Monday, February 16, 2026

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

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This Week's Puzzler

The One Winner

New puzzler time.

Here it is. 

A local mechanic named Vinny, being renowned for his prowess in arm wrestling, asked to set up a tournament at the local watering hole, where he goes every night.

It's going to be a single elimination tournament. Meaning once you lose, you're out, no ties allowed. This is arm wrestling. You can't have a tie in arm wrestling. 

To his horror, 247 people have signed up for this tournament, and the barkeeper wants to know how many bouts have to be fought.

Figuring the bout takes like five minutes, he wants to know what time he should start the event, so that they can finish before closing time.

So Vinny is all upset. He has to figure this out now. He has to set up a branching tree, but he can't count so well... 

Fortunately, there's a little guy sitting next to Vinny at the bar, and the guy says, "I know the answer. There is a simple reasoning process which will allow you to instantly know how many bouts have to be fought."

And the puzzler question is, if there are 247 people that signed up, how many bouts will there have to be in order to determine one winner? 

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

Broken Office Clocks

Puzzler time. 

This one is based on an old friend. 

Here it is.

Back in the day, we have a friend, Tommy and I, who shall remain nameless, who works in a government facility and does very, very important work.

And one day, he's at his desk working away, reading some very technical manual when he is startled by the sound of his stomach growling.

He turns in his seat and looks at the electric clock on the wall behind him. It was one of those old clocks that's been there for like 1000 years, plugs into the wall. It is analog, if you can believe it. A big round clock on the wall with a white face and black hour and minute hands telling the time. 

He looks at that old clock to see what time it is. He thinks to himself, "It's obviously too early to eat lunch. I must have forgotten to eat breakfast."

He goes back to work. A short time later, he is again startled by the growling in his stomach. 

He looks at the clock another time, and he notices that, first of all, says a time later than what it did the first time he looked at it. 

The second hand is sweeping. The hour hand has moved from where it was the last time he looked at it, and the minute hand is in a different position. 

And as he turns back to his desk again, thinking that he must have forgotten to eat breakfast and he doesn't know how he's going to make it to lunchtime, his stomach growls a third time.

And he says the clock is broken, and yet, everything seemed to be working.

But somehow, he knows the clock is broken.

Here is a hint, the two hands are exactly 180 degrees apart, like they would be at six o'clock. 

How does he know the clock is broken?

Find out here »
Congratulations to this week's
puzzler winner:

 Stuart Campos

Congratulations! This correct answer was chosen at random by our Web Lackeys.
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Friday, February 13, 2026

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

View in browser »
This Week's Puzzler

Broken Office Clocks

Puzzler time. 

This one is based on an old friend. 

Here it is.

Back in the day, we have a friend, Tommy and I, who shall remain nameless, who works in a government facility and does very, very important work.

And one day, he's at his desk working away, reading some very technical manual when he is startled by the sound of his stomach growling.

He turns in his seat and looks at the electric clock on the wall behind him. It was one of those old clocks that's been there for like 1000 years, plugs into the wall. It is analog, if you can believe it. A big round clock on the wall with a white face and black hour and minute hands telling the time. 

He looks at that old clock to see what time it is. He thinks to himself, "It's obviously too early to eat lunch. I must have forgotten to eat breakfast."

He goes back to work. A short time later, he is again startled by the growling in his stomach. 

He looks at the clock another time, and he notices that, first of all, says a time later than what it did the first time he looked at it. 

The second hand is sweeping. The hour hand has moved from where it was the last time he looked at it, and the minute hand is in a different position. 

And as he turns back to his desk again, thinking that he must have forgotten to eat breakfast and he doesn't know how he's going to make it to lunchtime, his stomach growls a third time.

And he says the clock is broken, and yet, everything seemed to be working.

But somehow, he knows the clock is broken.

Here is a hint, the two hands are exactly 180 degrees apart, like they would be at six o'clock. 

How does he know the clock is broken?

Good luck. 

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

Two Gallons Exactly

This one is very old. A classic. 

Here it is. 

You've been invited to go on a camping trip in the woods with 25 or 30 of your closest buddies. You've rented a cabin in the woods for this. 

So you all get into your cars and drive to this cabin in the woods. 

The next morning, everyone gets up, and it's decided that the host is going to make homemade pancakes for everyone. But he needs to add two gallons of water to the recipe to make it work. Exactly two gallons of water.

So you are sent to the well to fetch two gallons of water with no measuring device. It must be exactly two gallons. 

You get to the well and you discover there are two jugs there. One says 13 gallons and the other says 7 gallons.

So, they need 2 gallons of water. And you have no measuring device. All you have is a 13 gallon jug and a 7 gallon jug. 

And you can only make one trip from the well. 

How do you do it?

Find out here »
Congratulations to this week's
puzzler winner:

gesmith

Congratulations! This correct answer was chosen at random by our Web Lackeys.
Facebook Twitter Instagram website@cartalk.com
Cartalk.com Community
This Week's Show Podcast
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Care of WBUR, 890 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Contents © 2026, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.
powered by emma