1 The new Federal Reserve chair, who took over in 2026, rejected the word "pause" to describe the July 28-29 hold and has repeatedly called the three dissents at that meeting a "family fight" — what is this chair's surname?
Answer: WARSH (5 letters)
◀ All past puzzles
Guess Macro — Thursday, August 20, 2026
The five questions from Thursday, August 20, 2026, with their answers. This puzzle is no longer playable; today's game is on the home page, and the last seven days can still be played in the practice archive.
2 With the yen near 159 per dollar this week, traders still cite the joint Japan-US operation that sold dollars to buy yen after a 40-year low. What is the one-word term for such official action in the currency market?
Answer: INTERVENTION (12 letters)
3 On August 17 this Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant agreed to sell its videogame business for at least $1.5 billion, continuing the disposal of non-core assets; name the seller.
Answer: ALIBABA (7 letters)
4 In acquisition accounting, this intangible asset is recorded for the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired, is never amortised under US GAAP, and must instead be tested for impairment at least annually.
Answer: GOODWILL (8 letters)
The premium an acquirer pays for a business above the fair value of its identifiable net assets, recorded as an intangible asset.
5 Borrowed from a becalmed equatorial sea zone, this word describes the late-August stretch when desks are half-staffed, volumes thin out and prices drift — conditions that can turn a small order into an outsized move.
Answer: DOLDRUMS (8 letters)