Solutions for “Terra Cognita”

Content: Countries grouped by common characteristics.

Special rules: Find the sets of countries in the puzzle that meet the quantities and descriptions given. The sets are straight-line chains in the grid. The countries in a set can be in any order.

Hints: If there were ever a puzzle in the book to do with friends, this is it.

Solutions:

What countries make up the “words”?
What country is that map?
4 countries with land inside the Arctic Circle
3 major Axis powers of World War II
4 “BRIC” countries
4 non-African countries that straddle the Tropic of Cancer
10 European countries using the Euro as their official currency
8 countries with red and white flags
7 countries with four-letter names in English
7 countries where French is an official language
7 G20 countries with prime ministers
4 countries of the Himalayas
5 landlocked European countries
3 present-day countries where ancient Mayans lived
3 European microstates
5 hereditary monarchies in Asia
7 original NATO countries
3 countries that border Niger
4 countries through which the Nile and its tributaries flow
3 Asian countries that have hosted Olympic Games
6 present-day countries once part of the Ottoman Empire
3 countries where childhood polio is endemic
5 most populated countries in North America after the US
7 countries with populations over 100 million in 2011
4 countries where Portuguese is an official language
5 Saharan countries
7 countries with the highest sheep population in 2007
4 countries with a Shiite Muslim majority
3 Slavic countries
5 South American countries lying entirely south of the Equator
3 island nations of the South Pacific
4 countries whose names end in -stan
5 countries where Sunni Muslims are the majority
5 countries most visited by international tourists in 2011
4 “United” countries, in official name
5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council
8 countries with the letter z in their English names

Oops: In the first printing, Azerbaijain should be the country on the right-hand page in the third row from the bottom and second column from the right.