52 | New Scientist | 28 November 2020
Cryptic crossword #45 Set by Rasa
Scribble
zoneAnswers and
the next quick
crossword next week The back pages Puzzles
Our crosswords are now solvable online
newscientist.com/crosswordsQuick quiz #79
1 In which country would you find
the world’s largest single-aperture
optical telescope?2 What name is given to the equation
that describes how particles like
electrons behave when they travel
close to the speed of light?3 What was Earth’s largest
mass extinction event to date?4 Fermenting soya beans with
Rhizopus oligosporus creates
which foodstuff?5 Which Swedish chemist is credited
with discovering cerium and selenium?Answers on page 55Puzzle
set by Zoe Mensch#87 Poll position
A biased and manipulative pollster
is doing a survey of your cul de sac,
where half the residents vote Red
and the other half Blue. He wants
to use the poll to “prove” that Reds
are in the majority. His plan is to
pick a house to start and visit all the
homes in a loop going clockwise,
but to stop the poll at the first
instance that Red takes the lead.As it happens, you know how
everyone on the street votes. Is
there a house where you can get
the pollster to start from where you
can be certain his plan will be foiled.
If so, what is an easy way to find it?Answer next weekACROSS
1 Leaders in science agree to investigate
new material (5)
4 Dog consumed select items (6)
8 Gauge portion engaged in arm-twisting (7)
9 Contrarily dismisses section of letter (5)
10 Inopportune communication buried
in tilled ground (3-5)
11 Programmer’s output is third-rate poem (4)
13 Mathematician’s on the road with nothing
to lose (6)
14 Winner of the 13 Across Award playing
viol around Saskatchewan (6)
17 Intimidate with large Batman accessory (4)
19 Book covers small unit of mass appearing
in Hindu markings (8)
21 Squash a callus (5)
22 Partnership accepting letter of resignation,
that is plain (7)
23 A father met with your indifference (6)
24 Centre and west end of Derby wreathed
in fog (5)DOWN
1 Florence Nightingale, for example, using
and reusing antics (12)
2 Thunder’s initial rumble shattered glass (7)
3 Superfan essentially describing Tolkien
tree sustenance (8)
4 Race attendant requiring extra energy (6)
5 Reckless breakout (4)
6 Roughly dangling from end
of elephant trunk (5)
7 Unusual nerve effects characterised
by ebullience (12)
12 Find plastic in heat-generating field? (4,4)
15 Thoughtful Communist family (7)
16 Thick layer like a golf ball’s surface (6)
18 Hoot owl, dropping wings, perches
on climbing bear (5)
20 Insect that bites King Cole in the ear (4)