One Word

A few weeks ago, we had a puzzler about a big leaf crusher that we have in our neighborhood. And it was about winterizing it, getting it ready to sit idle for the cold season.

So, I put some stabilizer in the gas tank, started it up got the gas out of the lines, took the spark plugs out, pulled the ripcord out slowly to get it up on the compression stroke so that both valves were closed and no air or rust could get in there. All that stuff.

So back then, my brother had just bought a new lawn mower and decided to do all this stuff with it as the season was ending. He wanted to maintain it so it would stay in good shape. So he does all these things. But when he pulls the ripcord out, the thing won't start.

And he's so mad, because this is a brand new lawn mower, and it should definitely start.

So he goes back inside and calls the shop where he bought it. And tells the guy what's going on. And the guy on the phone gives him a one-word answer.

At first, my brother was annoyed. But after a while, he realized, that one-word answer was right.

So the puzzler is, what word did my brother hear? What is the one word that explains it all?

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

Piece of Plane

Puzzler time.

This is an old one.

The year is 1918. It is World War One. The Italians are on our side, fighting alongside the British trying to keep the Austrians from coming over the border into Italy. At that time, the Austrians were fighting for the enemy. They were not on our side, at the time.

They were trying to cross the Piave River into Italy. They were building these little makeshift bridges to cross the river. The Italian Air Force discovers this. So, they sent their best pilot, Francesco Baracca, into the air, with a few other planes to knock down these bridges. And Baracca valiantly goes and does this. Every available plane was in the air bombing these bridges and machine gunning the enemy troops below. In fact, in 24 hours, five tons of bombs were dropped on the Austrians. Pretty incredible number.

And finally, of course, the Austrians were repelled. However, one of the casualties was Francesco Baracca whose plane was shot down and he was found dead in the plane. Needless to say, the Italian authorities sent his body back to his parents and they removed a piece of the canvas from the plane. It was an emblem that was emblazoned on the canvas and the authorities cut this out and removed it and returned it to his parents. And they kept it as a keepsake.

Many years later, his parents were at a road race in the city of Ravenna. And they were impressed by the guile, cunning, and skill of a young driver in that race whose car was really overmatched by all the other cars in the race, and yet, with his skill and his daring, he was able to win the race. They were so moved by his performance that they presented him with the canvas piece of Baracca's plane that had been given to them.

So this canvas piece of the plane had an emblem on it.

The puzzler is, who is this driver? And what is the emblem and how does he use it?

Good luck.