PUZZLE #33MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2026

The answers

Finished rounds

8

Average score

604

Best score

1,148

1. 01HISTORY

   How old was Alexander the Great when he died?

   32 years old

   32, by which time he had built an empire stretching from Greece to northern India.

   75% of players got it inside their bracket

2. 02FOOD

   How many varieties of apple are grown worldwide?

   7,500 varieties

   About 7,500 cultivars. Supermarkets carry perhaps a dozen, because the rest bruise, brown or refuse to travel.

   63% of players got it inside their bracket

3. 03GEOGRAPHY

   What share of the Netherlands lies below sea level?

   26%

   About a quarter, kept dry by dikes, dunes and pumps — and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of the parts below.

   25% of players got it inside their bracket

4. 04ANIMALS

   How long can a sloth take to digest a single meal?

   30 days

   Up to about a month. Which is why a sloth only comes down from its tree about once a week — to go to the toilet.

   0% of players got it inside their bracket

5. 05PEOPLE

   What share of all the people who have ever lived are alive right now?

   7%

   About 7%. The dead outnumber the living roughly fourteen to one.

   25% of players got it inside their bracket