麻豆传媒

Quick crossword #99

Set by Rasa

Tell us what you think at crossword@newscientist.com

Stumped

In this special cryptic, the lonely dendrochronologist鈥檚 smartphone programming project is described by the answers to the two starred clues.

Annular (ring) entries start where indicated; clues are in order, proceeding clockwise. Once in each ring, the end of one entry and the beginning of the next will form a new word between five and eight letters long, to be placed in a single cell.

Each radial entry may be entered inwards or outwards; the solver determines which. Six of the radial entries are one letter too long for the grid. These excess letters, to be entered in the centre of the grid, spell a competing program that you probably shouldn鈥檛 install on the same phone.

To download a printable version of the crossword click here

ANNULAR

1 Didn鈥檛 keep silent wheel part (5)

Bear dwellings not quite tightly packed (4)

Rolled cubes down glacier, for instance (4)

Exchanging two letters, attract famous naturalist (6)

MD鈥檚 Word files (4)

Lay out mail worn by page (5)

 

19 Book of maps lacks Turkey鈥檚 capital, unfortunately (4)

Observed part of an act at an audition (4)

Change plunderer on the way back (6)

Regularly amp up software (3) *

Tech company promo accompanies Nobel鈥檚 content (5)

Ecuador broke ground, bounced back (6)

 

20 Cocktail skirt shortened on both sides (3)

Arlo鈥檚 out of the sun (5)

Make cold captain rise (5)

The Avengers co-star and Labour leader, interrupting my group, exhibit excitement (7)

500 leaves put under carpet (3)

Charge involves termination of their internet bully (5)

 

21 Metal popular at clubs after Ozzie鈥檚 heart (4)

Even adjusted diet (4)

Most affluent patrons essentially twisted ethics (7)

Couple of nudists almost rip into fabric shelter for fuel? (8)

Copy a pirate鈥檚 coat (3)

Avenge stranger abandoned by a desert (5)

 

22 Fine pale sepia veils from Kathmandu, maybe (8)

Painter鈥檚 supply is able to preserve backing, error free (6)

Writes part 4 of series on retirement income (7)

Joy cracked toenail (7)

 

23 Newspaper features with, for example, nog ingredient (3,3)

Require massage, we hear (4)

Force deep groove, turning over sod (4)

Multicoloured horse raced around loop (4)

Cash drawer traps white suiting fabric (5)

Serious-looking punk showily drops fork (6)

 

RADIAL

1 Found a buyer for, um, alloy

2 Closely examines unusual tree sap (2 words)

3 Eccentric party beyond dam

4 Use mouthwash with half of garlic gel concoction

5 Dendrochronologist鈥檚 work involving growth rings and IT wasted 拢1000 *

6 Opposite expressed via poetry?

7 Snuggles lessen hurt surrounding slight, finally

8 In America, quaintly called princess a source of illumination

9 Distressed kin returning best calligraphy accessory

10 Upon reflection, extend subscription around mid-April for physicist Heisenberg

11 Emphatic pronoun fits uninitiated North Pole helper

12 Mythical beast protects old fighter on horseback

13 Storybook pig playing viola captivates infants at first

14 Dish of stuffed dough recalled French lake district

15 Newton wears bisected first-aid device

16 Reverse jump disrupted by remote-controlled object wrapped in paper

17 Spooner鈥檚 advice: travel on dangerous current

18 Soprano and I go into an Asian river