Round 1
Withheld from the archive
This round was played, but we do not republish it here. Recent events involving mass civilian casualties are excluded from our public archive under our content policy, whatever their place in the day’s puzzle.
Terra Tempus Daily #104 — September 12, 2026
These are the 5 rounds every player got on September 12, 2026, with the answers and the history behind them. This day is finished, so nothing here spoils a puzzle you can still play — today’s Daily Challenge is a different five events.
Not enough completed runs on this day to report an average without singling out an individual player’s score — we publish one from 5 finishers up.
Round 2
Battle of Red Cliffs
Battle of Red Cliffs · 208 · Antiquity
Why there: The battle unfolded along the Yangtze, the wide southern river that formed a natural defensive barrier where the southern warlords could exploit their naval strength and force Cao Cao's northern, land-based army to fight on unfamiliar water.
Why then: With the Han dynasty's central authority collapsed in 208, rival warlords carved up the realm, and Cao Cao's bid to conquer the south before consolidation could set in made this the decisive moment that fixed the coming Three Kingdoms division.
- The Battle of Red Cliffs (208 CE) saw the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeat the much larger army of Cao Cao.
- Cao Cao's ships were reportedly linked together, making them vulnerable to a devastating fire attack.
- The battle paved the way for the Three Kingdoms period and is dramatized in the novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'
Round 3
Battle of Rossbach
Battle of Rossbach · 1757 · Early Modern
Why there: Rossbach sat in Saxony, a central Prussian buffer that Frederick the Great had to hold to keep the combined French and Imperial armies from converging on his exposed heartland from the west.
Why then: The Seven Years' War pitted a coalition against Prussia in 1757, and Frederick's era of disciplined drill, rapid marching columns, and coordinated cavalry could crush the slower, poorly-unified armies of the old Holy Roman Empire.
- The Battle of Rossbach (1757) was one of Frederick the Great of Prussia's most celebrated victories in the Seven Years' War.
- His outnumbered Prussians routed a combined French and Imperial army in present-day Saxony, Germany.
- The lopsided win freed Frederick to turn east and win again at Leuthen weeks later.
Round 4
Withheld from the archive
This round was played, but we do not republish it here. Recent events involving mass civilian casualties are excluded from our public archive under our content policy, whatever their place in the day’s puzzle.
Round 5
Battle of Bosworth Field
Battle of Bosworth Field · 1485 · Medieval
Why there: Leicestershire's central Midland location sat astride the routes between Richard III's northern strongholds and Henry Tudor's Welsh landing, making these fields the natural meeting point where the two armies converged.
Why then: Decades of dynastic bloodletting in the Wars of the Roses had thinned the Plantagenet line and shaken loyalty to Richard III, so a single battle in 1485—decided by defectors like the Stanleys—could topple a crown and install the Tudors.
- The Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) ended the Wars of the Roses.
- King Richard III was killed, the last English king to die in battle.
- Henry Tudor's victory established the Tudor dynasty as Henry VII.
Every Daily Challenge is five real events, one from each of five different eras, identical for every player, scored up to 10,000 points a round on how close you land in space and in time. Read how to play, see where the events come from, or play today’s.