Guess the presidential election from 45 states, west to east.
The only category whose bands are places rather than moments. Every election since 1900 is drawn across the same 45 states, the ones that voted in every one of them, so the strip is always the same length.
The modern map draws itself: blue coasts and a red interior. Go back far enough and it flips — a solid blue South and a red Northeast. Dating a strip to its era is the whole game.
What one band is. One band is one state, running from Oregon in the west to Maine in the east, with each region kept together. Red is a Republican win, blue a Democratic one, and the deeper the colour the bigger the margin.
- 32elections
- 45bands in this example
- $0.99one-time unlock
What it looks like
A real Elections strip.
Drawn by the app’s own code, in its own colours. The four answers — and whether you are right — are in the app.
Elections
One presidential election, state by state, west to east.
- Republican
- Close
- Democratic
Can you name it? 45 bands, four answers — in the app.
Name it in the appFree daily · $0.99 to unlockHow to read it
Three things to look for.
You do not need to remember the data. You need to know what kind of shape the thing you are thinking of would make.
- Find the South.The South's block is the single most legible thing in the strip. Solid blue means before about 1964.
- Look for a landslide.A strip that is nearly all one colour is 1936, 1964, 1972 or 1984.
- Lavender is a close state.A pale lavender band is a state decided by a whisker — or, three times since 1900, one neither major party carried.
Elections is a $0.99 one-time unlock — or part of the $9.99 unlock that includes every category, now and later. It also turns up in the free daily puzzle.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhoneElections questions
Is Elections free?
Elections turns up in the free daily puzzle. To play all of it, unlock it once for $0.99, or unlock every category — including ones added later — for $9.99. Neither is a subscription.
Which elections are included?
All 32 US presidential elections from 1900 to 2024.
Why only 45 states?
Those are the states that voted in every election since 1900. Including later states would change the strip's length by era and give the answer away.
Where is the data from?
Wikipedia's state-by-state results tables, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, checked against history before they are included.
Source: Election results from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Play every Elections strip in the app.
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