Cities · Puzzle #19 · Sunday, October 18

Cities: the board

Eight items, eight categories, one place each. Here is the board with every figure and where it comes from, and the best way to place them. Play today's Cities.

The categories

• Rainy: 1 pt per 8 inches of rain a year
• Most looked-up: 1 pt per 150,000 Wikipedia views in 2025
• Olympic host: 10 pts if it has hosted the Olympics
• Far from the equator: 1 pt per 6° north or south
• Sprawl: 1 pt per doubling over 2 square miles
• Big city: 1 pt per doubling over 10,000 people
• Packed in: 1 pt per doubling over 40 people per square mile
• Known worldwide: 1 pt per 30 Wikipedia languages

The best board

The best board is hidden while some of these items are still in play: they're on a board again within 14 days.

The lineup, figure by figure

1. Athens

   Greece

   

   Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.

2. Beirut

   Lebanon

   

   On this board Beirut scored best in Packed in (10.0): it packs in 56,105 people per square mile. Olympic host was its weakest fit (0.0): it has never hosted the Olympics.

   Rainy

   gets 18 inches of rain a year (2.2) Source: Wikipedia

   Most looked-up

   its Wikipedia article was read 597,287 times in 2025 (4.0) Source: Wikimedia page views

   Olympic host

   has never hosted the Olympics (0.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Far from the equator

   lies 34° from the equator (5.6) Source: Wikipedia

   Sprawl

   covers 7.7 square miles (1.9) Source: Wikidata Q3820, P2046

   Big city

   has 433,249 people within its city limits (5.4) Source: Wikipedia infobox

   Packed in

   packs in 56,105 people per square mile (10.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Known worldwide

   Wikipedia has an article on it in 213 languages (7.1) Source: Wikipedia

3. Melbourne

   Victoria, Australia

   

   Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.

4. Suva

   Fiji

   

   Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.

5. Frankfurt

   Hesse, Germany

   

   On this board Frankfurt scored best in Far from the equator (8.4): it lies 50° from the equator. Olympic host was its weakest fit (0.0): it has never hosted the Olympics.

   Rainy

   gets 26 inches of rain a year (3.3) Source: Wikipedia

   Most looked-up

   its Wikipedia article was read 716,051 times in 2025 (4.8) Source: Wikimedia page views

   Olympic host

   has never hosted the Olympics (0.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Far from the equator

   lies 50° from the equator (8.4) Source: Wikipedia

   Sprawl

   covers 96 square miles (5.6) Source: Wikidata Q1794, P2046

   Big city

   has 760,656 people within its city limits (6.2) Source: Wikidata Q1794, P1082, 2025

   Packed in

   packs in 7,934 people per square mile (7.6) Source: Wikipedia

   Known worldwide

   Wikipedia has an article on it in 212 languages (7.1) Source: Wikipedia

6. Buenos Aires

   Argentina

   

   Buenos Aires packs in 39,770 people per square mile, so its best fit on this board was Packed in, worth 10.0. Its weakest was Olympic host, worth 0.0, since it has never hosted the Olympics.

   Rainy

   gets 43 inches of rain a year (5.4) Source: Wikipedia

   Most looked-up

   its Wikipedia article was read 916,312 times in 2025 (6.1) Source: Wikimedia page views

   Olympic host

   has never hosted the Olympics (0.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Far from the equator

   lies 35° from the equator (5.8) Source: Wikipedia

   Sprawl

   covers 79 square miles (5.3) Source: Wikidata Q1486, P2046

   Big city

   has 3.12 million people within its city limits (8.3) Source: Wikidata Q1486, P1082, 2022

   Packed in

   packs in 39,770 people per square mile (10.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Known worldwide

   Wikipedia has an article on it in 276 languages (9.2) Source: Wikipedia

7. Philadelphia

   Pennsylvania, USA

   

   Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.

8. Harbin

   Heilongjiang, China

   

   Harbin covers 20,493 square miles, so its best fit on this board was Sprawl, worth 10.0. Its weakest was Olympic host, worth 0.0, since it has never hosted the Olympics.

   Rainy

   gets 23 inches of rain a year (2.8) Source: Wikipedia

   Most looked-up

   its Wikipedia article was read 432,808 times in 2025 (2.9) Source: Wikimedia page views

   Olympic host

   has never hosted the Olympics (0.0) Source: Wikipedia

   Far from the equator

   lies 46° from the equator (7.6) Source: Wikipedia

   Sprawl

   covers 20,493 square miles (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q42956, P2046

   Big city

   has 10.6 million people within its city limits (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q42956, P1082, 2010

   Packed in

   packs in 519 people per square mile (3.7) Source: Wikipedia

   Known worldwide

   Wikipedia has an article on it in 134 languages (4.5) Source: Wikipedia

All of puzzle #19 · The archive