Battles

Time for a puzzler. This one is historic in nature. And there are conflicting versions out there, so don't get all upset if this is just one of them.

Here we go.

The year was 1415. It was in October of 1415. Earlier in that year, Henry V of England had invaded France because he thought he had a claim to the French throne.

So, after spending many months there and being unsuccessful in his mission of taking over the French thrown, they decided to head back to England. The troops were starving and fighting disease and they were just dying to see their families again. They decide to go to Calais, the French port city, to hitch a boat ride back to their homeland, merry old England.

That was their plan, but they were cut off by the French. And at that point, Henry V tries to sue for peace and says, "I don't want to fight!"

And the French basically say, "Well, that's tough. You're fighting..."

I'm paraphrasing here, of course...

So, the French were under the command of a man named Charles d'Albret. He was commanding a force of about 25,000 men, while Henry V had about 6,000 men total. The French go into this convinced that the Brits are done for. They're tired, they're outnumbered... The French then proclaim that after the battle is over, they will take the British soldiers that are still alive and they will remove certain parts of their bodies so they might never be able to fight again.

Well, it turns out that the battle was preceded by heavy rains and the French troops were at a disadvantage because they were in a valley and they were weighted down by their heavy armor, and the tactics of the British soldiers were superior and somehow, the Brits won the battle. It was a decisive battle, and d'Albert and many of the French nobility were killed in the battle.

When the battle was over, the British soldiers then displayed the parts of themselves that would have been cut off by the French as a way to revel in their victory.

What were they displaying?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

Good Vibrations

Time for this week's new puzzler. And it is new this week, I'm happy to say.

Years ago, an older gentleman came into the shop. And he gave me this puzzler. He said he thought we could use it. So here it is.

He was driving his old car, an old Chevy from the 60s or 70s, so a really old car. He is driving along out on the highway. All of a sudden, he hears a noise like he's driven over something in the road.

And he thought, "Oh my god, what was that?"

Immediately after that, he feels this incredible vibration from the engine. So he slows down to about 5 or 10 miles per hour. The vibration is still there, but it is reduced because he is going slower now. After a bit, he tries to speed up, and the vibration gets worse. It is shaking like crazy.

So, he stops the car. He turns it off, opens the hood and everything looks okay in there. He looks under the car and everything looks okay there too.

So, he slowly makes his way to the nearest gas station. The gas station attendant looks at the car and can't find anything wrong with it. He has the guy start the car, and then says, "Shut the car off for a second." The owner shuts the car off. Then the attendant says, "Ah ha! I see what's going on here."

The attendant spends about 30 seconds under the hood of the car. He takes something and throws it in the trash. Then he says, "Okay start it up. I fixed your problem. The vibration is all gone."

And the driver says, "Am I gonna make it home okay?"

And the attendant says, "Yes, if you don't get stuck in traffic for too long. Make sure to get it fixed when you can though."

What was wrong with the car?

And the hint is, the car was from the 60s or 70s. But it is unlikely that the car was from the 90s.