A teacher invited to a Bangkok school's award ceremony for the sole purpose of being a 'foreign specimen' with which students' parents could satisfy themselves their children were getting a 'good education', completed Sudoku puzzles during it.
Moys Kenwood, 48, was given a seat in a position of prominence, so that the vacant stares of hundreds of parents would 'lock on' to his bald patch, and be fooled into thinking he was intelligent, and a good teacher to their children.
Once this novelty had passed, however, and the ceremony got underway, speeches became long and tedious, excitement was at a premium, and Kenwood reached down and pulled a Sudoku puzzlebook from his bag.
Three hours passed. Certificates were presented. Prizes were awarded. Thanks were given. Students performed badly-rehearsed, insipid acts of entertainment, but Kenwood missed these, concentrating, as he was, on his 9x9 grids.
Then, disaster struck. So deep was his concentration on his devilishly-difficult puzzle, that he failed to hear his name being called to come to the stage to accept a certificate for being the Token Foreign Teacher at the school. There was a deafening silence, as all eyes sought him out, only to discover him poring over the grid. The cacophony of coughs roused the Englishman, and alerted him to the fact that he was required to do something, but
Continued in Puzzle Section, page 81
