xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

In this comic, each state of the United States of America has been filled-in with an object of similar shape. Several years later Randall made a new map of the US mainland 1653: United States Map, where he shuffled the positions of the states but filled out the outline. Also in this map Michigan has been split into two separate parts. (Here it is the mitten and the eagle). This comic could also be a reference to Giuseppe Arcimboldo's portraits, which were composed of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, books, and fish.

Very few, if any, of the shapes used are stereotypes of the state; they are merely objects that look like the state. Some of the objects are those which the states are widely known to resemble. For example, Michigan is represented by a mitten and an eagle, and a pot with handle takes the place of Oklahoma (with the panhandle region of the state filled with a literal handle). Others, however, are more creative. Few would have likely pictured Texas as a dog or Alaska as a bear with a jet pack and laser gun. There are several incredibly simple objects filling some states. Kentucky is filled by a cloud, which conceivably could have been used for any state, and Wyoming, one of the nearly rectangular states, is simply an envelope. There are three pairs of states that are related. Georgia and Missouri each contain an image of the other, drawing attention to their similar shapes, North and South Dakota are the top and bottom halves of a guitar amplifier speaker cabinet, and Alabama and Mississippi are moai facing in opposite directions.

Colorado contains what looks like a Wikipedia article. A close-up of the fake article is provided. The following references are made in the Colorado article:

• The pronunciation is not that for Colorado, but for Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010. There is a missing close parenthesis.
• The way it has a demilitarized zone towards Wyoming resembles North Korea and South Korea.
• Eleven dimensions refers to string theory.
• A wormhole is a theoretical relative of the black hole. This is a reference to the television series Stargate SG-1 where a device capable of creating wormholes is located in the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker in Colorado.
• A Horcrux is a type of magical object in the world of Harry Potter that prevents the creator of it from passing on. They may die, but their soul remains to be resurrected by another wizard
• The radiation zones around Longmont are caused by radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant.
• The fake motto Si parare possis, vivere septem can be roughly translated as "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

New Mexico, according to official transcript, is "A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger". The labeling is upside down and it refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb. The joke is that it presents the white sand itself as extremely hazardous. The phrase "contains chemicals known only to the state of Nevada" may be a reference to the nuclear weapons testing that occurred in Nevada (although in that case, it is not really the state of Nevada that knows those chemicals, but rather the Nevada Test Site, home of Area 51 et al), and is also a reference to California's Proposition 65 warning label, "WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm."

The title text makes fun of Florida which is sometimes called "The penis of America". Obviously, this penis is somewhat flaccid (not erect). The use of the word "state" is a pun, as it means some particular condition (flaccid state) as well as a political entity (The State of Florida).

Objects

State	Image	Description	Explanation
Alabama		A moai head facing east.	Moai are Easter Island stone statues.
Alaska		A bear with a jet pack and a ray gun.	The ray gun and jet pack are fixtures of science fiction during the Cold War era, and the Russian Bear is an often-used personification of the country Russia/USSR in political cartoonage; the "teddy bear" image may be related to Alaska's former Russian heritage. The USA acquired Alaska from Russia in the Alaska Purchase of 1867 and it became a state in 1959, during the Cold War. The Cold War often featured baseless worries of a potential Russian invasion of Alaska due to their geographical proximity across the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, which persisted through the 1980s; Alaska was the location of a large number of interceptor missiles as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative" intended to shoot down missiles that might be launched from the USSR. The ray gun is pointed across the Bering Strait at Russia, consistent with Alaska's often being described as the "first line of defense" against Russian aggression. The teddy bear is similar in appearance to Winnie the Pooh.
Arizona		A refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries.	There is likely no relation, although it is possible that it is a reference to Arizona's extreme heat waves, of which it is well-known for.
Arkansas		A measuring cup.	As the text is illegible, it is unclear if the cup is graduated for imperial units (fractions of a cup) and metric units (milliliters) or both.
California		A vacuum cleaner.	An old-fashioned upright vacuum cleaner (lying down on its right side), green with a yellow bag.
Colorado		The Wikipedia article on Colorado.	See the Transcript section to read the text in the fake article. The pronunciation of "Colorado" given by Randall [ˈeːijaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is the phonetic writing of Eyjafjallajökull, and Icelandic volcano that caused disruptions to air travel in Western Europe between March and June of 2010. An analogy pronunciation guide, it would be something as "a [as in the letter]-ya-fiat-la-JOE-cutl. The Demilitarized Zone is the official name of the border between North Korea and South Korea. It is impossible for the state to have always existed, as that would require the existence of the United States, which was only founded in 1776. The Motto may be a reference to the very harsh conditions located on especially tall mountains, as the Rocky Mountains run directly through the state. Alternatively, danger may have been introduced via the 'erratic' wildlife and the presence of a wormhole within the state, which would make Colorado nearly uninhabitable.
Connecticut		A train conductor's hat.	Connecticut is known for its extensive rail system and its many residents who build Model train systems.
Delaware		A meerkat.	There is no obvious relationship between Delaware and meerkats. Meerkats have appeared in xkcd before, notably in 115: Meerkat.
Florida		An eggplant.	The title text mentions the eggplant being in a flaccid state, which might be a reference to the sexual use of the eggplant emoji. The eggplant may reference the Florida Man meme, which commonly involves undressed males doing unusual things.
Georgia		Missouri.	The outline of the state of Missouri, with the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. This is paired with Missouri, which contains an outline of the state of Georgia.
Hawaii		The island of Hawaii is a snowball. The smaller islands are small bits of snow.	This may be an ironic reference to the fact that Hawaii is located near the equator and generally receives temperatures far too high to create snow.
Idaho		A garden gnome, sitting down.	While there is no obvious relation between Idaho and garden gnomes, it is possible that the gnome is a reference to the Gnome Mine, a mine in Idaho that produced a lot of gold in the 1900s.
Illinois		A gangster with a guitar case, upside down.	In fiction it is common to depict Prohibition-era gangsters and mobsters smuggling a Thompson submachine gun (also called a "Tommy gun" or "Chicago typewriter") in musical instrument cases.
Indiana		The brush of a paintbrush.	While there is no obvious relation between Indiana and paintbrushes, it may be referring to Indian Paintbrushes.
Iowa		A tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich.	This may be a reference to their famous Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, which is the official state sandwich.
Kansas		A spinet piano.	This may have been referencing J.W. Jenkins Music Company, which selled spinet pianos from the Elburn Piano Company.
Kentucky		A cloud.	While there are no direct relations between Kentucky and clouds, it's location and weather conditions can produce a plethora of interesting cloud formations.
Louisiana		A boot with some gum stuck to the bottom of it.	In grade schools, Louisiana is often remembered via its shape, being very similar to a boot.
Maine		A Vulcan salute.	Maine's camp sunshine has had Star Trek related events in the past, including the opportunity to appear in a film.
Maryland		A wolf howling to the moon, upside down.	Maryland used to have wolves, but they were extirpated in the mid-1800's from excessive hunting; In the present day, only coyotes and coy-wolves are present in the wild.
Massachusetts		An elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea.	Might be a reference to the Boston Tea Party, which occurred in Massachusetts, and the Republican political party. The man seems to be wearing a tricorn hat.
Michigan		A mitten for the lower portion, an eagle for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.	In grade schools, Michigan is often remembered via its shape, being very similar to a glove. People of Michigan point to their hand to represent where in the state they are from.
Minnesota		A stack of money topped with a $20 USD bill, tied together.	This could be a pun on the name of the state, as 'Moneysota.'
Mississippi		A moai head facing west.	This is a mirrored image of Alabama, referencing the fact that the two states appear symmetrical at a glance.
Missouri		Georgia.	The outline of the state of Georgia, with a pair of Georgia peaches. This is paired with Georgia, which contains an outline of the state of Missouri.
Montana		One half of a muffin, sideways.	Muffins, especially ones with huckleberries, are a common treat in Montana.
Nebraska		A blue Volkswagen Type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back.	This may be a reference to the Great Depression, where violent dust storms would sweep across the Midwest, destroying entire farms and forcing people to move west in search of jobs. During this time, many families would pack up all their belongings and move, which the VW type 2 may be modelling in this image.
Nevada		A clothes iron.	Nevada has a history of iron ore mining, so it may likely be a play on their similar names.
New Hampshire		A tall brick factory building.	There are many brick mill buildings in Manchester, the largest city in the state. During the industrial revolution, New Hampshire was a major player in the textile industry.
New Jersey		A bent-over old person. He is carrying a cane.	This may be referring to the state's growing percentage of elderly individuals. However, it could also just be a joke about the state's name being New Jersey.
New Mexico		A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger.	This may be a reference to the many nuclear tests conducted In New Mexico during the Cold War. See the Transcript section to read the labels on the container.
New York		A hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half.	The Northern states, especially around Michigan, are known for their history of auto manufacturing. New York is not particularly well known for this, but they do have some firms, many from the early 1900s.
North Carolina		A bouquet of flowers. They appear similar to dogwood.	Dogwood is known to be North Carolina's state flower since 1941. It is common in the mountains, and has small white flowers that are in loose, flat-topped clusters. Various animals eat its small, deep-blue or black fruit.
North Dakota		The top half of a guitar amplifier speaker cabinet.	Possibly a Randall RD412A angled 4x12" cabinet, which is similar in appearance and bears Randall's name.
Ohio		Underwear (Briefs).	Possibly a reference to Captain Underpants, which takes place in Ohio.
Oklahoma		A covered pot, dripping with boil-over.	Western Oklahoma is often called "the panhandle"; sure enough, this is where the boiling pot's handle fits.
Oregon		A locomotive.	Possibly a reference to the Oregon Trail.
Pennsylvania		A very thick book with a bookmark.	Could possibly represent Pennsylvania's rich history. This state witnessed important historical events such as the declaration of independence and the battle of Gettysburg.
Rhode Island		The bow half of a boat's hull.	This is relevant as the state of Rhode Island is known for its boating industry. An anchor is also located on the state flag of Rhode Island.
South Carolina		A slice of pizza.	There is no obvious correlation between pizza and South Carolina. Notably, other states like New York and Chicago have styles of pizza named after them; however, South Carolina is not known for its pizza.
South Dakota		The bottom half of guitar amplifier speaker cabinet.	Possibly a Randall RD412A angled 4x12" cabinet, which is similar in appearance and bears Randall's name.
Tennessee		A number of children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile.	Possibly a reference to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The books are Where's Waldo?, The Wreck of the Zephyr, The Way Things Work, Free Fall, Paddle-to-the-Sea, What It Feels Like to Be a Building, and The Crab with the Golden Claws.
Texas		A dog sitting in a bowl.	This may be a reference to a Texan stereotype in which many residents are dog-owners.
Utah		An oven.	This could possibly relate to Utah's official state cooking pot, which is the Dutch Oven from its history with pioneers. This could also reference to historic coke ovens, remnants of Utah's coal mining industry.
Vermont		A microscope, upside down.	There does not seem to be a clear link between Vermont and microscopes. As a stretch, this might be a reference to Vermont being fairly strong in education, especially in the 2000s and early 2010s.
Virginia		A stegosaurus.	May be referencing the Stegosaurus fossil in the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
Washington		A whale.	The Puget Sound, which is in Washington, is well known for its whale watching scene.
Washington DC		A star.	On most maps, capitals are shown as stars. Washington DC is the capital of the United States.
West Virginia		A frog.	May be referencing one of the 12 known frog species in West Virginia.
Wisconsin		A side profile of a skull, oriented facing toward Lake Michigan.	This could be a reference to a skull found in western Wisconsin in 2002. In August 2025, it was identified as the skull of 92-year-old Alyce Peterson.
Wyoming		The back side of a white envelope, sealed with red wax, with a black heart next to a signature (lower left corner).	There is no obvious correlation between envelopes and Wyoming, other than their shape.