June 25th, 2026

Today's puzzle traced a ring of port cities and capitals scattered across four hemispheres, each shaped by the water at its doorstep. Rome, once the beating heart of an empire that ringed the Mediterranean, gave way to Montreal, whose French roots still echo along the St. Lawrence River. Auckland's twin harbors and Dar es Salaam's Indian Ocean shoreline showed how coastal geography can define a nation's largest city, while Dili, the modest capital of one of the world's youngest nations, rounded out the set with its own stretch of northern coastline. Together the five cities offered a quiet tour of how rivers, harbors, and seas have long drawn people to settle and build.