# How well do you know the states? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568 "2007-10-30T14:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/21 "2007-10-30T15:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Oh, for the record? I think most people in the US learn the states in elementary school. [/QUOTE] I learned 'em from having a States puzzle when I was a kid. It must have worked: I scored 149/150, and that was just a brainfart “duh-I knew that!” mistake from being overly hasty. It did feel weird being asked “Where is Alaska?” and pointing to a location southwest of the 48. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/22 "2007-10-30T15:51:49Z")
Stupid geography… **kicks the internet and slouches away** ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/23 "2007-10-30T15:59:30Z")
150/150. [QUOTE=Who\_me?] 150/150. I usually screw up New Hampshire and Vermont, but this time I got them right. [/QUOTE] Vermont is sort of V shaped, and New Hampshire looks sort of like a backwards lower-case h. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/24 "2007-10-30T16:01:55Z")
143 Stupid New England states. Why can’t we just mash em all into one? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/25 "2007-10-30T16:03:15Z")
150/150 on U.S. states 38/39 on Canadian provinces 116/138 on European countries ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/26 "2007-10-30T16:03:30Z")
143/150. Indiana was the only one which took more than two tries, though I got it on the third. And pairs like New Hampshire and Vermont, or Wyoming and Colorado, were just a random guess as to which was which. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/27 "2007-10-30T16:04:33Z")
Woohoo! 150/150: perfect score on the States! And I’m Canadian. > [@mhendo](#): > > I know that Nebraska and Kansas border each other (The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 reminds me of that), and that Kansas is the southernmost of the two. I thought of the K-N Act too, but then I remembered that the states in that area joined the US in order westbound as the time went by. Missouri was a state first (1821), then we had the problems in Bleeding Kansas (just west of Missouri) leading to Kansas’ statehood in 1861, and just west of that, Colorado achieved statehood in 1876 (it’s called the Centennial State for a reason). Then all I need to remember is that over the top of the latter two is Nebraska. Well, it worked for me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/28 "2007-10-30T16:08:50Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] You get more than one try. If you get a state on the first try, you get 3 points; two tries, 2 points; three tries, 1 point. That’s how people ended up with scores that are not multiples of three. [/QUOTE] Ah, that explains it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/29 "2007-10-30T16:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] 150/150 on U.S. states 38/39 on Canadian provinces 116/138 on European countries [/QUOTE] 60/168 on Africa. That was pretty hard. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/30 "2007-10-30T16:10:28Z")
Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. Nebraska is north of Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/31 "2007-10-30T16:10:55Z")
94/96 on Asia, because I mixed up Thailand and Myanmar, and then Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/32 "2007-10-30T16:29:31Z")
150/150 US 124/138 Europe (Where’s Yugoslavia??? :dubious: ) 37/39 South America 112/162 Africa 89/96 Asia ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/33 "2007-10-30T16:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] Vermont is sort of V shaped, and New Hampshire looks sort of like a backwards lower-case h. [/QUOTE] I remember it by Vermont being the V-shaped one, too. My score was 150, but the only reason it was is because someone else recently linked to a game where you had to place the states on a blank map. That one was REALLY hard! But play it a few times, and it really helps you remember where they are. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/34 "2007-10-30T16:31:20Z")
145, but it was a shaky mouse click on Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/35 "2007-10-30T16:40:37Z")
I got 150. And I always remember Vermont because its the one of those two that looks like a V. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/36 "2007-10-30T16:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] 148/150 Stupid New Ham’sha’ [/QUOTE] Heh. 150 here, but I did really crappy on that one where you have to place the states in a US outline. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/37 "2007-10-30T16:43:27Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] Just remember, New Hampshire’s right side up. [/QUOTE] 🙂 Or, remember which one is coastal with Why doesn’t New Hampshire fall into the sea? Because Vermont sucks. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/38 "2007-10-30T16:47:41Z")
1. Hurray for video games! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/39 "2007-10-30T16:49:15Z")
double post ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568/40 "2007-10-30T16:50:26Z")
1. East coast is hardest for me. I have to slow down and think about them tiny little suckers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-you-know-the-states/424568.md?page=3)