Puzzler of the week

[Scott MacLean]

This week's puzzler:

The other day, I had two Toyota Camrys in the shop, side by side. One of them didn't run. When you turned the key on that Camry, it cranked but it wouldn't fire up. The other Camry was in for an emissions test.

I told Ralph to work on these two cars. He takes the emissions tester and sticks it in the tailpipe of the car on which he is supposed to do the emissions test. He opens the hood. The next thing I know he has turned the key and is cranking this car.

He then takes the probe out of the tailpipe and sticks it in the other car. He gets into that car, and he turns the key. Of course, it doesn't start.

I say to him, "What the hell are you doing?"

I assumed he had gone to the wrong car. Ralph explained to me what he was doing, and I said, "Ah ha!"

What was Ralph doing?

Last week's puzzler:

Okay, let me set the scene. A guy is building a new house. As luck would have it, his entire back yard is dirt.

He's planning on having a big Fourth of July celebration. So he goes to the local nursery, and he says to the clerk, "I've got to buy some grass seed, because it's almost June 1, and I'm having a party on July 4th. I want a yard full of grass!"

The fellow at the nursery says, "We have this new product. It just came in a few months ago; you may be interested in it. It's a plug of grass. It's about the size of your fist. You plant this in your lawn in a central location, and every day it doubles in size. You only need one."

The customer says, "You mean, if I plant this thing on June 1, by June 30 I'll have a lawn?"

And the guy says, "Well, according to my calculations, no problem. Then, you spray the lawn with an arrester spray, so it doesn't subsume your car."

The customer then asks, "You're sure you did the math correctly?"

To which the clerk responds, "I'm telling you -- plant one of these and in 30 days, you'll have a full lawn in your backyard."

The customer thinks about it, and then says, "Great, but just to be on the safe side, I want two."

Here's the question: If, in fact, one plug of grass would give him a lawn in 30 days, on what day must he apply the arrester spray to stop it from subsuming his car, his garage and his kids if he uses two grass plugs?

Last week's puzzler answer:

Now, logic would tell you, well, if you bought two, it would then be June 15, right? But the answer is, instead of his lawn being finished on June 30, it's done on June 29, because all it does is gain him one day. Because don't forget, when you plant one, the next day, how many do you have? Two, right? Well, you don't really have two. You have double the size.

Which is what you get if you bought two of them. And what happens the next day? You've got four. So, all it does it lop off the first day. So that's the answer: he sprays it on June 29, and if it doesn't, then it eats his house.

_______________________
Scott MacLean
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http://www.nerosoft.com