Monday, February 23, 2026

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

View in browser »
This Week's Puzzler

The Teacher's Car

Time for the new puzzler. 

This puzzler is barely automotive. Here it is.

A woman and her husband decide to go shopping one Saturday for a used car.

So they go to the neighborhood used car dealer, and a young man is showing them around the parking lot.

He's showing them various cars, and they don't seem to be really excited about any one of them.

And finally, he says, "Oh, how can I have forgotten this? I have just the car for you, I know you're going to love it."

And he takes them over to this late model Japanese car. And he says, "You're not going to believe this. But this car belonged to my fourth grade teacher, Miss Johnson, and it's a wonderful car, she treated it very well. Had all the service done here. And interestingly, she never left town with the car. All she ever did with the car was she drove from home to school and back. And on Sundays, she went to church and never used the car on Saturdays."

And they look over the car and it looks magnificent. And so the woman asks the obvious question, "Why did Miss Johnson sell the car?"

And he says, "Well, you know, as luck would have it, she was called out of town on very short notice to care for a sick relative in the Midwest someplace, so she came in here last week and sold us the car. And of course, it's your good fortune that it's here, because this is a wonderful car."

So the woman gets in behind the wheel and starts up the engine and it sounds fine. And the husband sits in the passenger seat, and they fiddle with the controls on the dashboard, tthey try the wipers, blow the horn, look around the car, and the husband says, "Geez, hon, I think we ought to get it, and it's such a cute color, too."

And the woman turns off the car, turns to her husband and says, "I don't think so. He is lying to us."

And the question is, how did she know that?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

What Happened

Here it is. This one is short, so pay attention.

Many years ago, I was driving my Ford Aerostar down the road in Arlington, Texas, in June when all of a sudden I heard a muffled bang that was immediately followed by the motor dying.

I pulled off to the side of the road and popped the hood and looked to see what had happened.

Once I saw what had happened, I thought this was going to cost a lot to have fixed.

I closed the hood, got back in the van, started the engine, and drove off.

So it was a muffled bang from under the hood. I looked at it and said it would cost a lot to fix it. Then started the engine up and drove away.

The puzzler quesiton is, what happened?
Find out here »
Congratulations to this week's
puzzler winner:

Jupiter Dougie

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
Add to address book Unsubscribe from list
Email preferences Shameless Commerce
Care of WBUR, 890 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Contents © 2026, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.
powered by emma

Friday, February 20, 2026

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

View in browser »
This Week's Puzzler

What Happened

Puzzler time.

Here it is. This one is short, so pay attention.

Many years ago, I was driving my Ford Aerostar down the road in Arlington, Texas, in June when all of a sudden I heard a muffled bang that was immediately followed by the motor dying.

I pulled off to the side of the road and popped the hood and looked to see what had happened.

Once I saw what had happened, I thought this was going to cost a lot to have fixed.

I closed the hood, got back in the van, started the engine, and drove off.

So it was a muffled bang from under the hood. I looked at it and said it would cost a lot to fix it. Then started the engine up and drove away.

The puzzler quesiton is, what happened?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

The One Winner


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? 

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

 chadtlower

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
Add to address book Unsubscribe from list
Email preferences Shameless Commerce
Care of WBUR, 890 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Contents © 2026, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.
powered by emma