States of Puzzlement

Published on Sunday, March 29, 2009 in , ,

United StatesHave you been practicing the states since I discussed it in my posts titled The States and The States Mis-Stated? I hope so, because today we're going to put you to the test!

In the 50 States of Mind site, they not only teach you the names of the US states and capitals, but also on many of its pages, it also teaches an ingenious way to remember the locations of the capitals within the states. To help reinforce the knowledge, check out the 50 State Capital Quiz. All you get is the name of a state capital, which you have to place in the correct location on a US map. You need to figure out which state's capital it is, where that state is on the map, and where the capital is located within the state! As long as you're reasonably close, this game is somewhat forgiving. Also, due to the scale, some states are easier that others. If you're given the capital of Rhode Island (quick, what is it?), the star for that capital is actually larger than the entire state, so as long as you can locate the state on the map, you can't help but get it right!

If you really want to push yourself, Mental Floss blogger Sandy Wood has a fondness for state puzzles. I suggest having a good knowledge of the state names, the state capitals names, and their respective locations on a map before trying these without any sort of cheating.

I like the following challenges, because they make you think about the states and their capitals in different ways. By the way, in some of the following puzzles, there are cities other than state capitals mentioned. Among the stately challenges posed by Sandy Wood:

The Tri-State Brain Game
Why Wyoming?
The Elite Eight
I Lettered at State
East, West, North and South
A Capital Idea
Three of a Perfect Pair
Actually Take This
Lune Latérale
Ottoman Winch Saga
Weekend Genius Challenge: Win a T-shirt at ‘State’ College (OK, you can longer win the T-Shirt, but the challenge is still fun!)
One last state challenge I'll leave you with is my all-time favorite stumper (try to solve this before you click for the answer): Which US state capital is the only state capital that shares no letters with the name of its state?

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