Stupidest Puzzler ever. Not because of the problem itself, but the behavior of the two people. The Character Played by Dan (CPBD) walks two miles down and back to get a crowbar when the neighbor has a perfectly good Jeep right there, in the hope that he might git him some free firewood. And he forgets the most important word in the English language: “why?” Okay, maybe “how” or “please” but this was a job for “why?” Remember, the neighbor could have driven the Jeep back to get the crowbar. He hadn’t even found the right spot for the Jeep yet. Even though he had done this before.
Why is the neighbor the banjo player from Deliverance? He lives in the country where his barn and his woodshed are a mile apart and he doesn’t have jumper cables or a jack in his Jeep.
People are always doing silly things in puzzles that nobody would ever do in real life. In fact, remember your first math problems? “Johnny has six apples and eats four of them; how many does he have left?” Who the heck sits down and eats four apples in one go?
the puzzler was from June, 2003. A link to Car Talk’s solution is given below. I’m giving up on this show. I think Bob and Ray died seven years ago, and the show is a running gag by MIT students.
hmmmm … I wondered when I heard it why didn’t the jeep owner bring the crowbar with him in the first place? I mean he knew he needed it. He had a big pile of wood just sitting there waiting to be cut. He said he’d never make the mistake of doing this task again unless he had the crowbar. How about this puzzler solution: He should just keep the crowbar in his jeep at all times
Seriously, in my opinion, think it’s a pretty good puzzler. I don’t know the answer, still thinking about it. I’m inclined to speculate it has something to do with the physics of atoms.
The car talk guys don’t explain why the farmer figured it out the first time he forgot the crowbar, or for that matter the second or third time. One can just see the poor farmer after each successive event - more and more confused. How did he ever stumble on leaning the crowbar up against the truck?
Secondly, we weren’t told if it was raining or not. If so, the dampness may have ameliorated the need for the crowbar.
LittleM: I still don’t know the answer with any degree of certainty. But if my speculation about the relationship of this puzzler to the physics of atoms is right, jumper cables could indeed be used to replace the function provided by the crowbar. A big screwdriver would help, if all you had was jumper cables. A standard metal jack could work too. hmmm … maybe I’m on the right path …
I saw this setup run at the Great Steam Up near Portland Oregon. 1947 Willys running a shake splitting machine via a large canvas belt about 15 feet between the pulleys. In this case, the operator had a length of chain draped over the trailer hitch of the jeep and lying on the ground.
Are you guys really trying to figure out the puzzler? Or just talking crap? The crowbar was to ground the jeep so as not to get knocked on your butt from all the static electricity built up from the belt running on the PTO.
Or an I completely missing your point. Who cares if he could have driven instead of walked. They needed the jeep to position the PTO to the saw.
Harley: It’s bad manners here to be too explicit about what you think the puzzler sol’n is. At least until the next show is aired. Remember, people here like me are still thinking about it. Don’t spoil the fun. It’s not rocket science. Nobody’s income is based on the solution. There’s no schedule to meet. It’s all supposed to be good clean fun, nothing more than that. I suggest for next time, maybe at most an obtuse hint …
