30 October 2021 | New Scientist | 53The back pages Puzzles
Quick quiz #125
1 Which cells break down and absorb
bone tissue?2 How many digits are in Belphegor’s prime?3 What did Pierre-François Bouchard
discover in 1799?4 Which NASA probe, launched in 1989,
mapped more than 90 per cent of the
surface of Venus?5 Which of these animals doesn’t have
the same name for its genus and its species:
the common skunk, the Eurasian otter or
the blue-footed booby?Answers on page 55Puzzle
set by Brian Hobbs
#137 Tricky treatyAs my four children sorted their Halloween
candy, all was fun and games until James,
my youngest, said to another child, “Look!
I got one more piece than you!”It was the shot heard around the kitchen
table. As they all compared their loot,
there was a clamour of children’s voices:“I’ve got two more pieces than you!”
“Hey! Why does she have three more
than me?”
“At least I have four more pieces than you!”
“No fair! You’ve got five more than me!”
“Are you kidding?! You have six more
than I do!”I stopped this by seizing all the sweets
and putting them into one big pile. I took
three for myself (dad tax) and divided the
rest evenly among the kids. Not everyone
was happy about this, but that is parenting
sometimes. Did James end up with more
or less candy than he had at the beginning,
and by how much?Answer next weekCryptic crossword #69 Set by Wingding
Scribble
zoneAnswers and
the next quick
crossword
next weekACROSS
7 Bad smell allowed to emanate
originally from 6 (6)
8 High-flying student upset as Curie
loses hope at last (6)
9 See 4 Down
10 / 15 Hot food news: he cooked 6 (3,2,3,5)
11 Soldier nearly flipped 6 (7)
13 Material owned by many Londoners (5)
15 See 10 Across
17 Setter repelled by minced lamb
with solid preserves (7)
20 6 consists of bread after change (5,3)
21 Tech company’s dropping the
French programs (4)
23 Cold bone and tiny hair (6)
24 Tango with magician making
sudden movement (6)DOWN
1 Company in the region of cash crop (4)
2 Extremely tiresome to repeat
name of tunneller (6)
3 Eek! Holy order creates narrow opening (7)
4 /9A 6 that grows on some cats? (5,4)
5 Insect has the ability to go quickly (6)
6 Grow food (8)
12 Essence of basmati (some rice) having
the same formula (8)
14 6 put head teacher in a euphoric state (7)
16 Bird makes unpleasant noise around
centre of Gouda, Netherlands (6)
18 6 and jelly? Inspired combination
for starters (6)
19 TV company and board game publisher
make deadly weapon (1-4)
22 Agreement has power to do something (4)Our crosswords are now solvable online
newscientist.com/crosswords
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