do Turkmenistan, Angola, Syria, Cameroon have a secret Eurovision type song competition we don't know about?
― StanM, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 16:46 (two months ago) link
Based on reverse frequency I'm assuming Chartreuse > Violet > Green ?
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 16:58 (two months ago) link
Nailed it!It's favourite colours by country.
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 17:00 (two months ago) link
Ha! countries collaborating on an international Mardi Gras celebration?
― felicity, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 17:28 (two months ago) link
Yeah, can we get a hint?
It isn't really a hint but I can remove some noise. After doing some research I think the purple and yellow are red herrings and should be ignored. It is only the green countries that share this thing in common.
― anvil, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 17:29 (two months ago) link
Is it a sports thing?
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 18:05 (two months ago) link
Is it consumption of a food stuff?
― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 18:14 (two months ago) link
Those couple dozen round dots, mostly gray but a few green, and many of them in the ocean, would not be there meaninglessly. There's a whole slew of them in the southern Caribbean. Meanwhile, North America as a whole seems to be considered irrelevant. A profoundly strange map!
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 18:37 (two months ago) link
Yeah, Peru, Algeria, Russia... ?
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 18:46 (two months ago) link
I suspect the dots are just the cartographer's attempt at making small countries show up rather than being a separate category of map data.
http://weeklymap.org for more stuff like this btw (don't think it's updated anymore but 111 puzzles is plenty...)
― salsa shark, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 20:21 (two months ago) link
Yet some of those dots show up within larger countries, which confuses matters even further.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 20:24 (two months ago) link
They're small countries I think. Luxembourg, San Marino, Isle of Man, etc.
Maybe a clue in the ABC islands: Curacao is green but Bonaire and Aruba are grey...
― salsa shark, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 20:26 (two months ago) link
that's the world
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 20:27 (two months ago) link
are all the green nations ones that criminalise or legislate against the civil rights of LGBT people?
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 20:42 (two months ago) link
I'm suspecting a Russian sphere of influence because of Eastern Europe + MENA + Venezuela.Is it something stupid like plugs ?Or maybe something with trade
Working notes:- Rwanda and Burundi are an exception in Central / East Africa- Yemen also an exception- Indonesia + Malaysia and Ghana the only green in their respective regions- Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, one island
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 22:04 (two months ago) link
I'm gonna guess Russian oil & gas consumers.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 22:51 (two months ago) link
Whatever it is, none of the postwar/pre-Soviet collapse western democracies have it. And maybe it's the more socially conservative countries that have it? That makes me wonder if it's not a socio-legal thing.
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 21 March 2024 01:17 (two months ago) link
xpost - surely China and India would be Russian oil/gas consumers?
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 21 March 2024 01:18 (two months ago) link
also cuba, and probably not mauritius
― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 March 2024 01:20 (two months ago) link
Another pointer to this being a legal thing is the ABC countries - Curacao is green whereas Aruba and Bonaire are not. That corresponds with Aruba and Bonaire being under Dutch law whereas Curacao has its own constitution and legal system. Could it be something to do with taxation? Or maybe age of consent, divorce laws, same-sex laws or something like that.
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:18 (two months ago) link
only thing i can think of is 'served on some fucked-up UN committee like that for human rights'
― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:19 (two months ago) link
I'm thinking Calzino is right and it's something to do with LGBT rights. Maps on same-sex marriage or adoption rights look very similar.
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:30 (two months ago) link
Thing is, Japan has atrocious LGBT recognition iirc, and so would have some kind of colouring.
― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:34 (two months ago) link
yeah no...
LGBT rights in YemenSame-sex sexual activity is punishable by death; this law is applied to both men and women. Members of the LGBT community additionally face stigmatization and homophobic violence among the broader population. A provincial court in Yemen sentenced several people to death for engaging in homosexual acts in 2024.
Same-sex sexual activity is punishable by death; this law is applied to both men and women. Members of the LGBT community additionally face stigmatization and homophobic violence among the broader population. A provincial court in Yemen sentenced several people to death for engaging in homosexual acts in 2024.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:43 (two months ago) link
That pesky Yemen!
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 21 March 2024 03:39 (two months ago) link
That pesky Russia!
Perú and Ecuador are both green. They hate each other and don't have a lot in common besides geography and language.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 21 March 2024 03:57 (two months ago) link
kinda feel like it has to be tied to oil production, or dependency on it for each country's economy
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:01 (two months ago) link
Nothing of substance (or more herrings), but just noting that the Russian Arctic islands aside from Severny appear uniquely cobalt blue.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:12 (two months ago) link
Those are herrings, Green is all that matters.
I won't give a hint yet as there is activity, and it will be more satisfying for someone to get there without one if possible
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:22 (two months ago) link
Although it may be something of an unknown hint I haven't worked out what the yellow/purple is (whereas blue is just an anomaly). There was no key on the map and when I checked for myself only the green countries met the condition. so maybe the purple/yellow countries used to meet the condition or will meet the condition in the future but that is pure speculation I actually don't know. So they're not necessarily herrings but wouldn't focus on them too much, green is definitely correct and blue is definitely a herring
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:27 (two months ago) link
is this map pulled from somewhere or is it something you generated?
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:35 (two months ago) link
Its a map I pulled from somewhere
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 04:47 (two months ago) link
from your ass?
― pplains, Thursday, 21 March 2024 13:07 (two months ago) link
“Countries in which it is legal to pay a trapeze artist less than standard minimum wage”
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 21 March 2024 13:10 (two months ago) link
“Countries with samovars or samovar-type tea brewing”
“Countries where cats are more popular than dogs, as pets”
“Countries where ‘Peter’ is more common than ‘John’”
Anvil the real answer had better be good I puzzled and googled this for over an hour last night
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 21 March 2024 13:14 (two months ago) link
ILX: come for the zings, stay for the comparison of legal systems between Aruba and Curacao...
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Thursday, 21 March 2024 13:18 (two months ago) link
Is it amount of inward investment by China in these countries?
― Dan Worsley, Thursday, 21 March 2024 14:00 (two months ago) link
How old is this map? South Sudan isn't marked, though it may be covered up by that yellow blob.
― pplains, Thursday, 21 March 2024 14:09 (two months ago) link
I think the map is from 2020, but its accurate for today.
South Sudan is on the map isn't it? I assume the map is just a base template map
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 14:27 (two months ago) link
wait, I have it! Is it Earth?
― StanM, Thursday, 21 March 2024 14:43 (two months ago) link
Surely for a 'Guess the..' thread, this has to follow the "Guess the City" thread where you post an image of the inside of someone's shoe then disappear for a month?
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Thursday, 21 March 2024 16:57 (two months ago) link
Ok, let me think of a suitable hint on the way home. I'll post one in a couple of hours unless anyone wants a bit more time
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:03 (two months ago) link
Has anyone been in the right ballpark?
― Dan Worsley, Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:30 (two months ago) link
I think all of the answers so far have been in the same ballpark as each other, but none of them in the same ballpark as the answer
― anvil, Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:47 (two months ago) link
IIRC, Perú's biggest exports are copper, gold, oil and fish-related products (fertilizer, animal pellets).
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 21 March 2024 20:06 (two months ago) link
Countries that don't have Starbucks yet
jk I know that's wrong
― Josefa, Thursday, 21 March 2024 20:54 (two months ago) link
I really thought Dominican Republic would give me some big clues but it didn't.
― I blinked and it was a new decade (aldo), Thursday, 21 March 2024 21:05 (two months ago) link
If it’s like all countries with nickel deposits or something I’m going to hurl the computer through the window
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 21 March 2024 21:15 (two months ago) link
Countries that have an even number of McDonald's restaurants
― StanM, Thursday, 21 March 2024 21:24 (two months ago) link
The DR and anvil's hint makes me think it's baseball or Olympic related.
― felicity, Thursday, 21 March 2024 22:26 (two months ago) link
that one green dot just north of venezuela appears to be bonaire (dutch). the other caribbean green dots are too crowded for me to make out, but they're *not* dutch
also curious that hong kong and macau are included
― mookieproof, Sunday, 5 May 2024 00:38 (one month ago) link
I was thinking signatories to an Antarctic treaty or something but that doesn't check out. Must be something regulatory though, given how the overseas territories of a country all line up.
― Zelda Zonk, Sunday, 5 May 2024 01:17 (one month ago) link
I'm guessing some sort of environmental regulation.
― Zelda Zonk, Sunday, 5 May 2024 01:30 (one month ago) link
Or banking regulations? It seems neither Isle of Man or the Channel Islands are green. Another oddity: Estonia and Latvia are green but Lithuania isn't.
― Zelda Zonk, Sunday, 5 May 2024 02:28 (one month ago) link
None of the guesses are even close so far.a clue: green means not
― StanM, Sunday, 5 May 2024 04:52 (one month ago) link
side of the road people drive on?
― Stevo, Sunday, 5 May 2024 12:50 (one month ago) link
Do they have a side of the road in Antarctica?
― Zelda Zonk, Sunday, 5 May 2024 13:02 (one month ago) link
Given Stan's hint, I'm guessing the green countries do not have a law discriminating against something that the other countries do. A bit flummoxed by Antarctica though.
― Zelda Zonk, Sunday, 5 May 2024 13:05 (one month ago) link
Antarctica, remote Island Nations, Western Europe, Australia/NZ, that don't have something.
Most of these places are either isolated, tiny, or likely to have controls of some sort. So its some kind of bad flora/fauna/disease that they don't have
― Tow Law City (cherry blossom), Sunday, 5 May 2024 14:39 (one month ago) link
Lithuania and Poland the counter to that, if there are no border checks?
― Tow Law City (cherry blossom), Sunday, 5 May 2024 14:41 (one month ago) link
one of those guesses is right, cherry blossom!
― StanM, Sunday, 5 May 2024 15:13 (one month ago) link
No rabies?
― emil.y, Sunday, 5 May 2024 18:57 (one month ago) link
CORRECT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_rabies#Rabies-free_jurisdictions
― StanM, Sunday, 5 May 2024 19:16 (one month ago) link
:( sigh
(I got dogbit this past week and have to get the rabies shots starting tomorrow)
― your dog is fed and no one cares (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 5 May 2024 19:31 (one month ago) link
oh no! just do it though, if you get symptoms it's too late :(
― StanM, Sunday, 5 May 2024 19:35 (one month ago) link
Yeah I know. I thought we found the dog but it was the wrong dog. Bleahhhhh
― your dog is fed and no one cares (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 5 May 2024 20:08 (one month ago) link
maybe I was a little bit too fast with my hint, I'm too eager to help sometimes :-)
― StanM, Sunday, 5 May 2024 20:18 (one month ago) link
Ha, nice one, Lithuania.
― pplains, Sunday, 5 May 2024 20:28 (one month ago) link
Woooooo! Thank you cherry blossom & StanM, wouldn't have got there without those prompts but it totally clicked into place and I was reasonably confident in the rabies guess.
― emil.y, Sunday, 5 May 2024 20:55 (one month ago) link
Our bats would like a word with the author of this map
― Nabozo, Monday, 6 May 2024 08:20 (one month ago) link
Part of the reason I was confident is because a few years ago I had to look up whether British bats had rabies (injured bat in the house). The emergency vet just called it rabies, but it's a different strain of rabies virus ("European Bat Lyssavirus") and so the UK can maintain its rabies-free claim (based on what the site I'm looking at right now calls "classical rabies", nice nice).
― emil.y, Monday, 6 May 2024 13:03 (one month ago) link
I remember being told as a kid that France had rabies, but googling it, it seems it's been free since 2001
― Zelda Zonk, Monday, 6 May 2024 13:12 (one month ago) link
I think pet passports were introduced at about that time? That would make sense as part of an international push to eradicate it.
― emil.y, Monday, 6 May 2024 13:21 (one month ago) link
Interesting. My doctor described us as free of terrestrial rabies, which is a cool way of saying bats. Apparently no strain of the rabies virus is older than 1500 years. It's originally from bats and shifted to foxes, dogs, skunks etc, which means it's being again contained to the original hosts. And apparently the vaccine served as a base for one of the Covid vaccines, described as a "deactivated rabies-virus Covid vaccine". Which I guess is why you hire people for marketing after scientists do their job.
― Nabozo, Monday, 6 May 2024 13:34 (one month ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/FQQnZWE.png
― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Friday, 31 May 2024 11:47 (two weeks ago) link
Light pollution is too obvious probably?
― StanM, Friday, 31 May 2024 13:14 (two weeks ago) link
hmm. europe, japan, south korea all lit up. usa and mexico around the same. cuba and north korea completely dark. i'm thinking it's some cultural thing like soccer players.
― adam t. (abanana), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:19 (two weeks ago) link
honestly the only thing that makes sense is population density
― Are you addicted to struggling with your horse? (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:40 (two weeks ago) link
adam t. is on the right track
― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:42 (two weeks ago) link
Is it misleading that it looks like a map of might lights, then, if it's a cultural thing?
― Are you addicted to struggling with your horse? (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:48 (two weeks ago) link
Dhaka isn't lit up, though it might be covered by the country label
The Canary Islands are lit up
― Tow Law City (cherry blossom), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:51 (two weeks ago) link
South Korea, Java, New Zealand are a couple of locations that seem more lit up than expected imho
― StanM, Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:51 (two weeks ago) link
Mauritius & Réunion, east of Madagaskar, too
― StanM, Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:53 (two weeks ago) link
South Korea is a hotspot, is it something like mobile phone use?
― Dan Worsley, Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:53 (two weeks ago) link
now pondering what south korea and southeast england have in common
― Are you addicted to struggling with your horse? (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:54 (two weeks ago) link
does south korea have Nando's? I know Mauritus has like the most per capita in the world (don't ask how I know)
― Are you addicted to struggling with your horse? (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 1 June 2024 18:55 (two weeks ago) link
afaik continental Europe is Nando-less?
― StanM, Saturday, 1 June 2024 19:28 (two weeks ago) link
I see that Coca-Cola is banned in Cuba and North Korea -- is it Coke sales?
― adam t. (abanana), Sunday, 2 June 2024 02:55 (two weeks ago) link
on second thought, the US would be the brightest.
― adam t. (abanana), Sunday, 2 June 2024 02:57 (two weeks ago) link
bicycle usage
― mookieproof, Sunday, 2 June 2024 03:14 (two weeks ago) link
I will accept that as correct. It is a heat map of cycling activities recorded online on the most popular global app.
(Russia and some other countries are not rendered/displayed due to political reasons)
― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 2 June 2024 03:26 (two weeks ago) link
wow i rule
― mookieproof, Sunday, 2 June 2024 03:59 (two weeks ago) link
you do
― StanM, Sunday, 2 June 2024 05:17 (two weeks ago) link
south korea getting biz-aycompletely and thoroughly
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 2 June 2024 19:41 (two weeks ago) link