We love a good brain teaser, and this one is a real thinker. It could be solved by guessing or by methodically ruling out possibilities. Either way, the answer might surprise you.

The question is, what letter in the alphabet is the only letter that’s not in the name of any U.S. state? There is only one letter that is not used in the name of a state. Can you figure out which one?

It’s easy to rule out many commonly used letters, like all of the vowels and commonly used consonants like “s.” It’s also probably easy for you to rule out the letters in the state where you live.

After ruling out letters, it can become tedious going through the alphabet letter by letter trying to figure out which letter isn’t in the name of any state. At this point, you might be tempted to guess. Go ahead. Guess.

We’ll wait.

Did you guess?

Perhaps your guess was the letter “z.” That was my guess. I couldn’t think of any state that included the letter “z,” but I was wrong. There is a “z” in Arizona. While I was wrong, I was also close because Arizona is the only state that includes the letter “z” in its name.

Perhaps you guessed the letter “j.” At first it’s hard to think of a state that includes “j,” but again, that is not the right answer. Don’t forget about the state New Jersey. Again, if “j” was your guess, you were close because only one state includes the letter “j.”

Did you guess the letter “x”? “X” is not a very commonly used letter, so it makes sense to guess that “x” is not in any state, but again, you would be wrong. There is an “x” in Texas and New Mexico.

Are you ready for the answer, or do you have more guesses? Feel free to continue trying to figure out the correct answer before scrolling down.

Drum roll please….

The only letter in the alphabet that is not used in the name of any state is…

The letter “q.”

At this point you might be feeling like you should have thought of that (and maybe you did). “Q” is another letter that is not used very often, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t be used in the name of a state.

Did you guess correctly? If not, what was your guess? Was this harder to figure out than you thought it would be?