Fishing for a Ride

Puzzler time.

Here we go.

A young boy gets a bunch of money for his birthday. So he decides to go downtown by himself to buy a brand new fishing rod.

So, he grabs his money and takes the bus downtown. He goes to the sporting goods store and picks out a brand new fishing rod.

A while later, he is standing at the bus stop, waiting to catch a ride back home.

Bus comes, he goes to get on, and the bus driver says, "Whoa, there, sonny. Where are you going with that thing?"

And the boy says, "Pardon me? I'm going to go home."

Bus driver says, "Not on this bus. The fishing rod is taller than you. Looks to be pretty close to five feet. Don't you know, there's a city ordinance you can't carry anything on the bus if it's longer than four feet?"

The boy says, "I didn't know that. But I have to take the bus home. I have no other way to get there."

The driver says, "Nope." Throws him off the bus.

The kid goes back to the sporting goods store and tries to return the fishing rod. They say no. No returns on fishing rods.

So the kid thinks about it for a moment. Then he goes back into the store and he asks for something specific.

Five minutes later, he's riding the bus home with his fishing rod.

Now, he didn't ask for a saw, or a string to bend the fishing rod. He didn't alter or change the fishing rod in any way. Yet, he legally rode the bus home with the fishing rod. And he didn't hang it out the window either. And he didn't tape it to the side of the bus either. He got on the bus, with the fishing rod, legally.

And the puzzler question is, how did he do it?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

More Numbers

Puzzler time. This is all about numbers.

Here we go.

If you take any 3 digit number, and repeat it...

So, take the number 247. Then repeat it, so 247,247.

Then you take that big number, 247,247 and divide it by 7.

Once you divide it by 7, you'll have a quotient. If you have a remainder, put it off to the side.

Then you take that quotient and divide by 11.

You get another quotient, put the remainder off to the side.

Then you take that quotient and divide by 13.

Okay, now you take that final quotient that you got and add the remainders that you set aside.

And when you do that, you will end up with the original 3 digit number that you started with.

This works with any 3 digit number.

And the puzzler question is, why does this work?