MetaFour

About MetaFour

MetaFour shows the day's category at the top and a grid of clue cards below it. The cards never show their answers. One might say Spanish for yes, another 3.14159, another the postal abbreviation for Michigan, and you have to answer each in your head to see which ones fit.

Only four of the answers belong to the category, and the rest are near misses built to look plausible. With the category of chemical symbols, for instance, several clues lead to two-letter answers, and only some of them are real elements.

You pick four cards and submit them, with four guesses to get the set right. Each puzzle is dated, and a past puzzles link opens the archive.

It suits trivia players who like a little lateral thinking, since the clues come from music, films, sport, finance and language as well as general knowledge.

How to play MetaFour

1. Read today's category at the top of the page.
2. Work out the answer to each clue card in your head.
3. Pick the four cards whose answers fit the category.
4. Submit your four; you have four guesses to find the right set.

Tips

• Write down each clue's answer before choosing; it is easy to misremember one.
• Be wary of answers that nearly fit: they are there on purpose.
• Play past puzzles from the archive to get used to the kind of clues.

Questions