The plates
Fifty states, Washington D.C. and five U.S. territories — 56 plates in the rotation, each with its own artwork, palette and typography. A different one turns up every day.
About the artwork
Every plate here is original artwork drawn in code — layered SVG scenes built from a library of about thirty motifs: mountain ranges, ocean horizons, mesas, city skylines, evergreens, palms, wheat, corn, lighthouses, sailboats, hot-air balloons, geysers, auroras and more. Nothing is traced from or copied out of any real license plate.
That's a deliberate constraint rather than an aesthetic one. Actual state plate designs are government property, and several states actively license their imagery. So each plate here evokes a region — its landscape, its light, its palette — without reproducing any state's official design, seal, or slogan lockup. Where a state's real plate is famous for a specific image, we deliberately went elsewhere: Wyoming gets a geyser rather than its trademarked bucking horse, New Mexico gets balloons rather than the protected Zia sun symbol, South Dakota gets the Black Hills without the carved faces.
Which plate appears on a given day is fixed in advance and identical for every player in the world, but it has nothing to do with the day's letters — the state is the wrapping, the letters are the puzzle. Seeing Montana twice in a month doesn't mean you'll see the same word list twice.
All 56 plates
ALABAMA · AL
"Heart of Dixie"
Rolling clay-toned hills with camellia blooms — the state flower — over a warm Gulf-coast palette.
ALASKA · AK
"The Last Frontier"
The only night plate in the game: stars, an aurora ribbon, and snow-capped peaks in cold blue.
ARIZONA · AZ
"Grand Canyon State"
Layered mesa buttes under a low sun, with saguaro cactus at both edges and a sunset gradient.
ARKANSAS · AR
"The Natural State"
Pine ridges over green hills, with a cut diamond nodding to Crater of Diamonds — the only public diamond mine in the country.
CALIFORNIA · CA
"Golden State"
Palms flanking an ocean horizon with a high sun. The only plate using a script face for the state name.
COLORADO · CO
"Colorful"
The original plate: layered green mountains with snowcaps and evergreens at the margins.
CONNECTICUT · CT
"Constitution State"
A maple in autumn red over misty blue-grey hills — New England in October.
DELAWARE · DE
"The First State"
Navy and gold, the state's colors, with sailboats on the Delaware Bay under a star field.
FLORIDA · FL
"Sunshine State"
Sun low over turquoise water, palms leaning in from the left, warm sand tones throughout.
GEORGIA · GA
"Peach State"
Peaches on rolling orchard hills in a soft blush palette.
HAWAII · HI
"Aloha State"
A sunset gradient from gold to rose, ocean waves, palms, and a hibiscus bloom.
IDAHO · ID
"Gem State"
Snowcapped peaks with a cut gem at center — the Gem State, in cool alpine blue.
ILLINOIS · IL
"Prairie State"
A city skyline silhouette under low clouds, in slate and prairie grey.
INDIANA · IN
"Crossroads of America"
Corn stalks either side of a low sun over flat farmland in wheat gold.
IOWA · IA
"Hawkeye State"
Three corn stalks across deep farmland gold — the most agricultural plate in the set.
KANSAS · KS
"Sunflower State"
Sunflowers and wheat over open plains, in the yellows the state is named for.
KENTUCKY · KY
"Bluegrass State"
A lucky horseshoe, open end up, over bluegrass hills rendered in deep green.
LOUISIANA · LA
"Bayou Country"
Bayou water under a low moon, cypress silhouettes, in dusky violet.
MAINE · ME
"Vacationland"
A lighthouse on a rocky headland with a sailboat offshore, in cold Atlantic blue.
MARYLAND · MD
"Chesapeake Country"
Chesapeake water with two sailboats, in the black-gold-red palette of the state flag.
MASSACHUSETTS · MA
"The Bay State"
Boston skyline meeting the harbor, with a single sailboat, in cream and cranberry.
MICHIGAN · MI
"Great Lakes State"
Great Lakes water with evergreens and a lighthouse — freshwater rather than ocean blue.
MINNESOTA · MN
"Land of 10,000 Lakes"
Lake water under a moon with pines at both edges. Ten thousand lakes, one of them drawn.
MISSISSIPPI · MS
"Magnolia State"
Magnolia blossoms over a slow river in warm sepia.
MISSOURI · MO
"Show-Me State"
A river bridge in silhouette over the Mississippi, in muted stone and brick.
MONTANA · MT
"Big Sky Country"
Big sky: high clouds over snowcapped mountains, with more empty sky than any other plate.
NEBRASKA · NE
"Cornhusker State"
Cornfields under a low sun in harvest amber and red.
NEVADA · NV
"Silver State"
The second night plate: stars, a moon, desert mesas and a cactus in silver-grey.
NEW HAMPSHIRE · NH
"Granite State"
Granite peaks with evergreens, in cool green and stone.
NEW JERSEY · NJ
"The Garden State"
Garden State: orchard hills with wildflowers, in yellow and rose.
NEW MEXICO · NM
"Land of Enchantment"
Hot-air balloons drifting over red mesas under a big sun — Albuquerque in October.
NEW YORK · NY
"The Empire State"
A dense skyline in imperial blue with an amber middle letter — the only plate that recolors a letter.
NORTH CAROLINA · NC
"First in Flight"
Coastal water and open sky, with a sailboat and high clouds — First in Flight, without the plane.
NORTH DAKOTA · ND
"Peace Garden State"
Wheat over open plains in prairie greens and golds.
OHIO · OH
"Buckeye State"
A single star over rolling hills in slate and buckeye red.
OKLAHOMA · OK
"Sooner State"
Wheat stalks under a big low sun in dust-bowl amber.
OREGON · OR
"Pacific Wonderland"
The densest forest plate: five evergreens across snowcapped Cascades.
PENNSYLVANIA · PA
"Keystone State"
A keystone-country river bridge over autumn hills, in navy and gold.
RHODE ISLAND · RI
"The Ocean State"
Three sailboats on the water — the most boats on any plate, for the Ocean State.
SOUTH CAROLINA · SC
"The Palmetto State"
Palmetto palm against a night sky with a crescent moon, echoing the state flag's arrangement.
SOUTH DAKOTA · SD
"Land of Great Faces"
Granite peaks in tan and stone — the Black Hills, without carving anyone's face into them.
TENNESSEE · TN
"The Volunteer State"
Smoky Mountains under haze, with evergreens and layered ridgelines.
TEXAS · TX
"Lone Star State"
A lone star over mesa country with cactus at both edges.
UTAH · UT
"Life Elevated"
Red rock arches country: mesas in burnt orange with a cut gem and low sun.
VERMONT · VT
"Green Mountain State"
A red maple leaf over green mountains — the only plate with cream lettering on green.
VIRGINIA · VA
"Old Dominion"
Blue Ridge foothills with dogwood blossoms in soft sage.
WASHINGTON · WA
"Evergreen State"
Evergreens and snowcapped volcanic peaks under marine cloud.
WEST VIRGINIA · WV
"Mountain State"
A bridge over mountain hollows in deep forest green.
WISCONSIN · WI
"America's Dairyland"
Dairy country: corn and rolling farmland under a small sun, in barn red and cream.
WYOMING · WY
"Forever West"
A geyser erupting between snowcapped peaks — Yellowstone, in sandstone and steam white.
WASHINGTON D.C. · DC
"The Nation's Capital"
The federal skyline with a single star, in white, navy and red.
PUERTO RICO · PR
"La Isla del Encanto"
Sun over Caribbean water with palms and a hibiscus, in flag red and blue.
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS · VI
"American Paradise"
Turquoise shallows with a sailboat and palm, the brightest water in the set.
GUAM · GU
"Where America's Day Begins"
Pacific water under a high sun with palms at both edges.
AMERICAN SAMOA · AS
"Motu O Fiafiaga"
Volcanic ridges dropping into ocean, with palm and tropical bloom.
NORTHERN MARIANAS · MP
"Marianas"
Open Pacific with a sailboat and high cloud, in pale blue and white.
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