Ballpark
Puzzle #3 · 22 September 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. What is the diameter of Jupiter at its equator?
142,984 kilometers
142,984 km. Jupiter is about 11 times wider than Earth. Source
Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute · Public domain
2. How many hot dogs did Joey Chestnut eat in 10 minutes to set the Nathan's Famous contest record?
76 hot dogs
76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes on July 4, 2021. That is one roughly every 8 seconds. Source
Image: Erik Drost · CC BY 2.0, cropped
3. How much did the Empire State Building cost in 1931, including the land, in dollars of the time?
40.9M US dollars
$40,948,900. The building alone came to $24.7 million, about half what was expected, thanks to the Depression. Source
Image: Lewis Hine · Public domain
4. How many calories are in a McDonald's Big Mac in the US?
580 calories
580 kcal in the US, a little more than Australia's 559 or Japan's 557. Source
5. How many people worldwide watched the 2022 FIFA World Cup final, according to FIFA?
1.42B people
1.42 billion, the most ever for a World Cup final. Around 5 billion people engaged with the tournament overall. Source
Image: Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires · CC BY 2.5 ar, cropped