52 | New Scientist | 26 October 2019
The back pages Puzzles
Cryptic crossword #17 Set by Sparticle Quick quiz #26 Puzzle set by Zoe Mensch
#27 The goblin game
Annie and Beth are about to play
“Goblin”. Like snakes and ladders, it
is a game played on a 10 x 10 grid of
squares numbered from one to 100.
Players start with their counter off the
board (next to square one) and take it in
turns to roll a single die, aiming to be the
first to get to square 100.
However, instead of snakes or ladders,
there is just one hazard: a goblin. Each
player gets one goblin and is allowed to
place it on any square they want (apart
from square 100) before the game starts.
If you land on your opponent’s goblin,
you lose, and the same goes for your
opponent. If a player lands on their own
goblin, they are safe. If neither player
lands on a goblin, the first to get to 100
wins (an exact final roll isn’t required, just
getting to the 100 square is enough).
Annie, who has never played before,
decides to place her goblin on square 31,
because that is her lucky number. Where
should Beth place her goblin to have the
maximum chance of winning?Answer next week#26 Evening out
Solution
Move two of the matchsticks used to
make 439 and you can make at least three
numbers containing only even numbers.
Did you find any others?1 “Symmetries give rise to
conservation laws”. Which
German mathematician’s
name is associated with
this profound physical
statement?
2 What name is given to
the phenomenon of light
splitting into a rainbow
of colours as it passes
through a prism?
3 What chemical element
accounts for about 65
per cent of an average
human’s weight?4 Zygodactyly describes
what arrangement of toes,
found in chameleons and
many tree-climbing birds,
including parrots and
woodpeckers?5 A PET scan, used
to observe the body’s
metabolic processes,
depends on a radioactive
nuclide emitting what
strangely scarce form
of matter?Answers belowQuick
Crossword #43
AnswersACROSS 1 Alice Roberts,
10 CyWorld, 11 Acetify, 12 Steno,
13 Skycrane, 15 Arrhythmia,
16 Talc, 18 Acai, 20 Typhoon Flo,
22 Tarragon, 24 Abjad,
26 Tsunami, 27 Bugatti,
28 PraseodymiumDOWN 2 Low gear, 3 Carboxyl,
4 Redo, 5 Black light, 6 Rheic,
7 Spiraea, 8 Ice stalactite,
9 Cyberchondria, 14 Chrysolite,
17 Coral gum, 19 Air pump,
21 Fujitsu, 23 Agama, 25 IbidQuick quiz #26
AnswersEmmy Noether: it is 1Noether’s theoremDispersion 2Oxygen 3Two toes facing forwards, 4two backwardsAntimatter, more specifically 5a positively charged electron, orpositron; PET stands for positronemission tomography ACROSS
1 Greek character bags first
in drama school (6)
4 Coppers, for example, wiped
out last of species (6)
9 No leader to correct a
faulty nuclear device (7)
10 Tip: incorrect to substitute
power for work (5)
11 Searches for a little solace
amid rejections (5)
12 Examine insult to
religious minority (7)
13 Transformed this mansion
into an American museum
complex (11)18 Rare astronomical
phenomenon: alternating
pencils in Pisces (7)
20 Bashed in cooker (5)
22 Final three vanishing of
horniest monster? (5)
23 Company tried
manufacturing explosive (7)
24 Type of lens to annoy
criminal, if reversed (6)
25 A criminal organisation
possesses the last atomic
single-celled organism (6)Answers and the next quick crossword next week.DOWN
1 Automatic rifle tears into
wild cat voice box (6)
2 Signifies wealth (5)
3 Character from Star Trek
prepared a wealth of
information (7)
5 Diarist heard noises (5)
6 Battered car gets
a puncture – it’s
infectious! (7)
7 Significant to lose wife
when past retirement
age (6)
8 I get on top of research thathas no one eye-catching
quality (11)
14 A large number of
fragments of up neutrino
I’ll implant (7)
15 Most run straight
for medicine (7)
16 Encountered little Richard’s
measurement system (6)
17 Swelling contents of
embargoed emails (6)
19 Quietly polish handheld
device (5)
21 Rusts when ironed? (5)
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