maine, massachusetts, delaware, north carolina, georgia, ohio, idaho, utah,california, kansas, texas, mississippi, alaska, hawaii, north dakora with 2 seconds left
Cheating a tad I know, but put massachusetts in your clipboard and start with a paste! It's a pig that you can't get Rhode Island without typing something long in
massachusetts, tennessee, pennsylvania, texas, georgia, maine, kentucky, ohio, iowa, nevada, alaska, hawaii, montana, idaho, and kansas with one second left.
You definitely need a strategy to get it done. Three states in New England will get you all 11 in that corner. Six strategically placed western and mid-western states gets you 34 more. (So 9 states will cover 45). That leaves Hawaii, Alaska, and 3 more singles.
Texas, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, New Jersey, Virginia, Rhode island, Maine, New york, Georgia, Hawaii, Alaska. Good thing i'm a fast typer lmao.
In the Countries version of this quiz, you didn't have to name island nations that had no borders. Obviously, it's at a lesser volume, but it's still annoying to have to type Alaska and Hawaii individually.
Yeah, in this version the quiz maker is basically screwing with us! I got to the point I could get the lower 48 and decided that was good enough for me.
9 states - Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, Idaho, Arizona, Maine, Delaware - will get you 44 states. The other 6 are Rhode Island, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Alaska, and Hawaii.
I don't know if this helps anyone, but the states with the most borders are Tennessee (8), Missouri (8), Colorado (7), and Kentucky (7). Of course, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky all border each other, so you can only use one of them because that will fill in the others :(
It might be hard, but I did: Massachusetts, Minnesota, Kentucky, Texas, California, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Alabama, the Carolinas, Alaska, Hawaii, and that just leaves you with Maine. I did it with six seconds to spare after a few tries.
You can't do it with 11. You will have missed off one of the following states: Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maine, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Arizona.
Colorado, Tennessee, South Dakota, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Michigan. Illinois, New York, Florida, Any Carolina (For Some reason), maine, Rhode island, Maryland
at last ! I tried it different ways, but the best one I got with 6seconds to spare was with 13 states : Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, ÖLouisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York and Ohio. But I'm sure there are better ways. Not too bad for a French guy :-)
Nobody has yet claimed theirs to be absolutely the best way. I have an absolute proof that you need at least 12, and have found a way of doing it with 12. buster731 claimed 11 but that must have been a mistake.
QM, any reason why on your countries quiz, if I type (say) France, the countries around it will go green, but if i then type Spain, which borders france, it is accepted, whereas on here if I type a state that borders another that I have already typed it isn't?
Quite frustrating, especially for us non Americans who may well know all the states names but can't instantly place them on the map.
If the state or country gives you any more than you already had it will be accepted (presumably on the other quiz you hadn't filled in Portugal and/or Morocco, so Spain was still allowed to fill them in).
For instance, if you have already typed New Hampshire Maine will not be accepted, but you can type Maine then New Hampshire, and New Hampshire will fill in Vermont and Massachusetts.
My winning formula: Idaho, Minnesota, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana, Georgia, Virginia, new jersey, new Hampshire, and Connecticut.
It's a typing skill contest! Be nice to be able to try these typing with one finger. What is the best that can be done without the timer? Can the 48 be done in less than 10?
I'm a slow typist, but got it withTennessee, Texas, South Dakota, Alaska. Hawaii, Iowa, Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, Georgia, Delaware, Maine, and Massachusetts - in that specific order. The procedural memory finally kicked in after constant repetition, and with only 1 second to spare.
Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado---- easiest to spell and only 14 you have to type, I did it with 5 seconds to spare after 5 tries with these states
I do not think that this quiz should be necessary for the 'Border Badge' as it is nothing to do with knowledge and all to do with typing. It gives professional / amateur typists an unfair advantage and is a case of using a given list of states to get through in time. This quiz should be part of the 'Typing Badge'.
Here's a tip: NEVER use New Hampshire! Never! You MUST do either New Hampshire or Maine in order to get Maine. Which one is shorter? And I highly recommend using Massachusetts. It's long, granted, but it gives you a bunch of other long ones, so it works. I tried Maine, Vermont, New York only to realize that didn't give me Rhode Island. Maine and Massachusetts is the way to go.
I finally did it....the things I do for a badge. My strategy was to get in all the States with the shortest names, it's amazing how many they give you.
Gotten up to fifteen seconds left, here's how: Ohio, Iowa, Oregon, Georgia, Alaska, Hawaii, New York, Rhode Island or Connecticut--doesn't matter, both for RI, both have eleven letters, and it doesn't count spaces--Maine, Montana. Covers all of them, uses the shortest state names available with the highest impact relative to the time it takes to type them. Wouldn't work if CO and AZ weren't considered touching tho.
Very hard quiz. I had to find a strategy to get to complete it in 30 seconds. Here is how: Oregon, Colorado, Louisiana, South Dakota, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Georgia, Delaware, Louisiana, Alaska, Hawaii, Wisconsin.
you could at least make it 35 seconds long
just to correct the eventual typos in writing
Massachusetts I always write Massachussetts it sounds more logical but it's incorrect I know. and I have to correct it, wasting 2 seconds of time
35 seconds is not that much but at least you make it possible
There is definitely a better solution but this is what I found: Iowa (4) NewYork (7) Maine (5) RhodeIsland (11) Maryland (8) Kentucky (8) Georgia (7) Ohio(4) Arkansas (7) Utah(4) Oregon(6) Montana (7) Kansas (6) Alaska (6) Hawaii (6) Total: 96 characters
That's an interesting take on a timed typing quiz: the fewest keystrokes. All of the other "most efficient" solutions are focused on the fewest states. Very creative yet straightforward! You must be a programmer.
now here is my solution: Alaska Arkansas Nevada Colorado Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Ohio Iowa Kentucky Maine Vermont Montana. Made it with 1 second left
It seems that the fewest states needed to cover the continent (not counting Alaska and Hawaii) is 10, and the solution is not unique. ie. Maine and Massachusetts will do the same as New Hampshire and Connecticut. But must every solution of 10 contain all of the following: Oregon, Colorado, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Georgia?