Ask No Questions

It is time for a new, interesting puzzler. Here we go.

The biggest problem I had with this puzzler was coming up with the names of the participants. It is a husband and wife, driving along in a car. We will call them Fred and Gertrude. I like those names.

Anyway, Fred always drives too fast. And on this particular day, Fred and Gertie are in the car and he is driving way too fast. He realizes on this particular day that he is about to run out of gas. So, he decides to pull over on the side of the highway. He pulls over into the far right lane, and he realizes that he went past the exit for the gas station about half a mile ago. He decides to run back to the exit to get gas. He tells his wife Gertie, "Hey, lock the doors and don't let anyone in. I'll be back in a flash. Lock the doors and don't let anyone in, no matter what."

Here's this puzzler:

He goes off down the road. Sometime later, he comes back with a few gallons of gasoline. And as he approaches the car, he sees a police car approaching with flashing lights on the other side. He and the police are approaching simultaneously. Both Fred and the police look into the car. It is still locked. Gertie is inside, unconscious. Possibly near death's door. And there is a stranger in the car. The husband opens the door, because he has the key, of course. And the policeman sees Gertie and the stranger.

But he asks no questions as to what has happened to Gertie.

Here are the puzzler questions. How did the stranger get into the car, Gertie did not open the door, and it was locked on all sides, windows were rolled up, vents closed and the sunroof shut tight.

So, what happened to Gertie? Why was she unconscious?

Who was the stranger? How did the stranger get in?

Good luck with this one!

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

Charming Balloon

Now it's time for our charming new puzzler. For lack of a better word, I guess I can call it charming, but you all be the judge.

Here it is.

You have a balloon that is filled with air. Like a balloon, you'd get at the circus. You tie the knot with a string at the end, and you also tie a weight to the string. The purpose of the weight is because you're going to place the balloon in water, like a swimming pool, such that the weight will keep the balloon's top just even with the top of the water as we describe in geometry, tangential to the surface.

The entire balloon is submerged in the water, except for the very top. All right, and the weight is keeping the balloon from rising beyond the surface of the water. We can all imagine this would work right? Balloons want to float. If the weight were not there, or if you came by with your scissors and snipped the string, it would pop right up.

For the sake of this puzzler, you don't have to know what the amount of the weight is. The weight of weight could be anything. It doesn't matter, for the sake of this puzzler.

Okay now, you take your hand and push down on the balloon. You push it down all the way into the water, one foot down. So, when you push the balloon down one foot and of course, it will go down nice and smoothly as you push it down.

And then, when you take your hand away, what happens?

What happens and why?