November 15, 2026, Dive #123, stores 16,385 names. The longest list is “Name a college or university major.” (4,381 recorded) and the shortest is “Name a country where French is an official language” (26). 14,473 score 85 or higher.
Current edition7 questions · 16,385 recorded answersNext edition
16,385 recorded names14,473 at 85 or higher7 questions with an 85+ name
Start from the middle of the field and move steadily outward. Jot down everything that arrives instantly, then deliberately park that list, because the titles everyone shares end up in the lowest band. Spend your energy on the circles behind it: comedies built on a single jump, festive tales with a repeated day, imported speculative fiction, animation, anthology chapters, shorts. Naming conventions act as a map; anything carrying a year, a clock reading or a tally of minutes usually fits. Confirm that a real mechanism drives the story, a gadget, a rift or a loop, and not a dream, a prophecy or a plain wish. Range counts for more than polish, so keep the list long and submit the oddest legitimate title on it.
Get a hint
Big studio science fiction is the easiest opening sweep, since a device, a laboratory accident or a cosmic rift can fling the protagonist into a distant era and the plot then has to undo the damage.
A little more
From there widen into comedy, romance and family fare, above all festive stories and foreign-language releases, where one jump backwards or forwards supplies the entire premise from the opening scene.
One step further
Sweep the margins last: festival shorts, direct-to-video titles, anthology segments and micro-budget features whose names lean on calendar years, clock readings or elapsed minutes.
Reveal answers 3,330
Galaxy QuestOne in a Krillion100points
¿Puedes Quedarte un Segundo Más?Deep Cut85points
(T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1Deep Cut85points
(Time) Travel CentreDeep Cut85points
(Y/N): (Yes or No)Deep Cut85points
+1Deep Cut85points
1 + 1 = 11Deep Cut85points
10 Minute Time MachineDeep Cut85points
100 DatesDeep Cut85points
100 Days in OneDeep Cut85points
100 Million BCDeep Cut85points
1000 MabroukDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
Scale decides almost everything here. The reveal accepted 3330 films and scored 3309 of them, so age, obscurity and foreign origin cost almost nobody a place. Nearly the whole field, 3151 entries, settled on 85 points, which tells you the contest was never about proving a title valid but about finding one the other players had skipped. The 157 entries stuck at 60 points are the crowded picks, the ones that reach every head within seconds and therefore cannot pay well. At the far end sits the single 100-point entry, Galaxy Quest (100), a title almost nobody connects to the theme and defensible only through one brief moment near its finale, which is exactly why it topped the scale. Between the poles stretches the vast 85 band, where date-stamped oddities, arthouse experiments and imported comedies such as ¿Puedes Quedarte un Segundo Más? (85), 1408 (85) and 2067 (85) all earned the same reward. With thousands of titles passing, strangeness outranks fame.
Name a country where French is an official language
26 recorded answers
How to approach it
Work outward from geography rather than from a memorised list. Take a mental map and walk it continent by continent, asking of each state whether the language sits in its constitution, its charter or its official-style legislation. Then flip the filter: instead of recalling capitals, recall the shapes of official multilingualism, meaning countries that run two, three or four official tongues, island microstates with a single colonial inheritance, and large federations that kept an imported language for administration. Write down every candidate before judging it, because the scoring rewards volume and rarity together; a long, loosely sorted list is worth more than three safe picks. Prune only at the end, and prune on the definition, not on fame.
Get a hint
Start with the broadest layer: which continents and ocean regions still carry, in their official paperwork, the administrative legacy of an overseas empire?
A little more
Narrow to states where the language is written into the constitution or the founding law, not merely taught in schools or used in courtrooms.
One step further
Push past the obvious big neighbours and check island states, microstates and countries whose official roster pairs it with one or two other tongues.
Reveal answers 26
VanuatuOne in a Krillion100points
Central African RepublicDeep Cut85points
Equatorial GuineaDeep Cut85points
Republic of the CongoDeep Cut85points
BurundiRare60points
ComorosRare60points
Democratic Republic of the CongoRare60points
DjiboutiRare60points
GabonRare60points
GuineaRare60points
LuxembourgRare60points
SeychellesRare60points
Why these answers count
Scoring here tracks rarity, and the reveal makes that visible. The single 100-point answer, Vanuatu, is the one almost nobody reaches: a Pacific archipelago that rarely surfaces in conversations about official-language maps. The three 85-point entries, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Republic of the Congo, sit in the next ring out: African states whose official status is real but seldom remembered, especially the one that splits that status across three separate colonial tongues. The nine answers at 60 points are the solid, semi-obvious middle: Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Luxembourg, Seychelles and Togo. Each is correct and each is findable by a careful solver who walks the map, but all of them are frequent enough that the field spreads across them. Nothing in the reveal suggests that big, famous states scored on their own name; the pattern is that distance from the obvious earns the premium.
Work industry by industry rather than free-associating. Begin with sectors where a creature practically sells the product, such as travel, drink, sport, broadcasting and software, and list three or four names in each before judging them. Then test the second tier: insurance, publishing, banking, household goods, automotive tuning, gaming studios. For each candidate, picture the actual mark on a sign or a bottle; if you can see the creature, keep it. Rarity is the scoring lever, so once a famous multinational comes to mind, treat it as a baseline and push toward regional, defunct or niche equivalents. Write down every plausible name and submit the least obvious one that still passes the logo test.
Get a hint
Start with sectors where a creature is close to mandatory: aviation, brewing, sports franchises, radio frequencies and open-source projects all lean on fauna.
A little more
Move to housewares, insurers, publishers and record labels; many carry a creature inside a roundel or shield that shoppers pass daily without noticing.
One step further
Think of small regional firms and legacy marks too, since a single brewery, a county bank or a defunct carrier can be the rarest pick on the board.
Reveal answers 3,020
TuskerOne in a Krillion100points
14 HandsDeep Cut85points
1inchDeep Cut85points
40 Acres and a Mule FilmworksDeep Cut85points
400 ConejosDeep Cut85points
5 Rabbit CerveceríaDeep Cut85points
95.1 The BeeDeep Cut85points
98.7 The Bull (KUPL)Deep Cut85points
9ffDeep Cut85points
AAPEDeep Cut85points
AavinDeep Cut85points
AB VassilopoulosDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
Scoring rewards obscurity, and this list proves it. Household names were recorded so often that they settle near the bottom of the scale, while a single mention of something like 9ff, Akrapovič or Air Koryo earns the full 85 and the lone top answer reached 100. The spread is stark: 2,734 entries sat at 85 points, 257 at 60, and just one climbed to 100, which tells you the field was crowded with famous marks and starved of odd ones. Note the pattern in the examples: radio call signs such as 98.7 The Bull (KUPL), tiny carriers, regional breweries, defunct publishers, open-source projects. Each is a real logo, but few players reach for them under time pressure. So the winning habit is breadth plus nerve, generating many candidates across unrelated industries and then picking the one a stranger would not have thought of.
Treat the answer as a breadth test rather than a knowledge test: the scorer rewards distance from the middle of the distribution, so the goal is to generate volume first and refine second. Work through the academic map systematically, by faculty, then by department, then by the sub-specialisms inside each department, and keep a running list without judging entries. When a field dries up, mine the seams between disciplines, the professional and clinical training routes, and the titles that attach a place, a material or a technique to a discipline. Only after you have a long list should you cut the weakest entries. Save your single boldest, most niche pick for the moment you feel the list is running dry, because that is where the points live.
Get a hint
Begin with the widest possible sweep of post-secondary study: every faculty, school and department that confers a formal degree, and let the list run far past the handful of titles everyone knows.
A little more
Once the obvious fields are exhausted, push into the hybrid and vocational corners: programmes that fuse two disciplines into a single named degree, or that prepare students for one licensed trade.
One step further
Now go micro: titles tied to a single material, technique, instrument, region, species, patient group or single campus, often only a few words long and offered by just one institution.
Reveal answers 4,381
BagpipingOne in a Krillion100points
2D designDeep Cut85points
3D modelingDeep Cut85points
4D designDeep Cut85points
AbkhazDeep Cut85points
Aboriginal studiesDeep Cut85points
Academic advisingDeep Cut85points
Accelerator physicsDeep Cut85points
Accessories designDeep Cut85points
AccordionDeep Cut85points
Accountancy and data analyticsDeep Cut85points
Accountancy and data scienceDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
The scoring here rewards specificity, and the reveal shows it plainly. Of the recorded answers, 4298 cleared sixty points, but only one reached the top: Bagpiping at 100, a title so narrow that few players would ever think of it. The 85-point band, 3803 answers deep, is where disciplined, specific thinking lands; entries such as Accelerator physics, Acoustics and music technology, Adult-gerontology nurse practitioner or Accounting information systems each fuse a subject with a qualifier, a population or a second field. The 60-point band, 494 answers, is thinner and holds titles closer to the centre of the distribution: real, respectable degrees whose names are broad enough that a large share of players reach them. Practical lesson: a plain discipline name is short and safe but cheap, a two-part hybrid name is the reliable workhorse, and the rare one-institution curiosity is the only route to a perfect score. Precision in naming, not obscurity of subject, separates the bands.
Play the question as a breadth exercise rather than a wisdom test. Give yourself a fixed grid of contexts, then exhaust each one before moving on: the home, religious and folk ceremony, fuel-burning equipment, fireworks and explosives, smoking gear, workshop and outdoor tools, food and drink served flaming, and pure novelty. Inside each context, keep descending from the generic to the particular, because the reveal is granular and rewards precision. When an obvious answer comes to mind, ask what a specialist in that world would call the same object, and write that down instead. Do not stop at ten or twenty entries; the scoring band is wide, so volume combined with specificity is what separates a respectable score from a winning one.
Get a hint
Anything a person deliberately sets alight by hand is fair game, so begin with the everyday ignition rituals that happen in kitchens, on celebration tables and at the far end of a garden.
A little more
From there, push into the sub-genres that fill the reveal: devotional flames, aromatics that smoulder without a flame, fuel-burning appliances, fuses and explosives, workbench torches and novelty gags.
One step further
The list is deep because it is granular: a plain generic object sits in the low band, while the same idea narrowed by region, era, trade or ritual detail climbs into the top band.
Reveal answers 1,672
CandlefishOne in a Krillion100points
'Ndocce (Agnone torches)Deep Cut85points
A-frame fireDeep Cut85points
Aarti lampDeep Cut85points
Abus gunDeep Cut85points
Acetylene headlampDeep Cut85points
Acorn pipeDeep Cut85points
AfarganyuDeep Cut85points
AfrinaganDeep Cut85points
Agnihotra fireDeep Cut85points
AgnikaryamDeep Cut85points
Air bombDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
Scoring here is a breadth lottery with a specificity multiplier. The bulk of the reveal, 1403 entries, sits at 85 points, and reading that band shows why: almost every entry is a narrow, named variant rather than a generic object. Candlefish holds the single 100-point slot as the most obscure pick on the board, while the 85 band is a dense catalogue of regional, historical and technical detail, from an Acetylene headlamp and an Afarganyu to an Apple flambé, an Argand lamp and an Andon. The 227 answers at 60 points are the price of playing it safe: correct, recognisable, and shared with a large slice of the field. Rarity, not plausibility, moves a pick from 60 to 85, and only the entries describing something almost nobody else would think of reach the top. Plausible-but-obvious earns a floor, never a ceiling.
Work outward from technique rather than from menus. Fix the cooking method first: fully submerged in hot oil, with a coating that sets into a hard crust. Then sweep the world's kitchens in a fixed order, one continent at a time, and for each ask how a whole bird, a quarter, a wing or a thigh is seasoned before it meets the oil. Write down every compound name that surfaces, favour those carrying a place, a spice blend or a buttermilk-style marinade, and keep going until you have twenty candidates. Breadth beats polish: the reveal rewards the specific over the generic, so spend the remaining minutes on variants rather than on second-guessing.
Get a hint
Start with the street food and takeaway counters of the world rather than with restaurant menus: the bird is cut small, marinated, coated and cooked to order almost everywhere.
A little more
Think about the coating and the vessel before the flavour: a wet batter, a dry dredge of seasoned flour, a crumb shell or a double fry all count, and so does the pot, wok or pressure fryer it comes out of.
One step further
The reveal is packed with compound names, so build yours by attaching a modifier to the bird, whether a region, a spice, a marinade base, a cut or a serving style, and expect short generic phrases to sit in the lowest band.
Reveal answers 714
Hulu chickenOne in a Krillion100points
7Up fried chickenDeep Cut85points
Alcapurrias de polloDeep Cut85points
Alitas acevichadasDeep Cut85points
Almond boneless chickenDeep Cut85points
Amritsari chickenDeep Cut85points
Andhra chilli chickenDeep Cut85points
Ati ampela gorengDeep Cut85points
Ayam bacemDeep Cut85points
Ayam bawangDeep Cut85points
Ayam geprekDeep Cut85points
Ayam geprek mozzarellaDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
Scoring here was almost binary: 685 of the 714 recorded answers cleared 60 points, and the distribution is dominated by the 85-point tier, which swallowed 575 entries. What separated the single 100-point answer, Hulu chicken, from the crowd was not familiarity but precision, a narrowly regional name that few players would ever reach. The 85-point band, running from Ayam goreng through 7Up fried chicken to Alcapurrias de pollo, is where well-known but still particular dishes landed: recognisable enough to be verified, distinct enough to be worth more than a generic phrase. The 109 answers at 60 points were the safe, broad picks, the plainest way of saying the dish, and the remaining 29 fell below the threshold, usually because they described a cooking method or a sauce rather than a named preparation. Rarity, not obscurity for its own sake, is what pays.
Work sector by sector, writing down four or five roles for each before judging any of them: ceremonial and religious duties, armed forces and emergency services, maritime and aviation work, healthcare, heavy industry, transport, hospitality, sport and entertainment. The obvious label in each sector is the weakest submission, so keep pushing toward the narrower version of it, the rank, the specialism, the single machine, the one event of the year. Titles that combine a task with a garment, a piece of equipment or a rank do well, and so do institutional names from outside the English-speaking world. Check each candidate against the plain test of whether the clothing is compulsory, then submit the strangest one you can honestly defend.
Get a hint
Start from the garment rather than the job: think of roles you would recognise across a room by a cap, an apron, a badge or a reflective stripe.
A little more
Then drop a level in every sector and note the posts nobody lists first: those tied to one ceremony, one vessel, one ward or one season of the year outscore the general label.
One step further
Finish with compound titles that fuse a duty with a detail of dress or kit, and with institutional names drawn from armed forces, religious communities and old households.
Reveal answers 3,242
GyojiOne in a Krillion100points
Abdi dalemDeep Cut85points
Abraham Lincoln presenterDeep Cut85points
Abrasive blasterDeep Cut85points
Acid dipperDeep Cut85points
Acoso y derribo riderDeep Cut85points
Acute physicianDeep Cut85points
Ada programmer (Marines)Deep Cut85points
Addiction medicine physicianDeep Cut85points
Additive manufacturing specialistDeep Cut85points
AdjutantDeep Cut85points
Adjutant General's Corps clerkDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
The scoring here is a rarity ladder, not a correctness test, which is why the same broad profession can land at the bottom while an obscure variant of it tops the table. Of 3242 recorded answers, 3161 reached at least sixty points, and almost all of those, 2797, sat in the eighty-five band: valid and specific, but shared with enough other players to be common. Only one answer reached a hundred, the ceremonial referee title Gyoji, and that outlier shows how thin the top of the field was. Everything at eighty-five earns the same, whether it is the Indonesian court servant Abdi dalem, the impersonator billed as Abraham Lincoln presenter, or the industrial-sounding Aircraft de-icer; the puzzle does not rank one above another. The 363 answers capped at sixty are the familiar ones, the broad labels most people reach for first, and choosing them means settling for the floor.
Krillion