# Do they really read all the puzzler answers? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352 "2012-03-09T02:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tigerboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Tigerboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tigerboy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/1 "2012-03-09T02:24:29Z")
My guess is that they do not. Simply put, they don’t have the manpower. My guess is, they pull an answer at random from all the answers they received by the cut-off date and keep pulling answers until they get a correct one. Why would they need to read each answer from the pile and put them in two piles (correct and wrong) and then draw from the entire pile of correct answers as their form response says. The reason why I say this is because for one of those math puzzles, you know the kind where you need to arrange a sequence of digits and put in operators of your own choice to come up with the right answer. I came up with a correct answer different than what they announced on the air and yes I double checked my work. I submitted this answer twice, and I was never acknolwedged. So, for that to happen, they would never have read my entry. Otherwise they would have said on the air “Well Tigerboy and a few others came up with this alternate answer which is also right. Thank you”. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/2 "2012-03-09T05:03:52Z")
“I submitted this answer twice, and I was never acknolwedged.” Perhaps because someone sent in a correct answer before you? Why should they have acknowledged you? If they drew from the entire pile of answers they still drew from the entire pile of correct answers. We’ll probably never know how Tom and Ray really did this when they were alive. Chances are they had an intern do it. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/3 "2012-03-09T05:56:47Z")
I think Car Talk is the most listened to once-a-week radio program on the air. It has 4 + million listeners each week. I doubt the show staff is able to read every puzzler solution they get in their email. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/4 "2012-03-09T06:55:30Z")
I do not think it is an insurmountable task to throw all the right answers in one bucket and pick one. Why all the skepticism? I would imagine a good week would have 2500 responses. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/5 "2012-03-09T09:34:33Z")
I think they ‘pull answers until a right one is found’ makes perfect sense, same odds as if they had separated them into two piles. ---
**Author:** ![Arbed\_Yak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@Arbed\_Yak](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Arbed_Yak)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/6 "2012-03-09T13:17:21Z")
I agree with “texases” they pull answers from the pile until they find a correct one. I would think the pile is started by opening them by time stamp if submitted on the computer, or if by mail date stamped. ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/7 "2012-03-09T19:55:17Z")
I doubt that a human reads everything. I answered the “Quizzical Water Pump Replacement” the other day and got an email back in less than an hour. It was computer generated which leads me to believe they have a computer program that selects the winning answers. The answers are then reviewed by a live person for the best one. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/8 "2012-03-09T19:57:15Z")
Not ALL of the answers are e-mailed in. Some are actually sent in via USPS. That will require human intervention. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/9 "2012-03-09T20:12:28Z")
Why would anyone even think that reading them all is a good idea? Why would anyone care? ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/10 "2012-03-10T00:05:13Z")
MikeInNH…I realize that using the postal service is an option but using snail mail to send an answer is almost doomed to fail. There is a new Puzzler every week and by the time the answer gets to the proper channels at Car Talk via USPS the question has already been answered. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/11 "2012-03-10T03:52:33Z")
Many years ago. Where are you getting this “new Puzzler every week” stuff? ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/12 "2012-03-10T20:00:10Z")
Littlemouse…I realize that these Puzzlers are being recycled but they do “recycle” a new one each week. You can still answer the puzzler by mail or email just like it was new. Old news is still news if you have never heard it before. My grandkids still watch Bugs Bunny and get a kick out of the cartoons just like my parents and my wife and I did many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/13 "2012-03-11T05:05:15Z")
“You can still answer the puzzler by mail or email just like it was new.” And I can call the spirits from the deep, but do they answer? They also recycle the Puzzler winner announcements. Does anyone win anymore, and how would we know? ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/14 "2012-03-11T17:16:00Z")
Good point littlemouse. I guess it’s just one of those mysteries of life. ---
**Author:** ![littlemouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@littlemouse](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlemouse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-they-really-read-all-the-puzzler-answers/71352/15 "2012-03-12T10:53:56Z")
Doesn’t make the puzzler a bad thing. I enjoy it when it’s one I don’t remember or can’t solve.