******* The Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network******* ******* The Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network*******
A note from Car Talk Plaza: While the puzzler enjoys a well-earned (okay, that's debatable) vacation, we'll be featuring a few of our especially scintillating, challenging and brain-achingly confounding classic puzzlers. We hope you enjoy them! >From the Desk of Maury Maille Puzzler Tower Car Talk Plaza Hahvahd Squayah Our Fair City This Week's Puzzler: The Magic Hat RAY: Imagine there is a hat sitting on the table. And there are two contestants. You, Tommy, will be one of the contestants, and we'll call the other one Vinnie. You reach into the hat, Tommy, and pull out a number. Then, Vinnie does the same. Now, the reason this hat is magical is that, no matter what number you pull out, Vinnie will always pull out a number that is either one above or one below your number. For example, if you pull out a two, Tommy, you know Vinnie has pulled out either a one or a three. TOM: I'm with you man! Keep going. I like it. RAY: To make it simple, we'll limit the numbers to between one... and infinity. So, each of you pulls out a number. Let's say you pick three and Vinnie picks two. I'm the moderator, and I ask Tommy, "Do you know what number Vinnie has?" Tommy looks at his number, which is 3, and says, "No, I don't." I then ask Vinnie, "Do you know what number Tommy has?" He looks at his number two and says, "Yes." He knows Tommy has to have a 3. TOM: Really? RAY: Now, here's the tricky part: Regardless of the numbers that are picked, and assuming that both contestants answer truthfully, if I keep asking the question of both of them, eventually one contestant will know what number the other contestant has. In other words, if I ask Tommy, then ask Vinnie, then Tommy again... then Vinnie again... eventually one of them will know the other's number. Why is that? Think you know? 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/ ************ Remember last week's puzzler? The Case of the Missing Law Book RAY: This puzzler is from the wonderful world of law. It came in very recently from a fellow named Doug Whiting. I think it's a feather in his cap that this should be the last puzzler of the puzzler season. This is what Doug wrote: "I went to my attorney's office the other day and was seated in the conference room. While I was sitting there, I was looking around the conference room at the impressive collection of law books." I think they put you in there so you are impressed with all the knowledge your attorney has, so you don't get too upset when you get that bill for 485 dollars an hour. Did I tell you, I might be adding a little to his description? So, Doug continues, "Though most of the law books contained dozens of volumes and were indexed with very specific descriptions, one set of law books consisted of just two volumes. The first book was A through M, like Aardvark through Moron. The second was N through W, like Ninny through Wombat. At first, I wondered what happened to the last volume, X, Y and Z. Maybe it was being used to research a case, and was the only book missing from the shelf. But, then I figured out there was no missing volume. These two books were it. And the question is, why was there no X, Y, and Z? Here's why: 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 ******************* Useful information alert: How to Get a Free Car Talk CD or Booklet Tired of paying auto club dues to an outfit that lobbies against environmental causes? Check out Better World Club--and in the process get a Car Talk booklet or CD for free! Better World is an auto club with genuinely decent values-- unlike some others we could name... Whose initials happen to be AAA. Better World Club cares about... *Your environmental interests -- it gives 1% of its revenue to environmental clean up and advocacy. *Your consumer interests -- it even offers discounts on hybrid rental cars. *And it has the nation's only bicycle roadside assistance program. Dump your AAA membership and join Better World! If you join via the Car Talk web site now, you'll get a free Car Talk CD, or a copy of our booklet, 10 Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car without Even Knowing It. Check out Better World Club now at Http://www.cartalk.com *********************************** 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 ******************** Puzzled out? You can unsubscribe to the Car Talk Puzzler Psychic Friends Network anytime at http://www.cartalk.com/ct/maillist.jsp?Puzzler_list=subscribe#psychic We'll forgive you.
