Animals · Puzzle #23 · Thursday, October 22

Animals: 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 Animals.

The categories

• Most looked-up: 1 pt per 100,000 Wikipedia views in 2025
• Wild in South America: 10 pts if native to South America
• Long life: 1 pt per 7 years
• Top speed: 1 pt per 5 mph
• Long wait: 1 pt per 25 days' pregnancy or incubation
• Heavyweight: 1 pt per doubling over 1 lb
• Known worldwide: 1 pt per 15 Wikipedia languages
• Big family: 1 pt per doubling over 1 baby at a time

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. Red-tailed hawk

   Hawk whose scream Hollywood gives to eagles

   

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

2. Platypus

   Duck-billed mammal with a beaver-like tail

   

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

3. Grizzly bear

   Bear with a shoulder hump, fond of salmon

   

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

4. Horseshoe crab

   Helmet-shaped cousin of spiders, with blue blood

   

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

5. Narwhal

   "Unicorn of the sea," with a spiral tusk

   

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

6. Greater flamingo

   Pink wader that often stands on one leg

   

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

7. Lion

   Big cat whose males wear a shaggy mane

   

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

8. American kestrel

   Colorful falcon that hovers over fields

   

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

All of puzzle #23 · The archive