Across
- 1. Named after the Colorado River, which in Spanish means "colored red," referring to the river's muddy waters.
- 5. Derived from the Caddo word "taysha," meaning "friends" or "allies."
- 6. Named after a fictional island in a 16th-century Spanish novel, "Las Sergas de Esplandián," by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.
- 9. Derived from the Spanish word "montaña," meaning "mountain."
- 11. Named after King Louis XIV of France by the explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, when he claimed the territory for France.
- 12. Named after the largest island in the state, likely derived from the Polynesian word "Hawaiki," which is believed to be the traditional homeland of the Polynesian people.
Down
- 2. The origin is uncertain, but it may have been derived from the French word "ouragan," meaning "hurricane," or from the Spanish word "orejón," meaning "big-eared."
- 3. Named after Lake Michigan, which is derived from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) word "mishigami," meaning "large lake."
- 4. Derived from the Spanish name "Arizonac," which was used in a silver mine in Mexico. It's believed to come from the Basque phrase "haritz ona," meaning "good oak."
- 7. Derived from the Aleut word "alaxsxaq," meaning "the mainland" or "object toward which the action of the sea is directed."
- 8. Named by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in reference to the Easter season, "Pascua Florida" meaning "Flowery Easter."
- 10. York: Named after the Duke of York (later King James II of England) by the English, who captured it from the Dutch.