New Scientist Australian Edition - 24.08.2019

52 | New Scientist | 24 August 2019

The back pages Puzzles

Cryptic crossword #13 Set by Sparticle Quick quiz #17 Puzzle set by Zoe Mensch

#18 Cable on the moon

It is the year 2100, and the

Moon Colonisation Programme

is well-advanced.

A power cable is being laid all the

way around the moon’s equator. The

original plan was to put the cable on the

moon’s surface, but it has been suggested

that instead it should be buried in a trench

that is 1-metre deep. This will make it

safer and will also save on the amount

of cable needed.

How much shorter will the cable be if

it is buried in this way?

Answer next week

#17 Which flipping year?

Solution

The date with the biggest flipping difference

since the Romans conquered Britain was,

fittingly, 1066, the year of another invasion.

9901 – 1066 = 8835.

The digits that are flippable on an old-style

calculator display are 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9.

1 With which cosmological

discovery are the names of

Vera Rubin and Fritz Zwicky

particularly associated?

2 What is the name given

to materials engineered to

bend light waves in particular

ways in their interior, leading

to potential applications

such as Harry Potter-style

“invisibility cloaks”?

3 What distinction does the

volcanic peak Chimborazo in

Ecuador hold, one that puts

Mount Everest in the shade?

4 A complete or partial

third copy of which

chromosome is the cause

of Down’s syndrome?

5 With a maximum air

speed approaching

400 kilometres per hour

when diving, what is the

world’s fastest bird?

Answers below

Quick

Crossword #38

Answers

ACROSS 8 JUST, 9 Eigenvalue,

10 Lorenz, 11 Shinbone,

12 Muon, 13 Double Bond,

17 Rust, 18 Image, 19 Hard,

20 Perihelion, 22 Moon,

23 Red Dwarf, 27 Isomer,

28 Vacuum Seal, 29 Dust

DOWN 1 Sudoku Cube,

2 Ethernet, 3 Benzedrine,

4 Eggs, 5 Anti, 6 Baobab,

7 Quin, 14 Umami, 15 Lee-

Enfield, 16 Narcolepsy,

19 Humboldt, 21 Indium,

24 Et al, 25 Acme, 26 Feet

Quick quiz #17

Answers

Dark matter 1

Metamaterials 2

It is the highest point on Earth’s 3

surface measured from its

centre, thanks to our planet’s

equatorial bulge

Chromosome 21 4

The peregrine falcon, 5

Falco peregrinus







  



   

 

 

ACROSS

1 Larger Reiki club overturned

and vacuous cognoscenti

expelled (7)

5 Succumb rapidly to reveal

inner darkness (5)

8 Incorrectly opening a great

gulf between X and Y? (10,3)

9 Indicating more than

one unbreakable piece

of glass (5)

10 Vehicle used to promote

a movie (7)

12 Admen I excite with

middling value (6)

13 Emphasise mental strain (6)

16 In the years after Christ’s

birth, the Lord God was

a monster (7)

18 Requires detective

sergeant to refer to one’s

birth name first (5)

20 Curiously, a tidal quarrel

has four sides (13)

22 Depot contents: a pair of

axes and some glue (5)

23 Play low card, leading to

45 years of subdued

hostility (4,3)

Answers and the next quick crossword next week.

DOWN

1 Swampland American is

insincere (5)

2 Some non-zero quantity of

fat surrounding item of

conference attire (7)

3 Let aid arrive from the

south, partly to give an

X-ray (9)

4 Inappropriate to rate spin (6)

5 How unpleasantness

begins: with initial focus

on alien craft (3)

6 Bread roll to grow old in the

British Library (5)

7 Polish mothers besieging

French fathers for electrical

units (7)

11 Natalie lost two extremities

after ascending Etna during

pregnancy (9)

12 Monkey micturates a little

following sound of

anti-aircraft fire (7)

14 Boy, were doctors raised

on Roger Moore! (7)

15 Sugar licensee has a string

of clove suppliers? (6)

17 As far as I’m concerned,

having a silver filling

designates a complete

louse (5)

19 Fly around lower west side to

get connected with a star (5)

21 Ignore the odd greasy fish (3) Get in touch

Email us at

[email protected]

[email protected]