What is the only letter of the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any U.S. state?
Q
The answer was Q. Here's the why, the decoys, and the source trail.
Know someone who'd pause on this one? Send them the question.
Try today's live question, or browse previous answers when you want another quick dive.
Like this answer? Get tomorrow's question around 8 AM.
The letter Q is the only letter in the English alphabet that doesn't appear in the name of any of the 50 U.S. states. Every other letter — including X (Texas, New Mexico), Z (Arizona), and J (New Jersey) — shows up at least once.
This answer is checked against Wikipedia — List of U.S. states.
A good trivia question makes the wrong answers feel close. Here is the clean read on the set.
- Q - correct answer.
- X - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- Z - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- J - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
Q is the one to remember. The letter Q is the only letter in the English alphabet that doesn't appear in the name of any of the 50 U.S. The most common starting letter for U.S.
We may earn a commission.
Sources: Wikipedia — List of U.S. states