Brain Teasers
The Time Traveler
Mary Scuderi was walking down the street with her Math, American History, and English books in hand. Suddenly, she bumped into a boy about 16 years old in tattered rags who was picking up nickels he had dropped in the street. The boy got up and put the coins in his pocket. The boy saw Mary and shook her violently. "You've got to help me!" he continued, "I've just come from 1775!"
"Yeah," Mary said, "I'm supposed to believe you because...?"
"I knew you would say that." he sobbed. "No one believes me!"
Mary scoffed and replied. "It isn't that I don't believe you because it is totally out of the question," she continued, "I don't believe you because...?"
Why didn't she believe him? (Besides the fact that time-traveling is impossible.)
"Yeah," Mary said, "I'm supposed to believe you because...?"
"I knew you would say that." he sobbed. "No one believes me!"
Mary scoffed and replied. "It isn't that I don't believe you because it is totally out of the question," she continued, "I don't believe you because...?"
Why didn't she believe him? (Besides the fact that time-traveling is impossible.)
Answer
Because he was picking up the nickels he had dropped. The nickel wasn't invented until 1866.Hide Answer Show Answer
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There is nothing in the body of this teaser that remotely suggests that the boy mentioned or indicated that he had brought the coins with him. He could have found them on arrival, or been given them after he arrived. The teaser just says he was picking them up, nothing more. The date of the nickels in the answer is irrelavent. In theory I could travel forward in time and find some coins that don't exist now, it doesn't mean I was lying about time traveling.
I see your pont, he said though that he just came from 1775 which wouldn't give him time to pick up nickels. The teaser also said he dropped the nickels. That means that he had them in 1775 which is impossible.
a little hazy
pretty vague if you ask me. Too tell you the truth I thought the reason she did'nt believe him was becuase she never heard of any one during her own epoch, time traveling. If someone in 1775 created a device that could travel through time then time travel during the girls own time would be well known would'nt you think?
Mary or Melina?
CCat20, I have JUST come home from work, but I left work over an hour ago. I Just sat in front of the computer, but it was long enought to type this. There is absolutely nothing in the teaser that says that the boy claimed that he had brought the coins with him from the 1700's. Also he may be from another era of time, perhaps the very new future and had been stranded back in the 1700's with a bag of coins from his own time span and had just managed to travel forward in time again to the present day, he could have been in rags because he was unable to spend his coins in the 1700's. The coins are completely irrelevant and can not be used to determine the truth.
Her name changed in only a couple of sentences so is it not possible he picked the nickels up after he came from 1775 but before he dropped them in front of mary and before melina scoffed at him?
Mad-Ade, look at this and tell me that it doesn't say he dropped them!!! ---> Suddenly she bumped to a boy about 16 years old in tattered rags who was picking nickels [he had dropped] off the street.
Yes it does say "He had dropped" and I never argued otherwise. My point is this, just because he dropped them doe not automatically mean he brought them with him. There are countless other reasons as to why and where he could have got the coins, and this is the whole failing of the teaser. Just because he had dropped them and was picking them up does not necessarily mean the coins were his originally. He could have arrived from the past, found the coins, dropped them all within a few moments of "just arriving" from the 1700's. Thus his claim of just arriving was true, but the coins are purely coincidental and have no real value of proof.
I just went rhrough this teaser, and i feel that the words "he had dropped" are SUPPOSED to be understood as "he had dropped the coins which he brought with him".
even then, he could have got hold of the coins from say 1900s, went back to 1775 and come back to 2004.
the teaser was meant to share with us the trivia fact of "nickels were invented in 1800s". probably the teaser also tells us that the boy was lying.
time travel arguers like mad-ade would be logically in place if the above held true. even spiritual gurus, who feel that time travel is like actually going to historically remembered times, would feel that the teaser had less planning before it was framed.
ccat20, thanks a lot for the trivia fact about when nickels were invented. maybe the teaser was slightly on the vague side.
even then, he could have got hold of the coins from say 1900s, went back to 1775 and come back to 2004.
the teaser was meant to share with us the trivia fact of "nickels were invented in 1800s". probably the teaser also tells us that the boy was lying.
time travel arguers like mad-ade would be logically in place if the above held true. even spiritual gurus, who feel that time travel is like actually going to historically remembered times, would feel that the teaser had less planning before it was framed.
ccat20, thanks a lot for the trivia fact about when nickels were invented. maybe the teaser was slightly on the vague side.
Hey, if a kid can come back from the 18th century, then anything can happen! Hehe, however, I do see what Mad-ade pointing out.
whos mary and whos melina???
Let's not take this too literally...oh, wait, never mind....too late...
What's with the Mary/Madeline questions ? Also, in just the first paragraph of this teaser I counted half a dozen grammatical errors - aren't we supposed to have editors to prevent things like that? I move we cut the editors wages by 20% until things improve!!
Incredibly easy. You could stump a lot of people with it (not me though! )
i thought this one was pretty neat!!!! Great Riddle!!!
what the heck is a nickel??
OHH I GUESSED ONE RIGHT FIANLLY. TO BAD IT WASNT THAT HARD. BUT IT WAS A GOOD ONE
Dudes!!! Thumper??? Bambi??? "If ya can't say sumpthin' nice, don't say nuthin' at all." Although I liked it a lot, and the fact was great, if he was a time traveler, he could have come from ANY time originally...thun the nickels as well.
The nickels may have nothing to do with it. The boy is using speech patterns that were not used in the late 18th century. For instance, using "have got to" for "must" is a 20th-century aphorism.
Yes, the editors shoul dfix the grammar problems. I've been on Braingle for a month, though, and the powers-that-be still haven't cleaned up the documentation (FAQs, etc.), so I'm not holding my breath for the editing quality.
Yes, the editors shoul dfix the grammar problems. I've been on Braingle for a month, though, and the powers-that-be still haven't cleaned up the documentation (FAQs, etc.), so I'm not holding my breath for the editing quality.
Oh my norceckri, that's a bit rude, don't you think?
I like this one, good job on it.
I like this one, good job on it.
Even ignoring the date, I was sure it must be about the nickels!
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