PUZZLE #29THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2026

The answers

01EARTH
How long ago did the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs hit the Earth?
66 million years ago
About 66 million years ago, off the coast of what is now Mexico. Birds are the dinosaurs that survived.
40% of players got it inside their bracket · 1 went for a Bullseye, none dead on
02TECHNOLOGY
In what year was the first text message sent?
1992
1992. It read “Merry Christmas,” sent from a computer to a phone — and the phone couldn’t reply.
50% of players got it inside their bracket
03GEOGRAPHY
What share of the world’s land area is Antarctica?
9%
About 9% — bigger than Europe, and nearly all of it under ice.
20% of players got it inside their bracket
04MATH
Counting one number a second, non-stop, how long would it take to count to a billion?
32 years
About 31.7 years — while counting to a million takes under twelve days.
40% of players got it inside their bracket
05SPACE
What is the surface area of Pluto?
6.4 million square miles
About 6.4 million square miles — less than Russia, which covers about 6.6 million.
0% of players got it inside their bracket · 1 went for a Bullseye, none dead on