Monday, November 21, 2022

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

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This Week's Puzzler

Stolen Puzzler


The puzzler today is a recycled puzzler. My brother always said that this was the best puzzler we have. It's a good one, but I don't know that I agree that it's the best... Might have to run a contest at some point, to see which one is actually the best. But anyway! This one is pretty great.

This puzzler has been stolen from us a number of times because it is so good. But that's okay because we stole it, to begin with. 

Okay, here you go.

Many years ago on television, back in the '60s and '70s, there was a show called, "Let's Make a Deal." The original. The host was a fellow named Monty Hall. And his assistant was the lovely Carol Merrill. 

The show consisted of people trying to win prizes, and they would do so by picking one of three doors. The doors were closed. And Monty would come and offer you money, and then he'd say, "Would you like to switch the money for one of the doors? You can pick a door."

Then you'd pick door #1. Then he would ask you, "If I give you more money, would you like to switch and take door #2, or door #3?"

So everyone knows that there was only one prize, behind one of the doors. And not knowing what is behind any of the doors, your chances of winning a prize were 1 in 3. There is always one good prize behind one door, and the other doors had a bunch of Eskimo pies or twinkies or something. There was one great prize and two crummy prizes. Your chances were always 1 in 3. 

So, you'd pick a door. And Monty would say, "Do you want what you've picked, or would you want to pick something behind one of the other doors?" And everyone knows your chances of winning don't really change at that point. A chance of 1 in 3, is 1 in 3. It's pretty good odds. 

Then, Monty would say, "How about if I show you what is behind door #2?" So he does that. And it turns out, behind door #2 are the 600 boxes of Eskimo pies. 

And then Monty says, "Would you now like to switch doors?"

And that is the question. Would you switch at this point? You chose door #1 to begin with. But you don't know what is behind door #1. Then, he shows you door #2, a bunch of yummy but worthless Eskimo pies. And he asks you if you want to switch to door #3. 

Would you switch at this point? Should you switch from door #1 to door #3, or not?

As a side note, this puzzler is always very controversial. A lot of heated debates have popped up about this one.

We look forward to your answers!

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

Nonsense Pressure


It is time for an interesting new puzzler. I like this one! I hope you will too. 

Anyway, here it is!

I was at the gas station a while back, with my son, when he was younger. I was putting gas in the car, like I always do.

And then my son says, "Daddy, how does the thing know when to shut off?"

Good question, I thought. We all know that when you're pumping gas, and the tank is all filled up, the handle flops down and it stops. The gas shuts off. So, I said some nonsense answer about pressure and you put the gas in and the air comes out... But it was not a good answer, because I didn't understand it myself. I couldn't really explain it to him because I couldn't explain it to myself.

So, I had to go into the archives and I found a letter that someone wrote in, asking this question. And I didn't answer it well then either. Because I didn't understand it then either!

So, it is time to answer this, once and for all. 

So the question is, how does it work? What happens?

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

Wesley Roberson

Congratulations! This correct answer was chosen at random by our Web Lackeys.

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Thursday, November 17, 2022

Can you solve this week's puzzler?

View in browser »
This Week's Puzzler

Nonsense Pressure


It is time for an interesting new puzzler. I like this one! I hope you will too. 

Anyway, here it is!

I was at the gas station a while back, with my son, when he was younger. I was putting gas in the car, like I always do.

And then my son says, "Daddy, how does the thing know when to shut off?"

Good question, I thought. We all know that when you're pumping gas, and the tank is all filled up, the handle flops down and it stops. The gas shuts off. So, I said some nonsense answer about pressure and you put the gas in and the air comes out... But it was not a good answer, because I didn't understand it myself. I couldn't really explain it to him because I couldn't explain it to myself.

So, I had to go into the archives and I found a letter that someone wrote in, asking this question. And I didn't answer it well then either. Because I didn't understand it then either!

So, it is time to answer this, once and for all. 

So the question is, how does it work? What happens?

Answer the Puzzler »
Remember last week's puzzler?

A Very Hot Day


New puzzler time. 

It was a very hot day. Not a dark and stormy night, but a very hot day. So the opposite of a dark and stormy night. 

We got two letters about this a while ago. Two different types of cars had this happen, but the type of car doesn't matter in this case. Anyway, here goes.

This fellow was driving his car on the highway on this very hot day. He was driving a long distance on this hot day. And there had been a thunderstorm earlier in the day. He had driven through the thunderstorm, but it was so hot, the rain did not cool anything down. So he's driving along, and finally exits the highway. He gets off the highway, onto a secondary road, and then pulls into a strip mall parking lot.

He pulls into this parking lot very quickly, and as soon as he does, the engine stops. It just cuts out, right there. So he turns the key and tries to start it again, but it is dead. Nothing. It's like someone has removed his battery from the car, just like that. The lights on the dash all work, but the car won't start. He doesn't know what happened.

He opens the hood and everything looks normal. His headlights work, and his radio works. But he turns the key and nothing happens. So he calls the tow truck. They take the car to the nearest dealership. And they tell him, "You've got troubles. You need an engine." And they tell him what caused this is turning into the strip mall. That is when it happened. 

So, here is the puzzler question. What happened, and how. Good luck!

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

mjsochape

Congratulations! This correct answer was chosen at random by our Web Lackeys.

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Contents © 2022, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.
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