Plain #4 recap for Wednesday, October 21, 2026

We checked the official archive for Plain #4 on 2026-10-25, after New York midnight had closed that puzzle. Three direct numbers and four name rounds. Scope chips do real work: million-plus cities, and a 30,000-seat floor. The day used 4 “name the closest thing” rounds and 3 “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 #4 answers for all seven prompts, targets and solutions. Below we discuss only three selected examples in our own words.

Plain #4, checked 2026-10-25
Category	Round type
Olympics & World Cup	Estimate a number
Million-Plus Cities	Name the closest thing
Big Stadiums	Name the closest thing
Tourism Money	Name the closest thing
YouTube Subscribers	Name the closest thing
What It Sold For	Estimate a number
Body & People	Estimate a number

Why those results sit where they do

Olympics & World Cup. A career total, not one Games. Year-style scoring does not apply. Source credited by the official archive: olympics.com.
Million-Plus Cities. Cities under a million are out of scope even if the population is close. Source credited by the official archive: en.wikipedia.org.
Big Stadiums. The prompt also required 30,000 seats or more. Capacity, not attendance. Source credited by the official archive: en.wikipedia.org.

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 We do not infer unpublished year point values or a player's final altitude from the archive.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 #4 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/4 on 2026-10-25. Open that official page for the full answer list.