What is Headlines?
Headlines presents five real newspaper headlines stripped of their dates and asks you to identify the publication year for each. The layout mimics a newspaper page: a bold headline centered on screen, the newspaper name above it, and nothing else. You set your answer with a slider spanning 1900 to 2026, fine-tune with minus and plus buttons, and lock it in with a button displaying your chosen year. The header tracks progress with five dots and a running score out of 500.
How to play Headlines
- Read the headline and the newspaper name above it to narrow down the possible date range.
- Drag the slider to the approximate year, then use the minus and plus buttons to choose the exact year.
- If you are unsure, tap “Stuck? See another headline from the same year” to get another headline from that year.
- Select the button showing your chosen year to submit your answer, then move to the next headline.
- After all five headlines, review your score.
A headline does more than report an event. Sentence structure, word choice, and the way countries or technologies are named can place you in a specific era before you identify the event itself. Once you recognize what happened, you still need to pin down the exact year because the scoring system does not accept a rough decade.
Scoring and feedback
The system awards 100 points for the correct year and deducts two points for every year of difference. A perfect edition yields 500 points. The score counter remains visible in the top right throughout play. Small errors across multiple headlines add up quickly, so precise guesses matter.
Modes
Today's Edition
Five headlines are released each day, identical for all players. The home screen displays a countdown to the next edition.
Previous Edition
A "PLAY A PREVIOUS EDITION" button on the home screen opens past editions for practice or replay.
Tips for tighter guesses
The newspaper name sets boundaries. Many papers have known start and end dates, which can immediately rule out decades before you parse the headline text.
The slider positions you in the right decade, but two points per year means a ten-year mistake costs twenty points. Use the minus and plus buttons to settle on the exact year rather than accepting a rough slider position.
The help option offers a second headline from the same year. The interface does not state whether this costs points, so decide whether the extra context is worth the risk before locking in your first guess.