Sorta — a free daily trivia game and ordering puzzle
Put the world in order… sorta.
Three quiet rounds, five things each, and one hidden way to arrange them. Trust your instinct and see how close your order comes to the truth.
Sorta Game puzzle #116 · November 3, 2026
This puzzle ran on November 3, 2026, during NBA Opening Week.
Three rounds of five things, each with a hidden scale to sort them by — then one last guess at the theme tying all three together. Here’s what this puzzle asks.
Round 1
Order these contact pairings by their static coefficient of friction, from lowest to highest
- A rubber athletic shoe sole on a lacquered indoor gym floor
- A dry unfinished oak block on smooth oak
- A polished steel ice skate blade on smooth ice
- A Teflon slider on smooth Teflon
- A high-performance racing slick tire on dry asphalt
Round 2 · 5 Wood species
Order these wood species by their hardness on the Janka scale, from softest to hardest
- Balsa
- Red oak
- White pine
- Sugar maple
- Black walnut
Round 3
Order these objects by their coefficient of restitution on a rigid flat surface, from lowest to highest
- A regulation pressurized tennis ball
- A solid lead fishing weight
- A solid fused-silica glass marble
- A fresh lump of modeling clay
- A polybutadiene rubber Super Ball