ROUTE: a daily geography puzzle
ROUTE is a daily geography puzzle about borders. You are given a start country and an end country, and you name the countries in between so that they join up by land.
You can guess in any order. Each guess is marked: on a shortest route, on a slightly longer route, next to a country you have already placed, or off the route altogether. The puzzle is solved when your countries form an unbroken chain.
Par is the fewest countries needed, and you get par plus four guesses. On some days the route must also pass through a checkpoint country.
How to play ROUTE
- You are given a start country and an end country. Name the countries in between so that they join up by land.
- Guess in any order. The route is done when your countries form an unbroken chain from start to end.
- Each guess is marked: on a shortest route, on a slightly longer route, borders a country you have placed, or off route.
- Par is the fewest countries needed. You get par plus four guesses.
- Some days add a checkpoint country the route must pass through.
- One hint per game: pick a country you have placed to be shown one of its neighbours.
- Land borders only: no ferries, bridges or tunnels.
Tips
- Start from whichever end you know better and work towards the other.
- A guess marked as bordering something you have placed is a useful stepping stone even if it is not on a shortest route.
- There is often more than one shortest route. Any of them counts.
- Only land borders count. A short sea crossing, a bridge or a tunnel does not join two countries here.
- The one hint shows a neighbour of a country you have placed. Save it for the gap you cannot close.
Common questions
How many guesses do I get?
Par plus four, where par is the smallest number of countries that can link the two ends.
What is a checkpoint?
On some days a third country is named and your route must pass through it.
Do ferries or bridges count as borders?
No. Land borders only. The full rules for unusual cases are applied the same way every day.
What does the hint cost?
100 points. You get one per game.
Does it matter what order I guess in?
No. The route is judged once the chain is complete.
A new puzzle every day
ROUTE has one puzzle a day, released at midnight UK time and the same for everyone. It is free, and you can play without an account. Finish it to keep your streak going and to see where you stand on the leaderboards.