Pop culture · November 1, 2026

Puzzle #24 answers

The five places from Where Was It? Pop culture #24, and the story behind each one.

1. 01

   Books

   Voltaire's Candide ends on a small farm near this city, where the hero decides that we must cultivate our garden.

   Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

   

   Constantinople, today Istanbul, was the capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Voltaire's satire Candide (1759) ends on a small farm nearby, where Candide settles with his companions.

   41.012, 28.976

2. 02

   Music

   Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was born in 1942 in this city, later the cradle of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.

   Seattle, Washington, USA

   

   Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970), born Johnny Allen Hendrix, was born in Seattle, the largest city of the Pacific Northwest. Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters were also formed there.

   47.605, -122.330

4. 03

   Anime

   Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Ranma ½ and Inuyasha, was born in 1957 in this port city on the Sea of Japan.

   Niigata, Japan

   

   Niigata is the capital and largest city of Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½ and Inuyasha, was born there in 1957.

   37.916, 139.036

5. 04

   TV

   Top Gear's Stig set the show's lap times on a test track laid out on this former wartime airfield in Surrey.

   Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey, UK

   

   Dunsfold Aerodrome near Cranleigh in Surrey was built during the Second World War. Its runways host the Top Gear test track, designed by Lotus as a testing facility.

   51.115, -0.532

6. 05

   Film

   In Star Wars (1977), the Rebel base on Yavin 4 is this ancient Maya city rising out of a Central American rainforest.

   Tikal, Guatemala

   

   Tikal is the ruin of an ancient Maya city in the rainforest of northern Guatemala, one of the largest archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Americas. George Lucas filmed it as the Rebel base on Yavin 4.

   17.222, -89.624