OK, here is the this weeks puzzle. As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but do say if you think you have solved the puzzle and how long it took. Solution on Monday.
In the 10,000 metres final at the Olympics, John passed the runner in second place on the penultimate lap. Then John himself was passed by two runners on the finishing straight. What medal did John win?
I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.
Yeah didn’t take long, I’ve heard of that rhetorical trick before. Still glad to see this before some douche posts the answer though.
Help FBI to solve a real crime REAL PUZZLE:To accommodate the continuing interest in this case, we have established a page (http://forms.fbi.gov/code) where the public can offer their comments and theories about the coded messages.
El FBI pide ayuda a la gente para descifrar un crimen no resuelto
http://www.clarin.com/…/FBI-gente-descifrar-crimen-resuelto_0_4571544...
Sus expertos en códigos no logran descubrir el significado de un código de dos notas que tenía en su bolsillo un hombre al ser asesinado. Creen que allí
Done – 2 secs. (but may have heard a similar one before)
Solved it…I think
Too many ‘what if’s’ in this for my liking.
Yep, another ambiguous question, but it’s fairly clear how we’re meant to answer it, and it seemed very easy to me.
Where’s the ambiguity? Seems pretty clear to me.
I agree, there are multiple possible scenario’s and there is some ambiguity.
Not meant to be a spoiler, but he is not going to trouble Mo Farrah
How many Johns were running?
I suppose we’re to assume they’re all on the same lap, if so than it’s easy save the one trap.
The question explicitly states which lap everything happens on. Also, that book was terrible.
Got it, in a few seconds.
Ha! It’s a trick question. John failed the drugs test and was banned from the sport.
If we are being silly, to answer the quetion we need to know what’s happens next.
Yes you are being silly. All the information we need is in the question.
Solved it as I read the problem so only a few seconds. Read problem to my wife who also solved it straight away.
Depends, I miss some information about the two runners that passed John
You mean like did one collapse and die before they got to the finishing line?
Roland:
I agree.
Not that hard, but it still took me about 5 sec (so I’m a bit slower than most).
I have not heard this before, but I think I have the answer in less than a minute, but must admit I had the wrong answer before re-thinking it.
Also heard a similar one like this before. very good
It depends on what happened after that and before the finishing line.
Sigh. Yes, it depends on whether John gets eaten by a purple robot manatee, but I think it’s fairly safe to shelve the self-righteous pedantry and take the puzzle at face value.
He won a gold in the fairy cake bake-off when he was at school
Poor.
very easy!
try this one either: http://psikita.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/riddle-22/
Assuming no lapping took place then I think I can work this one out in less than a minute.
Where all runners in the same lap? Any other incidents not listed? 10000 metres is a long run so it is not clear if they all are in the same lap… Did the leading runner got a heart attack before the finishing line? The solution for a straight 10000 m course is very simple…
If any other incidents were in any way relevant, they would be included in the question. Doh!
I like this reply and it applies to many comments on previous Friday Puzzles.
No trickery at all here – just primary school level mathematics
about 10 seconds for the most obvious correct solution, another minute for two others. didn’t see the ambiguity about the number of johns until getting to the comments.
His name isn’t John, it’s Kenenisa.
10 seconds for the obvious (and wrong) answer. 1 minute more to find the correct one.
About 5 seconds, but I’ve seen this before.
Took a couple of seconds, and seemed obvious, and so I assume I’m wrong.
Same thing for me. After several minutes of thinking I’m still stuck with the obvious (and thus probably wrong) answer. I’m ignorant about athletics – is there anything nonobvious about the rules of 10km running relevant to this puzzle?
Croix de Guerre
Heh, a few seconds, but I needed to read through it quite a few times to make sure I hadn´t missed something.
few seconds here, unless I missed something (again)
1 minute for what I think is the expected answer, but unfortunately I still think there are several possible correct answers that don’t require “interpreting the question” given the context of the question
Yep, got it (I think). Under a minute.
1:00
no more.
very easy.
About 40 seconds. I had to read the wording about three times just to check.
Not even simple math. Just a matter of a quick visualization . . . I think.
After reading the thread, I think the puzzle can be interpreted in different ways, such that there are 3 different possible answers.
I make it four if you include the “someone dies before the finishing line” or “someone decides to walk off the track and not complete the race” options.
I acknowledge that these are silly, however, and in the nit pickerising area.
TMT
Also included the “Richard is not lying about the conditions of this puzzle” option, else there could be endless answers…
I think I got the answer just by the time I end from reading the puzzle
nit….pick…nit….pick…..nit…..pick….the question is ambiguous….nit….pick….nit….pick….nit…pick….it can be interpreted in different ways…..nit….pick….nit….pick….nit…..pick…..there are several different answers….nit …..pick….nit…..pick…..etc…..ad nauseum
i got it in 10 seconds
Under a minute.
the puzz hinges on the apparent false conclusion people reach when ans’ing the question: “if you overtake the second in a race, what position are you now?”
but is it a false conclusion? or, rather, are other ans’es possible other than the expected one? consid similar question: “if you overtake the last in a race, what position are you now?”
A particularly ill-defined question – in a race run in laps, you can be a lap behind the runner you overtake.
Just only two seconds……………
And solved….
I do wish there was a place where people could secretly post their answers. Then on Mondays we could see exactly how clever some of these posters actually are!
Yeah, but they’ve usually tell us the questions are ambiguous, so their answers will be “right” even when they are wrong.
That’s how I ended up with Hamburger for my answer.