New Scientist - USA (2021-11-20)

20 November 2021 | New Scientist | 53

The back pages Puzzles

Quick quiz #128

1 The coxa and trochanter are found

in which part of an arthropod?

2 Which of these periods in the lunar

geological timescale came first: the Imbrian,

the Copernican or the Eratosthenian?

3 For how many years did the

Human Genome Project run?

4 The term “monotreme” refers to an area

of some animals’ anatomy. What area is it?

5 Monel alloys are primarily made up

of nickel and which other element?

Answers on page 55

Puzzle

set by Howard Williams

#140 Drum roll

Aiming to mix the contents of a rusty drum

without getting dirty, Mr Bodger has an idea.

The drum is lying on its side, so he wants

to place one end of an old plank, which is

5 metres long, on the side of the drum, then

walk towards the drum while holding onto

the plank. In this way, he will use the plank

to roll the drum (without any slipping with

respect to both the ground and the plank)

to mix its contents. He will stop walking

when he reaches the drum.

In fact, Mr Bodger has many drums that

require similar treatment, and he is a lazy

sort of fellow, so he consults his friend

Mr Hasty about how far he will need to walk

to mix each drum. After giving the problem

his undivided attention for 10 seconds,

Mr Hasty assures him that as the plank is

5 metres long, and the radius of each drum

is 0.5 metres, then the maximum distance

he will need to walk each time is 4.5 metres.

This is incorrect, but by how much is

Mr Hasty out?

Solution next week

Quick crossword #96 Set by Richard Smyth

Scribble

zone

Answers and

the next cryptic

crossword

next week

ACROSS

7 Pt (8)

9 Womb (6)

10 1982 sci-fi film by Steven Lisberger (4)

11 Part of the digestive tract (10)

12 Nocturnal lemur of Madagascar (3-3)

14 N (8)

15 Swelling in the neck (6)

16 Configured assembly of open-source

software components (6)

19 Devices (8)

21 Mechanical model of the solar system (6)

23 Steel, for example, formed

into thin panels (5,5)

24 Vapour (4)

25 Lightning ___ , atmospheric electrical

discharge (6)

26 Technology deployed

on a molecular scale (8)

DOWN

1 Howard ___ , Australian pharmacologist

who developed penicillin (6)

2 British sub-machine gun (4)

3 Technician in the field of machines,

materials, structures and systems (8)

4 Disappearance of Earth’s star

behind the horizon (6)

5 Type of rotorcraft (10)

6 Component of the psyche

in psychoanalytical theory (8)

8 Distinct organism resulting from

alterations to a genome (6)

13 Study of numbers (10)

15 Crystalline form of carbon (8)

17 Mechanical respirator (4,4)

18 Compound, C₈H₅NO₂,

also known as tribulin (6)

20 Integer, perhaps (6)

22 In surgery, to remove all

or part of an internal organ (6)

24 Winged insect, usually nocturnal (4)

Our crosswords are now solvable online

newscientist.com/crosswords

5 m

0.5m

SH

UT

TE

RS

TO

CK

/VI

SU

AL

GE

NE

RA

TIO

N