DAILY NO. 5 · VERIFIED MEASUREMENTS
The September 26, 2026 puzzle ran from Manhattan Island at 21.6 km to Africa at 8,000 km — about 370× apart, drawing on geography. The pair furthest apart was round 3: Manhattan Island is 21600× as big as an acoustic guitar.
Puzzle #5 asked about Japan, Africa, Manhattan Island, Texas and the contiguous United States. Each answer below gives the measured size, the reference it stood beside and the source behind the number. Want the surprise first? Replay this puzzle — archived days never touch your streak.
Answer: Japan — 3,000 km. Japan measures 3,000 km (height), which is 1.1× as big as the reference, Greenland at 2,670 km.
Japan’s island arc extends around 3,000 kilometres.
Common miss: players tend to compress Japan when it sits beside Greenland — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: Africa — 8,000 km. Africa measures 8,000 km (height), which is 2.7× as big as the reference, Japan at 3,000 km.
Africa spans roughly 8,000 kilometres from north to south.
Common miss: players tend to compress Africa when it sits beside Japan — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: Manhattan Island — 21.6 km. Manhattan Island measures 21.6 km (height), which is 21600× as big as the reference, an acoustic guitar at 1 m.
Manhattan is about 21.6 kilometres long.
Common miss: players tend to compress Manhattan Island when it sits beside an acoustic guitar — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: Texas — 1,270 km. Texas measures 1,270 km (length / span), which is 1.3× as big as the reference, metropolitan France at 1,000 km.
Texas stretches about 1,270 kilometres east to west.
Common miss: players tend to compress Texas when it sits beside metropolitan France — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: Contiguous United States — 4,500 km. The contiguous United States measures 4,500 km (length / span), which is 1.3× as big as the reference, the Moon at 3,474.8 km.
The lower 48 stretch roughly 4,500 kilometres coast to coast.
Common miss: players tend to compress the contiguous United States when it sits beside the Moon — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Sizes are measured along the axis named in each round and link to their published source. Explore the full library by category, or read how scoring works.