1. Golden Gate, Brooklyn, Tower, Sydney Harbour

2. Mercury, Venus, Pluto, Neptune

3. Spade, Heart, Club, Diamond

4. Panama, Fedora, Baseball, Beanie

5. Cheddar, Swiss, Gouda, Brie

For a bonus challenge, try to name the odd one out in each list before checking the answers below — one item in every group breaks the pattern in a sneaky way!

Good luck, and no peeking until you've given it a real shot!

Answers

1. Bridges — famous bridges around the world. Odd one out: Sydney Harbour Bridge is an arch bridge; the other three are suspension bridges.

2. Named after Roman gods/mythology — all are named for figures from Roman mythology. Odd one out: Pluto is no longer classified as a full planet (it's a dwarf planet).

3. Playing card suits — the four suits in a standard deck. Odd one out: Hearts and Diamonds are red; Spades and Clubs are black — so really it splits 2-and-2, but Spade is the only suit that's also a gardening tool!

4. Types of hats — all styles of headwear. Odd one out: Beanie is knit/soft; the others have brims.

5. Cheeses — all are types of cheese. Odd one out: Brie is a soft cheese; the other three are semi-hard/hard cheeses.

How many did you get? Come back tomorrow for another round!

The Puzzles

1. Big Apple, Windy City, Motor City, Big Easy, City of Angels What do these five have in common?

2. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Pluto, Neptune What connects these five names — beyond the obvious?

3. Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Joker What links these five?

4. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Columbo What do these five characters have in common?

5. Swiss, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Brie What connects these five?

Tip: for each set, think about the category one level up — what larger group or pattern ties all five members together?

Answers

1. They're all nicknames for major U.S. cities (New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles).

2. They're all named after Roman gods (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Pluto, Neptune) — even Pluto, though now a dwarf planet, keeps the tradition.

3. They're all cards/figures found in a standard deck of playing cards.

4. They're all famous fictional detectives/sleuths.

5. They're all types of cheese.

How many did you get? Come back tomorrow for another round!

1. Today, September 23, marks the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Roughly how many hours of daylight and darkness does an equinox provide?

2. In astronomy, the equinox occurs when the sun crosses which imaginary line above Earth?

3. Which country's ancient monument, aligned so the sun rises precisely through its "roof-box" chamber near the winter solstice, is often (incorrectly) associated with the equinox in pop trivia — name the famous Irish passage tomb.

4. The word "equinox" comes from Latin roots meaning what, literally?

5. In the Southern Hemisphere, today's equinox marks the start of which season?

Answers

1. About 12 hours each of daylight and darkness (roughly equal, hence the name).

2. The celestial equator.

3. Newgrange (in County Meath, Ireland).

4. "Equal night" (from aequus, "equal," and nox, "night").

5. Spring.

1. On the equinox, roughly how many hours of daylight and darkness does most of the world experience?

2. What is the astronomical term for the point where the sun crosses the celestial equator, marking the start of a new season?

3. In the Northern Hemisphere, the September equinox marks the first day of which season?

4. Which harvest festival, traditionally held near the autumn equinox in Britain and other cultures, celebrates the gathering of crops?

5. The Earth's tilt on its axis — the reason we have seasons at all — is approximately how many degrees from vertical?

Good luck — check your answers below once you've locked in your five!

Answers

1. Twelve hours each of daylight and darkness (approximately equal, hence "equinox," Latin for "equal night")

2. Equinox

3. Autumn (fall)

4. Harvest Festival

5. About 23.5 degrees

1. This capital city sits on two continents, straddling the Bosphorus Strait — though it's actually not its country's capital anymore.

2. This capital of Morocco is known for its whitewashed and blue-and-white buildings, not the rose-hued walls that give another North African city its "Red City" nickname.

3. Perched high in the Andes at over 11,000 feet, this is the highest official capital city in the world.

4. This Scandinavian capital is built across 14 islands connected by more than 50 bridges, earning it the nickname "Venice of the North."

5. Founded in 1960 as a planned city, this capital was purpose-built to replace Rio de Janeiro as its country's seat of government.

Good luck — and no scrolling ahead!

Answers

1. Istanbul (Turkey) — its largest city, but Ankara is the actual capital.

2. Rabat (Morocco)

3. La Paz (Bolivia)

4. Stockholm (Sweden)

5. Brasília (Brazil)

Editor's note: All five clues have been re-checked against current geographic references ahead of publication. Clue 2 previously misattributed the "Pink City" nickname to Rabat; that nickname is not accurate for Morocco's capital and has been corrected.

How'd you do? Come back tomorrow for another round!

1. Which U.S. state capital sits on the Missouri River and does not share a name with the county it's in?

2. In Greek mythology, which titan was condemned to hold up the sky for eternity?

3. Which planet in our solar system has the shortest day, rotating fully in just about 10 hours?

4. "Atlas Shrugged" is a famous 1957 novel by which Russian-American author?

5. What word describes a large, bound collection of maps — a term that comes directly from the name of the mythological titan in Question 2?

Bonus thinking point: what's the common thread tying all five answers together?

Answers

1. Pierre, South Dakota — sits on the Missouri River and does not share its county's name. [Editor's note: the naming history behind "Pierre" needs to be pinned down with a verified source before we print an etymology as fact.]

2. Atlas — condemned by Zeus to bear the heavens on his shoulders.

3. Jupiter — despite being the largest planet, it spins fastest, completing a rotation in about 9 hours 56 minutes.

4. Ayn Rand

5. Atlas (as in "an atlas of maps") — named after the titan because early map collections featured an image of Atlas holding the globe on their covers.

The connecting thread: every answer is named Atlas or derived from it — the novel in Question 4 shares its title with the titan in Question 2, and Question 5 spells the connection out directly. If you got the Atlas theme by Question 3, congratulations — you win bragging rights for the day!

1. What connects: Apple, BlackBerry, Orange?

2. What connects: Mars, Snickers, Milky Way?

3. What connects: Great Dane, Boxer, Bulldog?

4. What connects: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn?

5. What connects: Queen, Bishop, Rook?

Hint: Most of these sets have a "sneaky" double meaning — think beyond the obvious category before you settle on an answer.

Answers

1. Tech companies / fruit — Apple, BlackBerry, and Orange (the telecom brand) are all named after fruits (or in BlackBerry's case, a berry) while also being well-known technology/communications companies.

2. Candy bars / planets & space — Mars, Snickers, and Milky Way are all candy bar brands (all three made by Mars, Inc.), but Mars and Milky Way are also astronomical names — a planet and our galaxy.

3. Dog breeds / other meanings — Great Dane, Boxer, and Bulldog are dog breeds, but each name also means something else: a boxer is a fighter, a bulldog can describe a tenacious person, and "Great Dane" plays on nationality.

4. Roman gods / planets — Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn are all planets in our solar system, each named after a Roman god.

5. Chess pieces / everyday words — Queen, Bishop, and Rook are all pieces on a chess board, but each also has a life outside the board: a queen is a monarch, a bishop is a clergy member, and a rook is both a crow-family bird and old slang for swindling someone.

How many did you get? Share your score with a fellow puzzler and come back tomorrow for another Daily Brain Teaser from The American Times!

1. Big Ben, a grandfather clock, an hourglass, a metronome

2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

3. Spade, club, heart, diamond

4. A sonnet, a haiku, a limerick, a ballad

5. Cheddar, Gouda, Brie, Swiss

Bonus challenge: Once you've spotted each group's theme, see if you can find one word or idea that loosely ties all five themes together (hint: think about what each set is a "type of").

Take your time — no peeking below until you've given it an honest shot!

Answers

1. Things that keep or mark time — clocks, timepieces, and rhythm-keepers.

2. Planets of the solar system — listed in order from the Sun.

3. Playing card suits — the four suits in a standard deck.

4. Types of poems — classic poetic forms.

5. Varieties of cheese — popular cheeses found in any deli case.

Bonus: Each group is a set of four (or more) types within one category — the connecting idea is simply "types of a thing" (time-keepers, planets, suits, poems, cheeses). If you got all five, treat yourself — you've earned a slice of Brie.

1. Which American city is home to the "Gateway Arch," completed in 1965 and standing 630 feet tall?

2. What is the name of the wooden boardwalk town in New Jersey, opened in 1870, widely credited as the first seaside boardwalk in the United States?

3. Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four U.S. presidents. Name all four.

4. Which national park, established in 1872, is generally regarded as the first national park in the world?

5. The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco to which county to its north?

Good luck — and no fair scrolling down before you've written down your five answers!

Answers

1. St. Louis, Missouri

2. Atlantic City (its boardwalk)

3. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln

4. Yellowstone National Park

5. Marin County

How'd you do? Five correct and you've earned bragging rights at dinner tonight.

1. Big Ben, Cinderella's coach, a metronome, and a broken record — what do these have in common?

2. Pluto, a Snickers bar, and the word "OK" — what connects these three?

3. A rook, a rolling pin, and the Washington Monument — what shape or feature links them?

4. A dalmatian, a domino, and a ladybug — what's the shared trait?

5. Venus, "Happy Birthday to You," and a Rubik's Cube — what's the surprising connection?

Take your time, jot down guesses, and check your answers below once you're confident (or thoroughly stumped).

Answers

1. They all relate to time or rhythm — Big Ben tells time, Cinderella's coach turned back into a pumpkin at midnight, a metronome keeps musical time, and a broken record repeats endlessly (like a "loop" of time).

2. They're all surprisingly disputed/uncertain "firsts" or oddities of naming — Pluto was demoted from planet status, Snickers is named after a horse (not a sound), and "OK" is one of the most-used words on Earth but its true origin is debated. (Bonus fact: all three are subjects of long-running trivia debates!)

3. They're all cylindrical, tower-like shapes — a rook (chess piece) has a cylindrical body, a rolling pin is a cylinder, and the Washington Monument is a tall, narrow tower.

4. They're all covered in spots — a dalmatian has spots, a domino has pips (dot spots), and a ladybug has spots on its shell.

5. They're each linked to a specific, surprising number — Venus's day is longer than its year (it takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once, but only about 225 Earth days to orbit the sun), "Happy Birthday to You" was under copyright for decades (until 2016), and a Rubik's Cube has 43 quintillion possible combinations.

How many did you connect? Come back tomorrow for another round!

1. Big Apple, Windy City, Motor City, Big Easy

2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

3. Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble, Risk

4. Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight

5. Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries

Bonus Challenge: What single word can precede or follow ALL of these words to make new words or phrases? FIRE, WATER, FOOT, MAN

Answers

1. Nicknames for U.S. cities (New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans)

2. The first four planets from the sun (in order of distance)

3. Classic board games

4. Chess pieces

5. Zodiac signs (consecutive, in order)

Bonus: WORK. Firework, waterwork(s), footwork, workman — the puzzle allows the connecting word to come before or after each clue word, and WORK does the job cleanly on all four.

What Connects These?

1. Bank, Spring, Watch — What common suffix can follow all three?

2. Iceberg, Head, Napa — What do these three have in common?

3. Post, Type, Manu — What word links all three?

4. Sahara, Gobi, Mojave — What category unites these three?

5. Domino, Butterfly, Snowball — What single word describes what all three can "do"?

Hint: For #1, add a suffix to make a job or a person who does something. For #2, think produce aisle. For #3, think compound words ending the same way. For #4, geography. For #5, think of a chain reaction.

Good luck! Answers are below — no peeking until you've given it your best shot.

Answers

1. -ER — Bank, Spring, and Watch can each take the suffix "-er": Banker, Springer, Watcher.

2. Types of lettuce — Iceberg, Head, and Napa are all varieties of lettuce/cabbage.

3. SCRIPT — Post, Type, and Manu can each precede "script": Postscript, Typescript, Manuscript.

4. Deserts — Sahara, Gobi, and Mojave are all major deserts of the world.

5. Effect — Domino effect, Butterfly effect, and Snowball effect are all terms for a chain reaction triggered by one small event.

1. Big Apple, Windy City, Motor City, Music City — What connects these?

2. Ruler, clock, compass, protractor — What connects these?

3. Monopoly, Clue, Sorry!, Life — What connects these?

4. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars — What connects these?

5. Queen, Beatles, Eagles, Police — What connects these?

Hint: Each group shares one specific category or feature — think nicknames, shapes, objects, or a broader class they all belong to.

Answers

1. They're all famous nicknames for U.S. cities (New York, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville).

2. They're all common tools/instruments used in geometry class.

3. They're all classic board games.

4. They're all the four innermost (rocky/terrestrial) planets in our solar system.

5. They're all famous rock/pop bands (not solo acts).

1. Foot, Basket, Base, Snow, Meat — what word can follow all of these?

2. Home, Base, Foul, Curve, Bunt — what pastime connects all of these?

3. Bordeaux, Champagne, Loire, Rhône, Provence — what do all of these have in common?

4. Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Dominoes, Cards — what category do all of these belong to?

5. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — what do these five have in common besides being planets?

Answers

1. BALL — football, basketball, baseball, snowball, meatball.

2. BASEBALL — all are baseball terms (home plate, base, foul ball, curveball, bunt).

3. Wine regions of France — all are famous French wine-producing regions.

4. Board and tabletop games — all are classic games played on a table or board.

5. Named after Roman gods — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are all planets named after Roman deities.

1. Which national capital city sits at the highest altitude of any capital in the world, at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level?

2. What is the only national capital city named after a U.S. president?

3. Brasília became the capital of Brazil in 1960, replacing which coastal city, which had served as the capital for nearly two centuries?

4. This European capital is built across 14 islands connected by more than 50 bridges, earning it the nickname "Venice of the North."

5. Naypyidaw became the capital of this Southeast Asian country in 2005, replacing the former capital and largest city, Yangon (Rangoon).

Answers

1. La Paz, Bolivia (administrative capital, elevation roughly 11,900–12,000 ft — the world's highest-altitude national capital)

2. Monrovia, Liberia (named after U.S. President James Monroe)

3. Rio de Janeiro

4. Stockholm, Sweden

5. Myanmar (Burma)

How'd you do? See you back here tomorrow for another Brain Teaser!

1. This river, the longest in the world, flows north through northeastern Africa and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

2. Flowing through Paris, this river is famously lined by landmarks like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

3. The Amazon River begins in the Andes and flows across which continent before reaching the Atlantic Ocean?

4. This major Chinese river, the third-longest in the world, is home to the Three Gorges Dam.

5. Nicknamed "Old Man River," this waterway flows roughly 2,300 miles through the U.S. heartland before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans.

Good luck!

Answers

1. The Nile River

2. The Seine River

3. South America

4. The Yangtze River

5. The Mississippi River

1. Big Apple, Windy City, Motor City, Big Easy

2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

3. Monopoly, Clue, Sorry!, Life

4. King, Queen, Jack, Ace

5. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Bonus Round: Anagram Challenge

Unscramble these letters to reveal words all related to a single theme — journalism!

A. YROTS B. NIDLEEHA C. TIDREO D. LICNEP

Good luck — no peeking at the answers until you've given it a real shot!

Answers

1. Nicknames for U.S. cities — New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and New Orleans, respectively.

2. The four innermost planets of our solar system (in order from the Sun).

3. Classic American board games.

4. Playing cards ranked above 10 (face/high cards in a standard deck).

5. The four seasons of the year.

Anagram Bonus: A. STORY B. HEADLINE C. EDITOR D. PENCIL

How many did you get? Come back tomorrow for a fresh challenge!

1. What year did the first Labor Day parade take place in New York City, generally credited as the holiday's origin?

2. The 40-hour workweek became the federal standard in 1940 following which landmark New Deal-era law, passed in 1938?

3. What labor union leader disappeared in 1975 outside a restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, in a case that remains unsolved?

4. Which country is credited with pioneering the modern "weekend" concept by giving factory workers Saturday afternoons off in the 19th century?

5. "Nine to Five," the hit 1980 movie (and Dolly Parton song) about overworked office employees, co-starred Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and which other actress?

Good luck — answers below once you've locked in your guesses.

Answers

1. 1882 — the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882.

2. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, which phased in the 40-hour week by 1940.

3. Jimmy Hoffa, former president of the Teamsters union.

4. England — English factory owners began granting Saturday half-days off in the 1870s–80s, giving rise to the "weekend."

5. Jane Fonda.

1. What astronomical event, occurring around September 22–23 each year, marks the official start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere?

2. In American schools, what three-letter abbreviation refers to the standardized test many high schoolers take for college admissions, often prepped for heavily in the fall semester (hint: it's not the ACT)?

3. Which tree produces the acorn, a nut famously gathered by squirrels as they prepare for winter?

4. "September" was a 1978 hit song for which Grammy-winning American band, known for horns and funk grooves?

5. What is the name of the Jewish New Year holiday, which typically falls in September and means "head of the year" in Hebrew?

Answers

1. The autumnal equinox

2. SAT

3. The oak tree

4. Earth, Wind & Fire

5. Rosh Hashanah

1. This social media platform, now rebranded as X, was originally launched under a different name. What name most people still call it? [Editor's note: an earlier version of this question cited a September 15, 2006 launch date; that date could not be confirmed against the record, so it has been removed.]

2. On September 17, 1787, delegates in Philadelphia signed what foundational American document?

3. Apple traditionally holds its flagship product launch event in September each year, most famously to unveil which annual product line?

4. September's birthstone, a deep blue gem, shares its name with what large ocean-dwelling mammal ("blue ___")?

5. The Battle of Britain, a pivotal WWII air campaign, reached its climactic peak on September 15, 1940 — a date now commemorated in the UK each year as what?

Answers

1. Twitter

2. The United States Constitution

3. The iPhone

4. Sapphire (bonus if you said "blue whale" — the birthstone is sapphire, and yes, blue whales share the "blue" name coincidence, but the gem answer is sapphire)

5. Battle of Britain Day