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Flight Path

New puzzle in

How Flight Path works

  1. 1Today's flight is drawn on the globe as a great circle — the shortest route a plane can fly.
  2. 2Name every country the route passes over, including where it takes off and lands.
  3. 3A country counts when the route spends at least 40 km over it.
  4. 4You have 4 lives. One hint per flight reveals the first letter of the next missing country.

GlobeFor aviation geeks and window-seat people

How to play Flight Path

Flight Path turns a real flight route into a puzzle. Spin the globe, follow the line and work out every country below the wings.

  1. Spin and zoom the globe to follow the route from take-off to landing.
  2. Type a country you think the plane flies over and pick it from the list.
  3. Correct countries light up on the globe. Wrong guesses cost a life.
  4. Find every country to land the flight. Expert mode makes you name them in flight order.

Tips

  • Great circles curve towards the poles on a flat map — that's why Europe–US flights pass Iceland and Greenland.
  • Short clips under 40 km never count, and we never pick routes that are borderline.
  • Sea doesn't count: only land the route crosses.

FAQ

Is this the real route planes fly?
It's the great-circle route — the geometric shortest path. Real flights bend around weather, airspace and winds, but long-haul routes follow the great circle closely.
How do you decide which countries the route crosses?
We sample the route every 5 km against Natural Earth country outlines. A country counts at 40 km or more, and routes with any country between 5 and 40 km are never used, so there are no judgement calls.
When does a new puzzle come out?
Every day at 00:00 UTC. The countdown shows exactly when.
Where do the facts come from?
Country facts come from the open world-countries dataset, outlines from Natural Earth and flags from flag-icons. We include the 193 UN member states plus Vatican City.