Detours — Page 2

Stories in “Detours”.

• Spreading discs across the slots can double their valueIn sjoelen, discs slide along a wooden board into scoring compartments. Under the common scoring system, one…
• Pins turned a billiards-like game into another kind of playBagatelle sends balls past pin obstacles toward holes in a table. A variant with fixed metal pins helped lead…
• This billiards game has no corner pocketsA bar-billiards table has nine scoring holes in its playing surface rather than pockets at the sides or corne…
• A halfpenny became a playing pieceBritish shove ha’penny sends coins or metal discs across a marked board. A piece scores when it finishes whol…
• A swinging ball knocks down the tabletop pinsIn the English table-skittles game Devil Among the Tailors, a ball hangs from a post on a string. Swinging it…
• English shiritori needs a choice about silent endingsShiritori also has an English-word version. For a word such as life with a silent final vowel letter, optiona…
• Each step must still be a wordA word ladder connects a starting word to a target by changing one letter at each step, with every intermedia…
• Everyone builds and rebuilds a word grid at onceIn Bananagrams, players simultaneously arrange letter tiles into their own connected word grids. They may rea…
• Seven pieces came from a quantum-mechanics lecturePiet Hein devised the Soma cube in 1933 during a quantum-mechanics lecture by Werner Heisenberg. Its seven di…
• Moving away may be an attacking moveIn Madagascar’s fanorona, a piece can capture by approaching an opponent or by withdrawing from an adjacent o…
• Four wooden pieces determine the moveKorean yunnori uses split sticks rather than dice. Combinations of the flat and rounded sides determine how f…
• The attacking route leaves the ordinary gridIn Surakarta, circular loops beyond the grid are used when capturing an opposing piece. They are not simply d…
• The player unable to capture losesHawaiian kōnane begins with alternating pieces filling the board and opening removals creating space. Subsequ…
• Pieces follow a connected network of linesAlquerque places pieces at intersections of lines, including diagonal connections. Captures jump an adjacent…
• The figures on the pieces affect capturesRithmomachia is a mathematical board game with descriptions dating to the eleventh century. Most capture meth…
• Scopa takes its name from a broomItalian scopa is named for a broom. A played card captures a matching value, or a matching total when there i…
• Briscola gives a small numeral a high positionIn Italian briscola, played with a forty-card deck, the three ranks immediately below the ace and above the k…
• The name remembers the stationary stancePétanque places boules close to a small target ball. Players throw from a circle with both feet on the ground…
• Toppling it too soon loses the gameKubb uses thrown wooden batons to knock down the opponent’s blocks, with a larger king in the center. Under t…
• The number matters only for a single fallen pinIn Finnish Mölkky, a single fallen pin scores its printed number; two or more score only the count of fallen…
• Modern senet uses reconstructed rulesAncient Egyptian senet used a thirty-square board, but its exact original rules are unknown. Modern play foll…
• A later tablet helped recover an older gameIrving Finkel reconstructed play for the Royal Game of Ur using a Babylonian rules tablet from about 177 BCE…
• Patolli used marked beans as diceMesoamerican patolli used black beans as dice. A hole on one side exposed a white mark, so a toss produced ma…
• Pachisi’s name remembers a shell scoreIndian pachisi takes its name from the Hindi word for twenty-five. Under the six-cowrie rules, a throw with n…
• Daldøs turns its pieces within a boat-shaped boardNordic daldøs uses a boat-shaped board with three rows of holes. Its spatula-like pieces initially stand acro…
• Schuhplattler strikes the soles as well as the thighsEastern Alpine Schuhplattler combines stamping and clapping with flat-handed strikes on shoe soles, thighs an…
• The footwear supplies part of the dance’s soundSouth African gumboot dance uses rubber boots with stamping movement. Bells may be attached to ring as the da…
• The small cloth accompanies the hand movementEnglish Morris dancing includes styles using handkerchiefs or sticks. In Cotswold Morris they accompany the h…
• Zaouli’s masks have varied accounts behind themZaouli belongs to Côte d’Ivoire’s Guro communities and features a single masked, costumed dancer with musicia…
• Tarantella varies across southern ItalyTarantella names a group of southern Italian folk dances rather than one uniform form. Regional names include…
• Gateball’s starting point differs from its imageGateball was devised in Japan in 1947 as a game for young people. Kazunobu Suzuki developed it using wood ami…
• Broomball players wear specialized shoesBroomball takes place on ice, but players use specialized rubber-soled shoes rather than skates. They send a…
• Rounders shares equipment, not every ruleRounders in Britain and Ireland combines batting and running with an underarm delivery. It can look familiar…
• The pickleball kitchen is not simply off limitsPickleball’s kitchen is the non-volley zone beside the net. Restrictions concern hitting a ball before it bou…
• Road tennis reshapes familiar equipmentBarbadian road tennis uses wooden rackets and a tennis ball with its felt removed. A low wooden plank serves…
• Theremin performance uses the space around antennasA theremin player moves hands near two metal antennas without touching the instrument. One distance controls…
• A kazoo changes humming rather than mere breathA kazoo player hums into the instrument instead of simply blowing. Pressure changes from the voice vibrate a…
• A musical saw is bowed rather than used to cutA musical saw is flexed for performance. Sound is commonly produced by drawing a bow across the back edge at…
• The nyckelharpa changes pitch through keyed tangentsThe Swedish nyckelharpa resembles a bowed fiddle but uses keys to operate tangents that stop the strings. The…
• A mouth harp changes its overtones through the playerA mouth harp vibrates a tongue held within a frame, using the player’s mouth as a resonator. Changing the mou…
• An egg cream’s name does not list its ingredientsAn egg cream combines milk, carbonated water and flavoured syrup. Despite its name, it contains neither eggs…
• Welsh rarebit serves cheese on toastWelsh rarebit, also called Welsh rabbit, is hot cheese sauce on toasted bread. It contains no rabbit. The nam…
• Baked Alaska combines opposing temperaturesBaked Alaska covers cake and ice cream with meringue. Brief heating browns the exterior without giving the ic…
• Canelé builds its contrast into a small shapeBordeaux’s canelé is a small fluted cylindrical pastry flavoured with rum and vanilla. It has a dark, thick c…
• Poutine keeps the curds’ texture in the experienceQuébécois poutine combines fries, cheese curds and gravy. Hot gravy warms the curds without necessarily melti…
• Diabolo moves between sticks, string and airA diabolo spins on a string stretched between two handsticks. Performers can toss it into the air and catch i…
• Devil-stick manipulation controls one baton indirectlyDevil-stick performance uses two handsticks to lift, strike or stroke a central baton. The main visible prop…
• Māori poi combines objects, movement and songTraditional Māori poi in New Zealand can combine choreographed routines with singing and storytelling. In Māo…
• Contact manipulation rolls objects over the bodyContact juggling focuses on objects such as balls moving while in contact with the body. They roll over hands…
• A Cyr wheel uses one large circleA Cyr wheel is a single large metal ring slightly taller than its performer. Standing inside and holding the…
• The hairdresser’s regular order became a nameKapsalon layers fries, meat, cheese, salad and sauces. Its Dutch name means hairdressing salon. In Rotterdam…
• Bunny chow puts curry inside hollowed breadBunny chow originated in Durban, South Africa. A hollowed loaf of white bread holds curry. Despite the Englis…
• Currywurst puts the flavour in the sauceGerman currywurst serves sausage with curry-flavoured sauce, commonly involving curry powder and tomato sauce…
• Francesinha is associated with PortoThe francesinha is a Porto-associated Portuguese sandwich with meats, cheese and a sauce involving tomato and…
• Uruguayan chivito is made with beefUruguay’s chivito is a beef sandwich, commonly accompanied by cheese, ham and egg. The name means a young goa…
• Koshary does not choose one starchEgyptian koshary combines ingredients including rice, pasta and lentils, topped with tomato sauce and fried o…
• Poultry pastilla combines sweet and savoury layersNorth African poultry pastilla layers seasoned meat with thin pastry, almonds, cinnamon and sugar. Powdered s…
• Lángos retains a trace of an older cooking methodHungarian lángos is familiar as fried flatbread. Its name comes from láng, meaning flame. Historically, lefto…
• Lomo saltado brings rice alongside potatoesPeruvian lomo saltado stir-fries beef, onions, tomatoes and french fries, and is commonly served with rice. I…
• Murtabak wraps its filling in thin doughMurtabak folds thin dough around fillings such as egg, minced meat and onion before pan-frying. Found in plac…
• Slice the cake, find a sandwichSwedish smörgåstårta layers bread and savoury fillings, then decorates them like a cake. Eggs, fish or meat m…
• Chicken breast in a sweet milk puddingTurkey’s tavukgöğsü is a sweet milk dessert made with finely shredded chicken breast. Milk and sugar turn an…
• A sausage with a connection to mining ropesOx hides supplied ropes for the copper mine at Falun, Sweden. Preserving the remaining meat by salting and sm…
• A traditional meal with a recognisable shapeIcelandic svið uses a sheep’s head, split in half and boiled after the brain is removed. It can appear among…
• Long, skinless and deep-friedFrikandel is a long meat snack popular in the Netherlands and Belgium. It resembles a sausage but has no casi…
• An imposing name for a potato dishRumbledethumps comes from the Scottish Borders. Its main ingredients are potatoes, cabbage and onions, and it…
• The dessert packaging remembers birch barkFinnish mämmi is an Easter dessert made with rye flour and malted rye. It is served cold, often with milk or…
• Ice cream that can need a knife and forkMaraş dondurma from Turkey uses extra salep and has a tough, sticky texture. It is sometimes eaten with a kni…
• A lamprey-like name for a cattle stomach dishFlorentine lampredotto uses cattle’s fourth stomach, the abomasum. It is also served in a bread roll as stree…
• Welsh laverbread is a seaweed pasteLaverbread is a Welsh food made from seaweed cooked into a soft paste. Despite its name, it is not bread. It…
• Artificial islands linked by canalsNan Madol, beside Pohnpei in Micronesia, consists of stone-and-coral artificial islets separated by canals. A…
• Plants covered the homes people leftHoutouwan on China’s Shengshan Island was a fishing village. Its population declined from the 1990s, and vege…
• The awnings retreat when a train arrivesA section of Thailand’s Maeklong Railway runs through a market. Vendors pull back awnings and goods beside th…
• The expedition could not find its mountainGangkhar Puensum in Bhutan rises to 7,570 metres. An account of the 1980s expeditions describes the first tea…
• One doorway has an address in each countryBaarle’s Belgian and Dutch territories interlock, and some borders cross buildings. A border-straddling doorw…
• In this hot town, homes go below groundCoober Pedy in South Australia is known for opal mining and underground homes called dugouts. Excavated into…
• Homes are built into the town’s rock formationsSetenil de las Bodegas in Spain’s Cádiz province is known for dwellings built into rock formations. The natur…
• The leaning tower stands on timber foundationsSuurhusen’s church tower in Germany leans noticeably. A local historian explains that groundwater preserved i…
• Two arms lift the roadway out of a boat’s wayLeeuwarden’s Slauerhoffbrug in the Netherlands uses two arms to swing a fifteen-metre-square road section out…
• A rotating lift carries boats between canal levelsScotland’s Falkirk Wheel opened in 2002 as a rotating boat lift. Boats remain afloat in water-filled containe…
• A shaded town sent sunshine down with mirrorsMountains block direct sunlight from Rjukan, Norway, during the darker part of the year. A project installed…
• The crater lakes change independentlyKelimutu in Indonesia has three crater lakes of differing colours. Their colours can change with volcanic gas…
• Many residents share one high-rise in this Alaskan townMany residents of Whittier, Alaska, live in the 14-storey Begich Towers, completed in 1957. A tunnel connects…
• The last pupils left doll self-portraits in NagoroLife-size dolls populate fields and bus shelters in Nagoro, Tokushima, following a project begun by Tsukimi A…
• Rooms surround excavated pits in MatmataSome traditional homes in Matmata, Tunisia, begin with a large pit. Rooms are excavated sideways around its p…
• Wooden boats connect Ganvie’s lake settlementGanvie lies on Lake Nokoué in Benin. Wooden boats provide transport to and from the village, while fishing an…
• The blue town does not have one agreed explanationChefchaouen’s old town in Morocco is known for blue-and-white walls and houses. Explanations offered for the…
• Demolished buildings contributed to a new villageClough Williams-Ellis built Portmeirion in Wales between 1925 and 1975. Its Mediterranean-inspired setting in…
• A canal village later added a cycle pathThe old part of Giethoorn in the Netherlands originally had no roads, with transport using canals. A cycle pa…
• Tokyo includes an island with a volcano inside its volcanic basinAogashima, a volcanic island in the Izu chain, belongs to Tokyo. Inside its caldera stands a smaller volcanic…
• The precarious-looking rock is covered with gold leafAt Kyaiktiyo in Myanmar, a small pagoda stands on a large boulder perched at a cliff’s edge. Gold leaf gives…
• The rounded boulders began inside seafloor mudNew Zealand’s Moeraki Boulders are large, rounded concretions. Minerals cemented marine mud into these masses…
• Red-and-white threads mark the arrival of springMărțișor is a spring tradition in Romania and Moldova involving intertwined red-and-white threads and a small…
• Land diving is a Vanuatu ritual tied to the yam harvestIn southern Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, men perform land diving from wooden towers with vines attached to thei…
• Small candlelit floats mark a Thai full-moon festivalDuring Thailand’s Loy Krathong, decorated little floats are launched on rivers, canals or ponds. Traditional…
• Junkanoo rhythms include drums and cowbellsJunkanoo is a Caribbean festival involving masking, costumes, drumming, dance and parades. It is practiced in…
• Nepal’s Biska festival follows a solar calendarCelebrated in April around Bhaktapur and Thimi, Biska includes different local traditions. Bhaktapur has a de…
• A Philippine festival turns giant Christmas lanterns into competitorsSan Fernando in the Philippines hosts a competition of giant parol lanterns. Electricity was introduced to th…
• Kerala’s tiger dance puts the stripes on human performersPulikali, meaning tiger dance, is a folk performance from Kerala, India. During Onam and other celebrations,…
• A Lao and Thai festival sends rockets into the skyBun Bang Fai is celebrated around the start of the wet season in Laos and northeastern Thailand. Music, dance…
• A jury, a marriage and some baconThe Dunmow flitch tradition in England rewards couples who swear they have not regretted their marriage for a…
• Frightening faces, welcomed guestsOn Japan’s Oga Peninsula, namahage visit homes wearing masks and straw clothing. They admonish idleness or mi…
• A haircut before returning to the hillsIn Galicia, Spain, semi-feral horses living in the mountains are gathered into enclosures for Rapa das Bestas…
• Mud with a blessing behind itDuring Paantu on Japan’s Miyako Island, masked visitors spread sacred mud on people and houses. The practice…
• An ox returns to life on stageBumba Meu Boi is a Brazilian performance tradition told through song and dance. Details vary by region, but a…
• A noisy farewell to winterAt Kurentovanje in Ptuj, Slovenia, kurent figures appear in sheepskin costumes. Their noisy presence is tradi…
• A burden with a purposeDuring Thaipusam, Tamil devotees carry kavadi burdens in devotion to Murugan. Offerings can include pots of m…
• Fresh cloth and a renewed family gatheringIn Madagascar’s famadihana tradition, families bring ancestors’ remains from a family tomb, wrap them in fres…
• Venice’s symbolic marriageAt Venice’s Festa della Sensa, the mayor takes the historic role of the doge and throws a ring into the lagoo…
• June means the winter season hereCusco’s Inti Raymi on June 24 presents a reconstruction of rituals associated with the Inca sun god. In the S…
• Last place still receives a wishNaadam in Mongolia features horse racing, wrestling and archery. In the race for two-year-old horses, the las…
• A dance named for its local stepsKalibo’s Ati-Atihan celebration honours the Santo Niño, with processions, costumed dancers and marching bands…
• A sweeping roof and a name about sittingTongkonan are ancestral houses of the Torajan people in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi. Their large upswept roofs…
• Dressed-up men dance before women judgesAt the Wodaabe Guérewol in Niger, young men wear elaborate adornments and face paint, then sing and dance in…
• Reindeer antlers on an all-day danceEach September, dancers in England’s Abbots Bromley carry reindeer antlers around the parish. Six carry horns…
• Olive oil before the wrestling beginsKırkpınar, held near Edirne in Turkey, is an oil-wrestling tournament. Competitors wear knee-length leather t…
• Spoons and bowls announce a request for treatsIran’s Chaharshanbe Suri takes place before Nowruz. One custom involves wearing disguises, visiting neighbour…
• Sixteen trees become shrine pillarsAt Nagano’s Suwa Grand Shrine, the Onbashira Festival brings sixteen selected trees down from the mountains a…
• Combat movements without an actual fightBolivia’s Tinku includes a ritual combat tradition and a festive dance inspired by it. Dancers use combat-lik…
• A towering structure is carried to the seaIn Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Tabuik is a Muharram remembrance tradition. Tall ceremonial structures…
• Bali marks a new year with silenceNyepi is Bali’s day of silence for the new year. For a day from morning until the following morning, people r…
• The rider’s horse is a wooden costumeIn Kraków, Poland, Lajkonik parades through the city with a wooden hobby horse fastened around his waist. Wea…
• A masked carnival welcomes the season’s changeBusójárás is a carnival tradition in Mohács, Hungary. Masked participants join music, dancing and parades. On…
• A memorial festival also makes room for satireGai Jatra is a Newar festival in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley honouring relatives who died during the previous ye…
• A river ceremony concludes the great processionKandy’s Esala Perahera in Sri Lanka honours the Sacred Tooth Relic. Its processions include drummers, dancers…
• To pass, they lifted a vehicle off the railsCambodia’s norry was a simple rail vehicle, often fitted with bamboo decking. When two met on a single track,…
• Red and blue bull associations compete in spectacleAt Brazil’s Parintins Folklore Festival, Garantido in red and white and Caprichoso in blue and white compete…
• At Holi, people splash colour on one anotherHoli is a Hindu festival celebrated in India and Nepal, associated with spring, love and the victory of good…
• Priests carry a wrapped sacred object on their headsTimkat celebrates Jesus’ baptism in Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox traditions. A sacred tabot is wrapped in…
• An offer and refusal can be part of a longer exchangeIranian taarof is a form of etiquette expressing deference. In hospitality, offers and polite refusals can be…
• A feast can demonstrate wealth through giftsPotlatches among Indigenous peoples of North America’s Pacific Northwest Coast involve hosts distributing gif…
• A whaling celebration includes a blanket tossNalukataq is an Iñupiat spring-whaling celebration in northern Alaska. Alongside sharing food, participants h…
• A festival’s name also evokes exchanging helpAt Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza in Mexico, Indigenous communities present regional dress, dance and music. Its name c…
• A departure can be marked by a thread around the wristBaci ceremonies in Laos and nearby regions mark occasions such as births, marriages, departures and returns.…
• A masked dance can also offer social commentaryGule Wamkulu is a Chewa masked-dance tradition in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Dancers portray animals, peo…
• Songkran also includes gently pouring water over elders’ handsThailand’s traditional New Year festival, Songkran, is celebrated in April and is known for water fights. Cus…
• A burning snowman is used to foretell summer weatherAt Zurich’s spring festival Sechseläuten, an effigy called the Böögg represents winter and is burned. Its hea…
• Rice offerings can be made into the air or an empty fieldPchum Ben is a Cambodian religious festival honouring deceased relatives. Offerings to monks are understood t…
• A Dragon King legend became a five-person danceKorea’s Cheoyongmu is a masked dance based on the legend of Cheoyong, described as a son of the Dragon King o…
• Some house decorations at this festival can be eaten laterAt Lucban’s Pahiyas festival in the Philippines on May 15, houses are decorated with fruit, vegetables, farm…
• A Mongolian New Year greeting places younger arms below older onesDuring Mongolia’s lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar, relatives visit one another. In the zolgokh greeting, younger…
• Homes, cars and diplomas are given in tiny versionsAt Alasitas in La Paz, Bolivia, people buy miniatures of houses, cars, phones and even university diplomas. G…
• Children visit homes singing during a winter festivalAt Lohri, a winter festival associated with Punjab, children go from house to house singing and receiving tre…
• A town ceremony includes an Orange Man in the processionAt Hocktide in Hungerford, England, ceremonial Tutti Men visit properties around town. They carry poles decor…
• Padstow’s festival horses wear masks and black capesAt Padstow’s May Day festival in Cornwall, costumed hobby horses dance through town to drums and accordions.…
• At this festival, portable shrines enter water and fireAt the Abare Festival in Ushitsu, Noto, large kiriko lantern floats parade through town. Portable mikoshi shr…
• Power lines helped divide Hakata’s floats into two rolesHakata Gion Yamakasa has smaller kakiyama floats carried through the streets and tall, stationary kazariyama…
• A Tenggerese ceremony sends offerings into Mount Bromo’s craterDuring Yadnya Kasada in East Java, Tenggerese devotees pray at Mount Bromo and throw offerings into its crate…
• Meskel’s bonfire leaves charcoal for a cross on the foreheadMeskel is a Christian celebration observed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its large Demera bonfire uses flower-deco…
• Ngondo’s ritual links a festival to a spirit worldNgondo is a water-centred festival of Sawa coastal communities in Douala, Cameroon. A ritual participant ente…
• Māori New Year traditions do not all use the same starMatariki is associated with Māori New Year in Aotearoa New Zealand. Some regions and iwi instead use the risi…
• Korea’s seventh-evening festival also has a seasonal menuChilseok falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of Korea’s lunisolar calendar. Alongside the cowherd-a…
• Eswatini’s Reed Dance includes materials for repairsDuring Umhlanga in Eswatini, participants gather at the Queen Mother’s royal village, cut tall reeds nearby a…
• Chuseok rice cakes are steamed on pine needlesFor Korea’s harvest celebration Chuseok, families prepare songpyeon: rice cakes filled with ingredients such…
• Davao’s festival once combined three local icons in its nameKadayawan in Davao, Philippines, celebrates harvest and local cultures. Its former name Apo Duwaling combined…
• Obon turns cucumbers and eggplants into animalsSome Japanese Obon customs use a cucumber horse and an eggplant cow as symbolic vehicles for ancestors coming…
• Sri Lanka’s Vesak includes stalls serving passersbyDuring Vesak in Sri Lanka, colourful lanterns decorate streets and homes. Stalls called dansalas, organised b…
• Gawai can close with a ceremonial matGawai Dayak celebrations in Malaysia include welcoming visitors into homes. Among Iban Dayaks, the closing pr…
• Pushkar’s fair includes a long-moustache contestPushkar Fair in Rajasthan, India, combines livestock trading and pilgrimage to the lake. Alongside cultural p…
• Cebu’s Sinulog has a practical side beyond its dancingSinulog in Cebu, Philippines, honours the Santo Niño. Devotee City, begun in 1996, used recycled shipping con…