Thursday, October 26, 2006

A lot of people like logic puzzles. I hear many of these puzzles from friends who are either interviewees or interviewers for computer programmer jobs. Good examples are the Let's Make a Deal puzzle and the Pirate Game. Also, some readers may recall the classic Where's The Toilet Paper puzzle. These are all very worthy brainteasers.

Recently, however, I've discovered a few logic puzzles of my own. I won't present the answers because the joy is in solving them yourself. Both puzzles start with the same scenario:

Due to a recent garbage can attack, you have a wound on the side of your left hip (at belly button level) which has been dressed with Steri Strips. The doctor has informed you that you must keep the Steri Strips dry for 6 days. You are under doctor's orders NOT to shower for those 6 days.

Puzzle 1: You stink. You decide to shower despite the doctor's orders, but you seek to keep the wound dry during the shower. You have the following supplies to utilize before stepping into the shower:
  • Non-waterproof band aids
  • Saran wrap
  • Masking tape
  • Duct tape
  • A wheel barrow
Also, due to your Semitic background, you are somewhat....er....hairy. How can you keep your wound dry, without seriously manscaping the hair off your body?


Puzzle 2: You stink. You have to leave for a meeting in 5 minutes. There's no time to shower. You have the following supplies:
  • A sink
  • One bar of soap
  • One washcloth
In which order do you wash your smelliest parts?


Anyone who has spent time with me in the last several days can weigh in here to indicate if I successfully solved the puzzles? If I reeked, I failed.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Smelled like roses. Guess it worked. Not sure about the order, but I know we can agree on what goes last.

--Pablo

Kat Campbell said...

Since Pap has been in a cast for many months, also with instructions to KEEP THE CAST DRY, I'm a pro at this. Lets see, hip injury, so you would have needed to wrap the section of the body with the injury in a mummy like way, taped securely to itself with duct tape. The wheelbarrow and band aids are just red herrings.

Puzzle 2: Depends on which parts are smelliest.

carey said...

If I were you, I'd enlist Hank's help to make showering a less puzzling and more erotic experience. I'd probably also get the steri-strips wet, remove them, blow dry the wound, and watch as NOTHING happens to it.

Mike said...

Pablo, roses, eh? I think you should get your smeller checked.

Kat, ok there was no wheelbarrow, but I did slap some bandaids on there for good measure.

Carey, remove the steri-strips? I'm pretty sure my entire body will split into two if I do that.