Brain Teasers
Clever Jenny XIV
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Dana led Jenny up the stairs to the new apartment she and Tom had rented.
"This place is much nicer than our old place, and it's closer to Tom's work."
"And it's in a quieter neighborhood, too," Jenny added.
"Hey, want to stay for dinner?"
"Love to, but I need to wash my hair; it's getting too oily, and I want to look good for a big meeting tomorrow."
"Got it. Here we are!" Dana fished out her key and put it into the lock.
The key did not turn; Dana wrestled with it a while.
"Uh-oh! The lock seems to be stuck."
"Is it an old key? If it's worn, it might not work."
"No, the landlord put in a new lock, and the keys are new too."
"New key? Umm, can I see it a minute? Maybe one of my magic tricks will work here."
"Yeah, right!" But Dana held out the key.
Jenny took the key, pushed it through her hair, held it to the side of her head, and closed her eyes in an attitude of mock concentration.
"Hocus-pocus, dominocus;
Concentrate and try to focus!"
Then she raked the key through her hair, mumbling as she did.
"OK, try it now, Dana."
The key turned the way it should and the door opened.
"All right, Jenny, what on earth are you up to now? Don't expect me to believe that magic story!"
What had Jenny done?
"This place is much nicer than our old place, and it's closer to Tom's work."
"And it's in a quieter neighborhood, too," Jenny added.
"Hey, want to stay for dinner?"
"Love to, but I need to wash my hair; it's getting too oily, and I want to look good for a big meeting tomorrow."
"Got it. Here we are!" Dana fished out her key and put it into the lock.
The key did not turn; Dana wrestled with it a while.
"Uh-oh! The lock seems to be stuck."
"Is it an old key? If it's worn, it might not work."
"No, the landlord put in a new lock, and the keys are new too."
"New key? Umm, can I see it a minute? Maybe one of my magic tricks will work here."
"Yeah, right!" But Dana held out the key.
Jenny took the key, pushed it through her hair, held it to the side of her head, and closed her eyes in an attitude of mock concentration.
"Hocus-pocus, dominocus;
Concentrate and try to focus!"
Then she raked the key through her hair, mumbling as she did.
"OK, try it now, Dana."
The key turned the way it should and the door opened.
"All right, Jenny, what on earth are you up to now? Don't expect me to believe that magic story!"
What had Jenny done?
Answer
Jenny replied, "Dana, Honey! You heard me talk about my oily hair! Pushing the key through my hair put it into contact with that oil and coated the business end with a tiny film of oil. A lot of times new locks and new keys don't have enough lubrication on them to allow the lock to work properly. Often, only a small bit of oil will help a new key to fit into a lock and do its work. The hocus-pocus was just goofing around! Ask Tom to squirt some oil into the lock to make double sure you don't have any more trouble. Now, let's see that apartment!"And they went inside, laughing.
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Comments
If you've ever had to struggle with a new lock, you probably got this one. Gotta love WD-40! Fun teaser
Hehe, got that one! Good teaser!
Agree, Paladin; WD-40 is the best for balky locks! But in a pinch,,,!
Thanks for your comments, Paladin and Nerine!
Thanks for your comments, Paladin and Nerine!
Chilluns, chilluns, chilluns! You illustrate the dangers of applying a little learning to a problem. While Jenny's hair oil and Paladin's WD-40 will provide a short-term solution to the problem, they have the potential for creating greater difficulties downstream. Both techniques deposit oil in the interior of the locks - oil that will attract and accumulate dust and dirt and clog upthelock - what you need is a DRY lubricant - graphite is the preferred remedy. Jenny should have rubbed the key down with her handy-dandy #2 pencil and left a little extra "lead" dust on the key and the lock would be working slick as a whistle.
BTW - the "WD" in WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement" - the task the formula was designed to perform- getting rid of water on metal surfaces to prevent corrosion. An engineer friend of mine whacks my knuckles every time I suggest getting out the can of WD-40 to lube a sticky joint! "That's NOT what it's for!!" he shreiks, for the 297th time...
BTW - the "WD" in WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement" - the task the formula was designed to perform- getting rid of water on metal surfaces to prevent corrosion. An engineer friend of mine whacks my knuckles every time I suggest getting out the can of WD-40 to lube a sticky joint! "That's NOT what it's for!!" he shreiks, for the 297th time...
Now, unklemyke, you need to visualize the situation and realize that Jenny and her friend are standing out in the hall trying to get into the new apartment. Jenny, of course, is way too green to use a pencil (do you realize how many trees are killed to make pencils?), and so would not have that ready source of (very messy) graphite. Of course, hair oil or WD-40 are short-term solutions to an immediate problem. Dana will immediately order friend Husband to apply the correct lubricant (spit?) to the lock and key in question.
Hey,Mosca -I forgot to say- clever teaser, WD-40 or not. (Shouldn't we get some kind of a kick-back from the WD-40 folks for all the advertising we're giving them?) Spit has got to be a REAL short term solution - it evaporates so quickly. I would say butter up the lock, but the salt in the butter is Sooo corrosive it would just make the problem worse over time. Probably lard- or bear grease-but I suppose someone who objects to killing trees to make pencils would object to killing bears to lube a lock? Anyway, I thought pencils were made from cedar trees especially grown for the purpose - a renewable resource, y'know? (and they put out all that lovely oxygen while they're growing, too) Though I have used pencils with the barrels made from recycled paper - REALLY GREEN!! although they didn't sharpen for beans. Ah, well - the things we do for a sustainable world.
Referring back to the last comment but two:
"A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep,or touch not thePerian Spring."
Alexander Pope
"A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep,or touch not thePerian Spring."
Alexander Pope
"'Tee hee' clept she,
And clapt the windo to"
And clapt the windo to"
Gross
I got it right!!!!
I got it when they mentioned 'Hair'
easy, got it in 3 seconds...
@unklemyke-jeez...who cares that much about a lock??!!?? just get a new one when the old one gets jammed with dirt on account of the oiling!
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