Ballpark

Puzzle #14 · 3 October 2026

The five questions from that day's Ballpark, each with its answer, the fact behind it and a link to the source. Rather play it first? It is in the archive.

1. How many containers, counted in 20-foot units (TEUs), did the port of Singapore handle in 2024?

41.1M TEUs

A record 41.12 million TEUs, passing 40 million for the first time. Around 90% were only changing ships on the way to somewhere else. Source

Image: Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

2. How much did the original IBM PC cost at its launch in August 1981, in its most basic form?

1,565 US dollars

$1,565, for a machine with 16 kilobytes of RAM and no disk drive. It ran on Intel's 8088 chip at up to 5 megahertz. Source

Image: FA2010 · Public domain

3. About how many carved woodblocks make up the Tripitaka Koreana, the 13th-century Buddhist canon kept at Haeinsa Temple in South Korea?

80,000 woodblocks

About 80,000 woodblocks, engraved between 1237 and 1248. UNESCO calls it the most complete collection of Buddhist texts. Source

Image: Bernard Gagnon · CC0

4. How long was the longest train ever run, a BHP iron ore train in Western Australia in 2001?

7,353 meters

7,353 m (7.353 km, or 4.57 miles): 682 ore cars and 8 locomotives. It weighed 99,732 tonnes and ran 275 km to Port Hedland. Source

Image: Bahnfrend · CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped

5. How long did the longest tennis match in history last (Isner v Mahut, Wimbledon 2010)?

665 minutes

665 minutes (11 h 5 min), spread over three days. The fifth set alone finished 70-68. Source

Image: Voo de Mar · CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped