Something Borrowed

Puzzler time.

Some years ago when my son Louis got his driver's license, he asked to use my truck.

He was going to take a little trip to the next town over to visit a friend of his and I gave him the keys. But I gave him this stipulation, "Don't drive very far, because you're not an experienced driver and I certainly don't want you driving on the highway or out of state or anything like that."

And he said, "Don't worry, Dad."

Now being the trusting soul that I am, I didn't bother to write down what the mileage was or anything like that.

He takes the truck. That night he returns and hands me the key. And I go out to the truck. It was dark. I got inside and I didn't see anything on the seat or anything. I didn't know what the level of gas had been when he took the truck or the odometer reading, and I hadn't written down the mileage or anything like that.

I started the engine. I sat in the truck for about maybe a half a minute with the engine running. And I knew in an instant that he had gone much further.

How did I know he had gone much further than he said he would?

And here is the hint: The Grateful Dead.

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

The 95 Point Question

This involves two undergraduate chemistry students at a major university. They had a highly successful semester in an introductory chemistry class that they were taking.

So their confidence is high. So high in fact that they decide to blow off the entire week before exams.

So, instead of studying that week, they take a trip. They go to a fraternity party in a town quite a distance away and they have a pretty good time. So these guys spend the entire week partying. And they have such a good time, that they don't make it back in time for their final exam. They miss it entirely.

In a panic, they devise a plan. They agreed to tell the professor that they had a flat tire, and this prevented them from returning on time to take the exam. (This was before cell phones, obviously...)

So, they tell the professor this. And they beg and they plead with him to allow them to take the exam again. They say this will never happen again.

The professor agrees and tells them to return the next morning.

So, they do. They come back the next morning and the professor give them their exam. He has them leave their backpacks and books in the office and sends them to different rooms to take the exam.

The test consists of one 5 point question, some molarity problem. Something easy. And smiling confidently, each student answers the question.

Then they turn the page. The next question is the 95 point question.

And the puzzler question is, what is the 95 point question that the professor put on the make up exam?