SortStack #3518 — 2036-01-26

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A typical national anthem performance at a sports event 1.5 min

   Uruguay's full anthem runs about five minutes, while Japan's 'Kimigayo' has just four lines — the shortest lyrics of any anthem on Earth.

2. A dentist-approved tooth brushing session 2 min

   Studies show most people actually brush for about 45 seconds while believing they've done the full recommended time.

3. A single round of professional boxing 3 min

   Round length was standardized by the 1867 Queensberry Rules, which also introduced gloves — before that, bare-knuckle rounds ended only with a knockdown.

4. A tiger's pregnancy 105 days

   Cubs are born blind and helpless at around a kilogram — yet within two years they're apex predators ten times their mother's litter weight.

5. A periodical cicada's life cycle, egg to final emergence 17 years

   They spend 17 years underground and mere weeks in the sun — the prime-numbered cycle may have evolved to dodge predators' breeding rhythms.

6. A photon's journey from the Sun's core to its surface 170K years

   Energy ricochets through the dense interior for on the order of 100,000 years — then crosses the void to Earth in barely eight minutes.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack