Time Zones Quiz

Fifteen prompts on which zone each state keeps. This is the geography skill that actually gets used, for scheduling calls, catching flights and working out kickoff times, and a round runs about two minutes. The zone boundary does not follow the neat vertical line most people picture, which is where the difficulty comes from.

How to play

Press Start. Each round names a state and shows four time zones. Click the zone that state keeps (its main zone, where the state is split). A right answer scores a point, a wrong answer costs one of your three hearts and reveals the correct choice before moving on. Lose three hearts and the game ends early, otherwise you play all fifteen.

Nine or more correct out of fifteen is two stars, fourteen or fifteen is three, five or more is one. Best score and streak are stored in your browser.

The six zones and how they split

Every state is assigned its main zone here. Eastern is by far the largest group, and its western edge is the single biggest source of errors.

The five things that catch people

Eastern reaches deep into the Midwest. Michigan and Indiana are both mainly Eastern, even though they sit right next to Central time's Illinois and Wisconsin. Chicago is an hour behind Detroit even though Detroit is only a few hundred miles away and both are Great Lakes cities.

The Deep South is mostly Central. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas all keep Central time, while Georgia and Florida keep Eastern. The line runs down the Alabama and Georgia border, not down the coast.

Pacific is only four states. California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. For any other state, Pacific is the first answer to rule out.

Arizona does not change its clocks. It sits in Mountain time but skips daylight saving, so for most of the year it matches California rather than Colorado. Hawaii also stays fixed all year.

Several states are genuinely split. The quiz uses each state's main zone, but on the ground the western part of the Florida panhandle runs on Central while the rest of Florida, Tallahassee included, runs on Eastern. Tennessee and Kentucky each straddle the Eastern and Central boundary: the quiz counts Tennessee as Central, where Nashville and Memphis are, and Kentucky as Eastern, where Louisville and Lexington are. Idaho's northern panhandle keeps Pacific while southern Idaho keeps Mountain. Western Texas around El Paso keeps Mountain while the rest of the state keeps Central.

Full breakdown and next games

Every state, its zone, and where the internal boundaries fall is written up in states by time zone. When you can call the zones cold, try these: