******* The Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network*******
>From the Desk of
Maury Maille
Puzzler Tower
Car Talk Plaza
Hahvahd Squayah
Our Fair City
This Week's Puzzler: A doctor, an operation, and five missing words
RAY: This puzzler was sent in by a fellow named Bob Eckert. I didn't even
really have to obfuscateŠ but I did.
TOM: You certainly did! This guy's letter is about three lines long, and you've
got a page and a half of scribbling on it.
RAY: What can I say? Here we go. I'm going to read you a sentence that has five
words missing. The missing words will each be denoted by a "blank." Your job,
if you so choose, is to fill in the blanks.
"The (blank) doctor was (blank) (blank) to operate, because she had (blank)
(blank)."
So there are five words that are missing.
TOM: I could make up all kinds of fill-ins for that.
RAY: But, here are the constraints. The letters used to fill in the first
blank-after the word "the"-- are going to be the same letters used to fill in
the two blanks after the word "was" and, the two blanks after the word "had."
So, if for example there are ten letters in that first blank, then the two
blanks after word "was" will use those same ten letters, but to make two words.
That will also be true for the two blanks after the word "had."
But here's the twist. You cannot re-arrange the letters. Only the spaces
between the letters can be changed.
I know of one answer. I'm sure there are others.
Think you've got an answer?
Drop us a note via
http://www.cartalk.com/email/email.html
If you're right and we select your answer, we'll ship you a $26 Shameless
Commerce gift certificate.
Want to listen to Ray obfuscate the puzzler in person? Listen anytime, at
http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/
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Remember last week's puzzler?
RAY: This puzzler is from my "travel and lodging" series. It came from a fellow
named Tom Meyer, a long time ago.
TOM: Is there any chance that Tom is still alive?
RAY: Small. Here it is:
"A few years ago, I was on a business trip and staying in a nice hotel. I got
up in the morning and turned on the TV, while I washed and got dressed. When I
was ready to go to breakfast, I turned off the TV and went to the hotel's
restaurant. After breakfast, I returned to my room and realized that I had time
before I had to leave for my meeting. So I grabbed the remote, and tried to
turn on the TV. Nothing happened.
"Figuring that the batteries in the remote had gone bad, I walked all the way
over to the TV and pressed the power button. Zippo. Realizing that the maid had
cleaned my room while I was eating breakfast, I figured she might have hit the
plug with the vacuum cleaner, so I checked it. It was plugged in just fine, but
just to make sure, I yanked on it and jiggled it. It didn't make any difference.
"The TV didn't say it but I figured, like my computer, it might need to be
re-booted. So, I slapped it around a little bit, and then I actually pulled the
plug out. I waited 20, 30 seconds, plugged it back in, and that didn't help. In
desperation, I called the front desk, and they sent-- are you ready for this--
the house electrician to check on my TV.
"He goes around the back of the TV and he's looking at things. I don't know
what he's doing. He asks me to turn on the lamp next to the TV.
"It works. He says, 'I see your problem.' And he fixes it without using any
tools."
What did he do?
Here's what:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/
So, did you figure it out?
Yours in weekly puzzler torment,
Maury Maille
Puzzler Dissemination Specialist
Car Talk Plaza
***************
Write Tom and Ray--Please!
Been meaning to write us a witty, brilliant, evocative, insightful letter?
Excellent! We're not getting any of those things from the chumps hanging around
Car Talk Plaza. For that matter, we'd settle for anything better than the usual
schlock Tommy reads on the air.
So, what are you waiting for? Write Tom and Ray right now at
http://www.cartalk.com/email/email.html
*******************
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***********************************
Got more time to kill? This past weekend's new, lousy Car Talk show is now on
the web site, at
http://www.cartalk.com/radio/show/
********************
Help Ray lose the night sweats he's been getting, trying to come up with a
decent puzzler each week. E-mail him your suggestion any time, via
http://www.cartalk.com/email/email.html
********************
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We'll forgive you.
