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Licorice beats laughter as the best medicine
Answers for Globle, Metazooa, Elemingle and more from Aug 25 - Aug 31
Abe Train
September 01, 2025
Coming to your inbox every Monday with a brand new fun-fact and all the answers to Trainwreck Labs games from the past week.
This week, we have…
A fun fact inspired by Metaflora
Metazooa: Live is coming back!
Answers to last week's games
Reader survey
Metazooa: Live… is coming back!
This September, the hit feature of Toronto Games Week is going to a new park with new plants, new animals, and new players. Come find the amazing ecological scavenger hunt at Metagame 2025 in Berkely, California from Sept 12 - 14.
Do you want Metazooa: Live to come to one of your local parks? Let me know!
Licorice beats laughter as the best medicine
Twizzlers used to be prescription-only but now you can get them over the counter.
Black jelly beans may be divisive, but there’s one plant that’s had people hooked for centuries thanks to its naturally sweet flavor. That plant is licorice (Metaflora plant #700), and it’s not just a candy ingredient—it has a history as a powerful medicine and even a tool of ancient kings!
Licorice root contains a compound called glycyrrhizin, which is over 50 times sweeter than sugar. But before it was used to flavor candy, licorice root was prized in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, and Rome as a remedy for coughs, sore throats, and even stomach ulcers. It was so valuable that large quantities of licorice root were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, presumably to soothe him in the afterlife.
Roman soldiers chewed licorice root for stamina during long marches, and traditional Chinese medicine has used it in herbal formulas for thousands of years. In fact, licorice root is still a common ingredient in cough syrups and teas today—though modern science warns against overindulgence. Large amounts of glycyrrhizin can cause a drop in potassium levels, which can lead to dangerous heart rhythms or even hospitalization (so maybe don’t eat an entire bag of black licorice in one sitting, as happened to one unfortunate Massachusetts man in 2020).
Whether you love it or leave it in the candy bowl, licorice’s history is as rich and complex as its taste. Next time you spot a black jelly bean, remember: you’re snacking on something that was once fit for pharaohs.
Learn more: News Nation, Licorice.com
Trivia
Which of the following is true about the licorice snack Twizzlers? |
Answers to last week's games
Monday, August 25 to Sunday, August 31.
Globle
| Globle: Capitals
|
Chronogram
| Fictogram
|
Metazooa
| Metaflora
|
Linxicon
The following are the shortest paths from last week:
#559 recognize → realize → fulfill → fully → completely
#560 commander → commanders → wars → blood
#561 slowly → cautiously → caution → permission → license
#562 bother → annoying → loudly → loud → solid → concrete
#563 point → disagree → neither → nor
#564 procedure → surgery → pain → sadness → sad
#565 coast → paradise → dreams → hopes → expect → expectation
#566 Play now!
Elemingle
#208 Calcium
#209 Yttrium
#210 Gold
#211 Zirconium
#212 Tennessine
#213 Neon
#214 Beryllium
#215 Play now!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
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