The five questions from Friday, August 21, 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.
1 Risk appetite soured in mid-August after President Trump said he would not try to revive a stalled truce with this Gulf state, whose war has left gasoline about a dollar a gallon dearer; fresh violence in Lebanon added to escalation fears. Name the country.
Answer: IRAN(4 letters)
2 US data on Aug. 14 showed consumer spending unexpectedly fell and July payrolls shrank, yet the Fed insists its focus is fighting price pressures. What single word describes an economy with stalling growth and stubbornly rising prices at the same time?
Answer: STAGFLATION(11 letters)
The combination of stagnant growth, high unemployment and high inflation at the same time.
3 The Arkansas-based chain that is the world's largest retailer by revenue reported results for the quarter ended July 31 this week, the marquee read on US shoppers as sticky prices and costlier gasoline squeeze discretionary spending. Name it.
Answer: WALMART(7 letters)
4 In fixed income, this measure gives the weighted-average time to receive a bond's cash flows and is used to estimate the approximate percentage price change for a one-percentage-point move in yields. What is the term?
Answer: DURATION(8 letters)
A bond's price sensitivity to interest rates, expressed in years. A duration of 7 implies roughly a 7% price fall if yields rise one percentage point.
5 As Q2 reporting wraps up in August, companies exit the restricted stretch before results when insiders and the firm itself may not deal in its shares, reopening more than $1 trillion of authorized repurchase capacity. What is that closed period called?