11 December 2021 | New Scientist | 53The back pages Puzzles
Quick quiz #131
1 Astronomical objects with a known
luminosity that can be used to calculate
galactic distances are called what?2 The name of which genus of dinosaurs
roughly translates as “swift seizer”?3 Name the country that contains more
glacial ice than any other nation outside
the polar regions.4 How many chemical elements make up the
lanthanide series, including lanthanum itself?5 What did Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
accidentally detect in 1964?Answers on page 55Puzzle
set by Chris Maslanka
#143 X marks the SpotNow that poor Spot has gone to that great
kennel in the sky, I have decided to bury him
under a new square patio, using square tiles
that are all the same size. The tiles along the
two diagonals are to be black to form an X
that marks his final resting place, and the
rest of the tiles will be white.
I went to the builders’ merchant to buy the
tiles, but when I arrived I had forgotten how
many white tiles I needed. Was it 691? Or
916? Or something else? All I knew for sure
was that the number of white tiles was a
permutation of the three digits 1, 6 and 9.
I couldn’t even remember if the whole
patio needed an even or an odd number of
tiles. How many white tiles did I need? And
how many black?Solution next weekCryptic crossword #72 Set by Rasa
Scribble
zoneAnswers and
our giant festive
cryptic crossword
next weekACROSS
1 Tap police merchandise for Spooner (8)
5 Clean antimony-coated tungsten article (4)
9 Constant buzzing accompanies
a delivery order (5)
10 Discussed parody involving
half-finished kegs (5,2)
11 Observe the stew (6)
12 Eagerly take in retrospective
of immature stage (5)
14 Come back with glassware (6)
15 Enzyme, by the way, is absorbed
by shredded pine (6)
18 Rope material damaged sails (5)
20 Otherwise, Dr Luke kept quiet
in the chat room (6)
22 Animal lab output one mutant cell (7)
23 Pits heavy for their size, reportedly (5)
24 Blue feathers (4)
25 Instrument producing an eerie sound
in that location, at least (8)DOWN
1 Backed up hot tubs’ drains (4)
2 Runniest two eggs I covered
with lemon rind (7)
3 Mushrooms that woman from Provence
fed to Benedictine monks, say (12)
4 Tropical tree funds we raised (6)
6 With assistance, produce puppies (5)
7 Perplexing double failure interrupting
paper bundling (8)
8 Preload expanding speed
gun technology (7,5)
13 Desired converts after Page led
the meeting (8)
16 Mobster numbly buries bone (7)
17 Organism studied by Darwin eats
large quail (6)
19 Stitch holds in tendon (5)
21 Bins wrong book ID (4)Our crosswords are now solvable online
newscientist.com/crosswords