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Most Searched Query

Which search query has been submitted the most times, and how many times?

  • Aggregation
  • Sorting
  • Top-N

Challenge brief

Understand the request

Search Trends is monitoring trending queries and needs to surface the single most-repeated search term for a trend report.

Return query_text, cnt in the declared deterministic order.

Return

  • query_text
  • cnt (count of occurrences)

Constraints

  • Return exactly one most-submitted query
  • Break count ties alphabetically by query text

Data you will use

Review the relevant tables before deciding how to join, filter, or aggregate them.

search_queries

  • query_idINTEGER
  • user_idINTEGER
  • query_textVARCHAR(200)
  • search_dateDATE

Hints, when you need them

Open one clue at a time so you still do the reasoning.

Hint 1

First determine how often every query text appears.

Hint 2

The requested leader is the first row after descending frequency.

Hint 3

Add query text as the stable tie-break before limiting the result.

Verified SQL answer

Attempt the problem first, then compare structure and reasoning—not just syntax.

Reveal solution and explanation
SELECT query_text, COUNT(*) AS cnt FROM search_queries GROUP BY query_text ORDER BY cnt DESC, query_text LIMIT 1

Why this works

All 42 queries are distinct — each query_text appears exactly once, so cnt = 1 for all rows. LIMIT 1 returns one row. The ORDER BY is cnt DESC — with all counts equal, the engine returns an arbitrary row. In this dataset it returns 'yoga classes'.

Success check

One stable query leader, with alphabetical tie handling

Expected result

Use this output to verify values, aliases, ordering, and row count.

query_textcnt
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