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September 18th, 2026
Daily puzzle · Easy · Streets map
Theme: Cities Built on the Vanilla Trade
Vanilla, the world's second most expensive spice, shaped these towns through centuries of cultivation and export. Antalaha and Sambava anchor Madagascar's vanilla-growing region, which today supplies most of the world's supply. Papantla, in Mexico, is the plant's ancestral homeland where the Totonac people first cultivated it, while Réunion's Saint-André region gave the crop its 19th-century French name and hand-pollination method. Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, became the trade's financial and shipping hub.
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Antananarivo, MadagascarMadagascar's capital serves as the commercial hub for the country's vanilla export trade.
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Papantla, MexicoThis Veracruz town is considered the ancestral home of vanilla cultivation by the Totonac people.
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Antalaha, MadagascarKnown as the vanilla capital of the world, this port town exports much of Madagascar's crop.
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Saint-André, RéunionThis Réunion Island town is linked to the 19th-century development of hand-pollination for vanilla orchids.
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Sambava, MadagascarPart of Madagascar's SAVA region, this coastal town anchors one of the world's densest vanilla-growing areas.