GAME Which One Doesn’t Belong? Paris, London, Tokyo, Madrid, New York — The Answer

The answer is NEW YORK.

Here is the set: PARIS / LONDON / TOKYO / MADRID / NEW YORK. Four of these cities share one big job — and one of them does not. Go through them one by one:

• PARIS — France. Paris is the capital city of France. It belongs.
• LONDON — United Kingdom. London is the capital city of the United Kingdom. It belongs.
• TOKYO — Japan. Tokyo is the capital city of Japan. It belongs.
• MADRID — Spain. Madrid is the capital city of Spain. It belongs.
• NEW YORK — United States. New York is a city in the United States, but it is not the country’s capital. It is the only one in this set that is not a national capital — so it is the one that doesn’t belong.

That’s the whole trick: all five are huge, famous cities, and fame is what hides the difference. Your brain files them together as “big world cities” and stops looking — but the set was never about size. It was about the job four of them do for their countries, and the one city, however famous, that doesn’t do it.

Did New York’s fame fool you, or did you spot the non-capital right away? Drop your first guess in the comments — and try tomorrow’s puzzle on our page.