52 | New Scientist | 13 February 2021
Quick crossword #76 Set by Richard Smyth
Scribble
zoneAnswers and
the next cryptic
crossword next week The back pages Puzzles
Our crosswords are now solvable online
newscientist.com/crosswordsQuick quiz #88
1 Which group of conditions was once
known as St Valentine’s malady?2 Lovebird is the common name
for which genus of parrots?3 How many petals do most wild
rose species have?4 Oxytocin, the so-called love
hormone, is produced in which
part of the brain?5 What is the primary alkaloid
found in cocoa and chocolate?Answers on page 55Puzzle
set by Rob Eastaway
#100 Late for the gateThis deceptively tricky everyday
problem set in an airport was first
posed by the US mathematician
Terence Tao in 2008.You are in a bit of a rush to catch
your plane, which is leaving from
a remote gate in the terminal.
Some stretches of the terminal
have moving walkways, or
travelators, and others are carpeted.
You always walk at the same speed,
but travelators obviously boost this.You look down and spot that
your shoelaces have come
undone. This won’t slow you
down, but it is annoying, so you
decide to stop to tie them. It will
take the same amount of time to
tie your laces if you are on the
carpet or on the travelator, but if
you want to minimise the time it
takes you to reach the gate, where
should you tie your laces?What if you are feeling energetic
and can double your walking speed
for 5 seconds? Is it more efficient
to run while on a travelator, or on
the carpet?Answers next weekACROSS
1 Big-headed (14)
10 Stiff (5)
11 Charles Darwin’s Kent home (4,5)
12 Part of an aircraft wing (7)
13 Temperature, in metal, of around
550 to 900°C (3,4)
14 = (5)
16 Of fur or skin, dark-pigmented (9)
19 Th, No, U, Ac and Pu, among others (9)
20 Of an angle < 90 (5)
22 Aeroplane personnel (7)
25 Pattern of lines such as those
on a telescopic sight (7)
27 Mineral, Fe₃O₄ (9)
28 23, 41 or 89, perhaps (5)
29 Antipsychotic medication (14)DOWN
2 Phencyclidine or PCP (5,4)
3 Radio-wave detection system (5)
4 Given a cryptic monicker (4-5)
5 P (5)
6 Unable to feel pleasure (9)
7 Female reproductive structure in plants (5)
8 Doubter; rationalist (7)
9 Preliminary assessment, in medicine (6)
15 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes and
34 seconds (5,4)
17 Ray emitted through light amplification
by stimulated emission of radiation (5,4)
18 Where a road joins another (1-8)
19 Having a low red blood cell count (7)
21 5th example of 28 Across (6)
23 Blue star, ß Orionis (5)
24 Continuous vibratory sound (5)
26 Silicate mineral, Al₂SiO₄(F, OH)₂ (5)