This Week's Car Talk Puzzler:
The Endless Mile
RAY: This was sent in by John Kelly and he writes with a true story:
"While living in the Bronx a friend, who will remain anonymous, bought a car in White Plains about 21 miles north of the city. He didn't have anyone to help him pick it up so he decided to do it all by himself." (Now whenever someone says, "a friend who will remain anonymous," and then the rest of the story is something harebrained, you know it's him! So John, we're with you, brother!)
"And because he wasn't trading the car in, he came up with this ingenious plan.
He drove his old car 21 miles north and parked it in the dealer's lot, picked up the new car, paid for it and got the keys, and drove it one mile south. He locked it up, walked back north one mile to the dealer, picked up his old car drove it two miles. He locked it up, walked back one mile, picked up the new car, drove it two miles south, locked it up, walked one mile back to the other car, etc., etc., etc., until he reached home with both cars."
So the question is, at the end of the very long, long day, how many total miles did he walk and drive? Sounds simple, right, but be careful!
Think you know the answer? Drop us a note!
Once you figure out your answer, take a moment to consider if John came up with an optimal solution or not!
