Puzzler of the week

[Scott MacLean]

This week's puzzler:

Flashback to summer 1942. The British are battling the Germans and Italians for control of North Africa. In one of the towns under British control is an Italian civilian named Tony Cardiello. Tony refuses to submit to the British demand that they use his trucking company to transport supplies. Always willing to negotiate, the British confiscate the trucks and throw Tony into a concentration camp.

Move ahead now to the late '70s. I was out of college, doing the only thing that a political science grad could do to earn a living: driving a truck. It was a cold winter in 1978 with many mornings at minus 20. In those conditions, diesel engines just didn't want to start.

As it turns out, Tony Cardiello was the morning mechanic for this trucking company. Tony taught us that if a truck wouldn't start, we should leave enough juice for him to give it a second try.

His first question for us was always the same: "Did you bless the truck?" We said, "No, we didn't bless the stinkin' truck." Upon hearing that, Tony would walk over to the stubborn truck, face the bulldog ornament on the hood and make the sign of the cross. Then he'd say, "Start the truck!"

Nine out of 10 times the truck would start.

How'd Tony do it?

Last week's puzzler:

Two grasshoppers are hanging around, and each is boasting that he is faster than the other. To settle the argument, they decide to have a race.

The larger of the grasshoppers, Throckmorton -- or Throckie, as he's known -- can jump 10 inches at a single bound. The other grasshopper, Rocky, can jump only six inches at a shot. So the larger grasshopper says, "We're going to set up a racecourse that's 24 feet long: 12 feet out and 12 feet back."

They're each at the starting point.

Vinnie Goombatz-Hopper shoots the gun, and they take off.

Now, even though Throckie is the bigger guy and can jump 10 inches at a shot, Rocky jumps more often. So when they get to the five-foot mark -- which is 60 inches -- the big guy has jumped six times and the little guy has jumped 10 times, but they're dead even...neck and neck...antennae to antennae.

The question is: Which one wins the race, and why?

Last week's puzzler answer:

Because the course is 12 feet, or 144 inches, the little guy, jumping six inches at a shot. Admittedly they're even at five feet, and they're even at 10 feet too. But when they get to 12 feet, trouble breaks out because the little guy happens to land right on the turnaround point, with 24 jumps.

After 14 jumps Throckie is at 140 inches, and his next jump brings him to ... and he has to make a 10-inch jump. He can't make little jumps. So the little guy wins the race.

_______________________
Scott MacLean
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ICQ: 9184011
http://www.nerosoft.com