17 in 17: Get set for a jam-packed summer arts fest

an exhilarating retelling of Don Giovanni at Lytchett Matravers. Sung in English, this exciting young ensemble offers the perfect introduction to opera.

Balkan band Paprika will performs in Portesham and Langton Matravers as they fuse together Eastern European, Balkan, Gypsy and Classical music in a whirlwind performance of frenzied virtuosity.

The Three Inch Fools are heading back to Sandford Orcas with their calamitous take on the legendary folktale, Robin Hood. Grab a blanket, pack a picnic and prepare for a riotous summer adventure.

Showbar with Thirst, a love letter to sobriety and a celebration of all things alcoholic which combines storytelling and song. Finally, prize-winning playwright and poet Brenda Read Brown will be in The Bibbern Bar at Sturminster Newton Exchange with But I Haven’t Finished Yet, a riotous celebration of growing older.

With a mix of absurd and extravagant theatre, impressive acrobatics and satirically spicy puppetry, Brainfools head to The

Halstock with Lucky Pigeons, an open-air circus show for all the family.

Opera in a Box presents n Full details and tickets are available from artsreach.co.uk

With a plethora of costume changes, a pantheon of Gods and a prohibited peek into a pithos, The Last Baguette retell the preposterous and problematic story of Pandora in Pandora’s Box Jar at Winterborne Stickland sports ground. Calf 2 Cow head to Springhead Gardens in Fontmell Magna with a hilarious new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s famous poem The Jabberwocky. In a special season finale, Artsreach invite you to take a turn in the saddle of one of 16 special bikes as they team up with Portland’s b-side festival for a pedal-powered cinema screening of The Illusionist in the stunning gardens of Pennsylvania Castle.

Crossword

Jumbo 3D Sudoku

Place 1 to 9 once each into every black-bordered 3×3 area as well as each of the 54 rows indicated by the coloured lines. Rows don’t cross the thick black lines.

Killer Sudoku

Pro:

Place 1 to 9 once each into every row, column and bold-lined 3×3 box. No digit may be repeated in any dashed-line cage, and each dashed-line cage must result in the given value when the stated operation is applied between all of the digits in that cage. For subtraction and division operations, start with the highest number in the cage and then subtract or divide by the other numbers in that cage.

Cryptic Crossword

Across

1 Potatostewinitiallyfollowedbydessert (4)

4 MakeillateaseoneinFranceonbench (8)

8 Placesforretirementwithappeal –or temporaryaccommodation (6)

9 Musicalinstrumentsexcitedgroans (6)

10 MethodoftransmittingdataprovidedinWest Indies (2-2)

11 Righttoretainvariedpricesinedict (8)

13 Inertiarootedpossiblyingettingworse (13)

16 Cosilytreatedwithdoctorinterveningasa token? (8)

19 Supportmemberofpack (4)

20 It’susedforbindingnumberofhorses (6)

22 Executivetypicallyheartlesslyworkingaround company (6)

23 Loadsontoacomputerpopularoutletsina market? (8)

24 Songsandtheatricalworkswithoutpiano (4)

Brain chain (Hard version)

149

RESULT -102+109×3/4-73-25%

Can you solve these brain chains entirely in your head? Start with the bold value on the left of a chain, then follow the arrows and apply each operation in turn. Write the result in the box.

2 Seesummaryfirstinanexactway (9)

3 Hateregulationofspeedaroundisland (7)

4 Completestate (5)

5 Backerquietlysoonpreparedtoenter southernregion (7)

6 Golfinrankforonewhoplaysitfamiliarly? (5)

7 Waterfallbroughtupnothing (3)

12 Snappolicemanbyyard –andmake reproduction (9)

14 Trouble,say,overUSgangsteroutsidethe law (7)

15 Currentthemewithalecturer (7)

17 ConstructedtargetmostlyaroundItalian article (5)

18 Nameslocationfortourists,wehear (5)

21 Lightish-brownarmouredvehiclewithrear destroyed (3)