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About Border Run

A daily puzzle: connect two countries by land border, naming every one you'd cross.

A daily route puzzle across the world's land borders. You're given two countries and have to connect them, naming every country you'd pass through on the way. It's a test of which countries really touch, and of the shortcuts and dead ends that maps make easy to miss. If you've played Travle, it's the same idea, connecting two countries through the ones in between, with US state and country maps as well as the world. (Geographys isn't affiliated with Travle.)

How it works

  1. 1Connect the two places with an unbroken land route, naming every one you'd cross in any order.
  2. 2Each place you name uses a guess. You get the shortest route's length plus a few spare.
  3. 3Get a perfect score by naming the shortest route from start to end, each place bordering the one before, and you earn an in order badge. On the leaderboard it ranks above the same score without it.
  4. 4On the world and continent maps, Show all countries draws every country so you can click one. In the daily it costs 50 points, once, even if you turn it off again.
  5. 5Guesses are coloured by fit: teal is on the shortest route, orange connects the long way, red is well off route.
  6. 6Overseas territories count for their country, so France reaches Brazil through French Guiana.
  7. 7Only land borders count, not bridges, tunnels or causeways, so the UK doesn't border France; it reaches Spain through Gibraltar. Canada and Denmark share Hans Island, so Greenland borders Canada.
  8. 8Tuesdays and Thursdays are detour days, and Sundays are double detour days. A detour blocks one place on the shortest route and a double detour blocks two, so the route has to go around them.

Tips

  • Picture the straight line between the two countries first, then the countries along it. Most shortest routes stay close to it.
  • Watch out for seas. Two countries can look close but have no land route between them that doesn't go a long way around.
  • Remember the overseas territories. French Guiana makes France a neighbour of Brazil and Suriname.
  • Use the colours. Teal is on the shortest route; orange connects the long way.

Questions

How many guesses do I get?
The length of the shortest route plus ten spare. Every country you name, right or wrong, uses one.
How is it scored?
A connected route starts at 1000. Each guess over the shortest route costs 45, each hint 70, and on the world and continent maps turning on Show all countries costs 50. A connected route never scores below 100, and giving up or running out of guesses scores 0.
What does the in order badge mean?
You scored a perfect round, with no hints and without Show all countries, and named the route as you'd travel it: the first place borders the start, each one after borders the one before, the last borders the end, and nothing you named was off that chain. It doesn't change your score, but on the leaderboard an in order round ranks above an equal score without it.
What are detour days?
Tuesdays and Thursdays are detour days, and Sundays are double detour days. A detour day's daily blocks one place on the shortest route and a double detour day blocks two (one on the narrowest maps), shaded dark red on the map. You can't name them or pass through them, so you have to find the way around. Supporters can practise with a detour any day.
Can tiny countries come up?
Yes. Microstates like San Marino and Liechtenstein can be the start or the end, and you name them like any other country.
Is there more than one right answer?
Often. Any unbroken chain of land borders connects the two. Finding a shortest one leaves you the most guesses to spare.
Why does Greenland border Canada?
Canada and Denmark split Hans Island, between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, down the middle in 2022, giving them a short land border. Greenland counts as Denmark, so Denmark borders Canada too. Bridges, tunnels and causeways don't count as borders.
Why doesn't the UK border France?
The Channel Tunnel is a tunnel, not a land border, so it doesn't count. The UK's land borders are with Ireland, with Spain at Gibraltar, and with Cyprus at the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases, so a route from the UK to France goes through Spain.
When is there a new daily?
Every day at midnight where you are. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same date, and practice rounds are random.

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