Z E
I N E A R N E S T I Z
L E N E R N I E
Sudoku 13,132
Killer 8250
Sudoku 13,133
Killer 8251
Sudoku 13,134
Quick Cryptic 2111
Impatient desire (4)