Plain #2 recap for Monday, October 19, 2026

We checked the official archive for Plain #2 on 2026-10-25, after New York midnight had closed that puzzle. Another name-only day. Six Dialed results and one Close on GDP per person. The day used 7 “name the closest thing” rounds and 0 “estimate the number” rounds. That mix is not fixed. Do not assume every day is five names and two numbers.

Original night-flight illustration of a plane climbing past a city, used as a section break — Original illustration. Not a screenshot of playplain.app.

What the day asked

This is a category overview, not a copy of the official answer list. Open the official Plain #2 answers for all seven prompts, targets and solutions. Below we discuss only three selected examples in our own words.

Plain #2, checked 2026-10-25
Category	Round type
City Population	Name the closest thing
Famous Lives	Name the closest thing
Food Calories	Name the closest thing
Box Office per Minute	Name the closest thing
Box Office	Name the closest thing
GDP per Person	Name the closest thing
Olympic Medals	Name the closest thing

Why those results sit where they do

City Population. Again city proper. A capital can sit near 4 million without its metro. Source credited by the official archive: wikidata.org.
Famous Lives. Same category as day 1, different target age. Source credited by the official archive: wikidata.org.
Food Calories. The unit is per 100 g, not per serving. That is the whole trick. Source credited by the official archive: fdc.nal.usda.gov.

The ratio rule is points = round(100 × e^(−2 × |ln(answer ÷ target)|)), with a +25 Dialed bonus and doubled Golden Round. Years are the exception: the official rules say up to 3 years off is Close, and only the exact year is Dialed. We do not infer unpublished year point values or a player's final altitude from the archive.

Keep going

Five colored scoring chips from chartreuse to pink on a dark panel — Dialed, Close, Warm, Cold, and Miss use the same colors as the scoring guide.

Questions this page answers

Is Plain #2 still playable for a score?

No. The official FAQ says past puzzles cannot be replayed for a score. This page is a recap of the published archive, not a second chance at the leaderboard.

Where did these figures come from?

The selected examples were checked against https://playplain.app/archive/2 on 2026-10-25. Open that official page for the full answer list.