Crossings

Easy Crossings puzzles

Easy trips have two or three countries between the ends, all of them well known, and the way that looks right on the map is the way. The map shows every border, so you can see the countries you're looking for.

They're the best place to get a feel for the game before moving up.

Practice gives you trips you haven't solved yet, as many as you like, and keeps your best time without hints. Every trip is made and checked by a computer from the world's land borders.

How to play Crossings

1. You get two countries, shown on the map. Your job is to travel from one to the other overland.
2. Name the countries in between, one at a time, in any order. Each one you name appears on the map in its color.
3. You win as soon as the countries you've named link the two ends, border to border. Any route counts, not just the shortest.
4. You have a few guesses more than the shortest route needs. Run out before the two are linked, or give up, and the map shows a way through.

What the colors mean

• Green ✓: the country is on a shortest route that's still open. One fewer country to go.
• Amber ~: it's one country out of the way. A route through it is one longer than the shortest.
• Red ✕: further off, or no route goes through it at all, like an island.

Each color is judged by the guesses before it, so a country that was off the way can turn useful once you've named the ones around it.

What counts as a border

Borders are the ones countries control on the ground today. A few crossings count as land: the Channel Tunnel (United Kingdom to France), the Øresund Bridge (Denmark to Sweden), and the causeways to Bahrain and Singapore. Territories such as French Guiana, Gibraltar and Hong Kong count as countries, with borders of their own, so French Guiana borders Brazil but France doesn't. Small enclaves don't make shortcuts: Spain doesn't border Morocco through Ceuta. Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan and Western Sahara are countries of their own here. That's a choice for the game, not a statement about any claim.

Tips

• Start from the ends. Name a neighbor of each end, then work toward the middle.
• Watch for water. The straightest line isn't always the way: a sea or a gulf can mean going round.
• Big countries are shortcuts. Russia, China and Brazil border a lot of countries, so a route through one is often shorter than it looks.
• Type a few letters. The list finds countries by any part of their name, and by other names like UK, Ivory Coast or Holland.