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Alphabetical Firsts

Fiendishly difficult. In each category, name the thing that comes first alphabetically.
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 4, 2023
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First submittedJanuary 4, 2014
Times taken56,873
Average score60.0%
Rating4.31
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Category
Answer
Animals
Aardvark
Traditional English-language
male names
Aaron
Countries
Afghanistan
U.S. state capitals
Albany
Books of the Bible
Acts
U.S. states
Alabama
Colors of the rainbow
Blue
Days of the week
Friday
Greek letters
Alpha
Musical instruments
Accordion
Category
Answer
Noble gases
Argon
Planets in the Solar System
Earth
Last names of U.S. Presidents
Adams
Monarchs of England (1066–)
Anne
Three letter body parts
Arm
Original Beatles albums
Abbey Road
National capitals
Abu Dhabi
Santa's reindeer
Blitzen
The Seven Dwarfs
Bashful
Signs of the Zodiac
Aquarius
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56 Comments
chuck
+7
Level 20
Feb 10, 2014
Interesting quiz
nycbarb
+2
Level 43
Feb 10, 2014
Did a bit better than average, but not great. Thanks for the fun quiz!
communisteggplant
+6
Level 74
Feb 10, 2014
I kept thinking Abidjian was the capital of Cote d'Ivoire and was trying to think of capitals that began with Aba or Abe...
tschutzer
+2
Level 93
Feb 10, 2014
I got hung up on that one as well.
buck1017
+2
Level 78
Feb 10, 2014
kept trying Addis Ababa or whatever it is. Thought i was spelling it wrong but then Abu Dhabi dawned on me.
Kahikatea
+3
Level 74
May 1, 2019
I think it was for a long time, before it got replaced by Yamoussoukro
NicSal14
+1
Level 62
Feb 10, 2014
What about Armistice Day?
samiamco
+1
Level 68
Jul 9, 2016
I believe the definition of "public holidays" is bank/government closing days.
ddddan
+2
Level 85
Oct 29, 2016
Otherwise Arbor Day
Baltimorean
+4
Level 66
Oct 29, 2016
Armistice Day is officially Veterans Day in the States and has been known as such since 1954.
Coyuznik
+1
Level 85
Feb 23, 2014
Had to give up. I got all but accordion.
Pitocino
+2
Level 23
Mar 17, 2015
Beatles first album is "A Hard Day's Night", just sayin'....
ander217
+1
Level 73
Mar 19, 2015
That was my first answer, too.
Goomaster7
+15
Level 68
Nov 5, 2015
Which would be great, if Abbey Road didn't exist.
Dollyfroggy
+4
Level 63
Apr 13, 2023
Although some people would argue a space comes before B in the alphabet.
RobNobody
+2
Level 80
Aug 21, 2025
And all people who catalogue things by title would argue that "A Hard Day's Night" goes under H.
Koopa
+1
Level 88
Aug 21, 2025
Tell that to the creator of those A-Z musical artists quizzes. Those have to be a cataloguer's nightmare.
tom88
+7
Level 77
Feb 26, 2020
generally speaking when alphabetizing, you would ignore the first word if it is something like "a", "an" or "the"
elliemae
+3
Level 34
Sep 25, 2016
Ahard Day's Night would come after Abbey Road but A Hard Day's Night comes before Abbey Road
ddddan
+1
Level 85
Oct 29, 2016
Collation?
HectorVortac
+3
Level 47
Oct 31, 2016
Can you think of several thousand examples of ignoring "a" and "the" when alphabetizing? I can.
Freestatebear
+3
Level 88
Apr 5, 2023
On this site, it seems to be the whim of whomever is making the quiz. Take a look at "Shakespeare's Plays" - interestingly part of the History Badge. That quiz has been presented both ways, but the current version does NOT ignore "a" and "the" at the beginning of titles.
DrWhoFanJ
+1
Level 64
Apr 10, 2023
The answers lists on quizzes always account for opening articles when sorting alphabetically, as seen on this very quiz with “The Seven Dwarfs” coming after “Signs of the Zodiac”, when an article-ignoring sort would invert that.
rgc1600
+2
Level 74
Oct 29, 2016
Accordion a musical instrument? Ha.
ander217
+1
Level 73
Oct 29, 2016
First I mentally went through all the sections of high school band, then I went through all the sections of the orchestra, and finally decided it must be some obscure percussion instrument - would never have guessed accordion. Nice quiz.
JBlouw1850
+1
Level 43
Oct 31, 2016
Me too. Thought "baritone" seeing as that's what I played in high school band and it comes before "bassoon". (For those who don't know what a baritone is, it's basically a mini tuba that is sometimes annoyingly referred to as the same thing as the euphonium. Actually not sure which one I played in high school unfortunately. Also a singing range.)
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Feb 26, 2020
I tried bongo, banjo, bass(guitar), then figured it must be something starting with "a" but couldnt think of any. Alpenhorn or something might have crossed my mind though.
anjrea
+1
Level 41
Aug 22, 2025
what about bagpipes

thats what i though of

AlexThirkell
+5
Level 74
Aug 30, 2020
I couldn't get things like 'arp, 'armonica, 'arpsichord out of my mind. I'm not even a cockney :(
HollowYT
+1
Level 51
Dec 3, 2021
For some reason, the only time I remembered seeing an accordion was when Mickey Mouse played it on one episode.
martay
+2
Level 69
Apr 5, 2023
The accordion is not on my list of favorite instruments, but the bagpipe is by far the instrument I absolutely loathe the most. I hate it more every time I hear it.
ddddan
+1
Level 85
Sep 14, 2023
I did also try Alphorn and Autoharp - thankfully it was neither of those
clivey
+3
Level 69
Oct 31, 2016
Would you accept Aaran as well as Aaron... I know plenty who spell it that way here in the UK & Ireland.

Unless you've a specific list on a source somewhere.

chondrichthyess
+14
Level 60
Nov 9, 2017
I couldn't for the life of me figure out what comes before Abuja
InterAlia
+4
Level 83
Apr 10, 2023
Same. Only one I missed. Even tried Abidjan
emersonriley94
+6
Level 54
Jun 29, 2018
I got so close with Abuja
TurkeyCookTime
+4
Level 85
Nov 15, 2019
Abuja and Aries are really close behind
smoceany
+4
Level 51
Jun 9, 2021
what about accordina for instruments, its an instrument from italy distinct from accordion in all but name and being wind instruments
overtired
+9
Level 88
Apr 4, 2023
I raise you the abu. A wind instrument made of gourds used by the Luo of Kenya.
partdavid
+1
Level 74
Aug 21, 2025
I knew somewhere there'd be a counterexample, there's just are and have been so many musical instruments. Several nice ones in this thread.
tnerolF
+3
Level 68
Apr 5, 2023
thanks Key & Peele for helping me with an answer
vermiciousknid
+3
Level 91
Apr 5, 2023
Nice quiz. For body part all I could think of was "abs". I know it's technically an abbreviation but I thought it was common enough to work. The accepted answer somehow didn't occur to me.
QuizApe
+9
Level 72
Apr 10, 2023
An abeng is a musical instrument
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Apr 12, 2023
Just missed Acts and Abu Dhabi
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 67
Apr 12, 2023
The only two I missed were USA State Capital and Book of the Bible, which I imagine is a very common combination to miss.

This was a lot of fun! Accordion is a very satisfying answer.

DannySkins
+2
Level 62
Apr 12, 2023
Doesn't "A Hard Days Night" come before Abbey Road? I may not understand alphabetical order.
RobNobody
+3
Level 80
Aug 21, 2025
When alphabetizing titles, leading articles ("a," "an," and "the") are ignored, because a disproportionate number of titles start with them. If they were included, you'd end up with way, way more titles under A and T than anywhere else, and you'd end up just having to go by the second word anyway.
Dollyfroggy
+5
Level 63
Apr 13, 2023
A lot of instruments that would beat the current answer are above... I think that category might be a bit too broad.
malachite
+1
Level 76
Jun 11, 2023
I am glad you said so because this confused me a bit, too.
EconomicSnake
+2
Level 73
Oct 28, 2023
Yeah agreed. Just from a couple of minutes of research on Wikipedia: the Aburukawa (a Ghanian drum) and the Aarbajo (a Nepalese lute) in addition to what others have said.
migcinbc
+1
Level 49
Feb 21, 2024
Aries shouldn't be first than Aquarius? or I'm missing something here?
StarWarsLover
+4
Level 58
Feb 5, 2025
Q comes before R... Pretty sure you're just missing something.
ooftownroad
+1
Level 70
Aug 21, 2025
plenty of instruments come before accordion
Dimby
+1
Level 83
Aug 21, 2025
List of things that cause arguments in JetPunk comment sections: Cyprus, continents, rhyming, vowels, alphabetization methodology, inclusion of pop culture, American content, and, to a lesser extent, politics.
plainmary
+2
Level 71
Aug 21, 2025
Maybe "Western" musical instruments?
Kawada01
+2
Level 65
Aug 21, 2025
Abeng and accordina are examples of instruments that come before 'accordion' alphabetically.
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