Brain Teasers
The Missing Dog?
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
Detective Mike Trombley relaxed as he thought about his impending vacation, his first in over ten years. His body was racing with excitement, especially since he had been bumped up to first class. This is going to be the perfect cure for these aches, he thought. No chasing leads or examining clues for two weeks. Plus, the chance to get out of L.A. will be nice. The trip seemed a little long, but with family in Victoria willing to put him up, Mike could not resist. Besides, Mike figured, a 9:00 pm flight on Friday meant that he could leave work at a normal hour to make it to the airport. Mike was soon asleep in the comfort of his first class chair.
He woke later when he heard the captain announcing the time and temperature. Good, he thought, almost there. He began to straighten out his clothes when he heard a commotion in the coach section.
Almost immediately, two stewardesses rushed past him into the next cabin. He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.
"What do you mean she keeps yelling for a dog?" "Wouldn't that be in baggage?" "How did she..." "You better hold her down Johnny." "Ma'am, your dog will be waiting for you."
Mike was soon so intrigued by the problem that he walked back to the next section. He asked a stewardess what had happened. She told him that an old woman in coach was screaming about a dog and pointing to a calendar. They could not make out the rest of what she was saying, since none of them spoke German.
Mike soon realized what the woman's problem was, and then proceeded to explain some facts about the flight. She immediately calmed down. What was the woman screaming about?
He woke later when he heard the captain announcing the time and temperature. Good, he thought, almost there. He began to straighten out his clothes when he heard a commotion in the coach section.
Almost immediately, two stewardesses rushed past him into the next cabin. He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.
"What do you mean she keeps yelling for a dog?" "Wouldn't that be in baggage?" "How did she..." "You better hold her down Johnny." "Ma'am, your dog will be waiting for you."
Mike was soon so intrigued by the problem that he walked back to the next section. He asked a stewardess what had happened. She told him that an old woman in coach was screaming about a dog and pointing to a calendar. They could not make out the rest of what she was saying, since none of them spoke German.
Mike soon realized what the woman's problem was, and then proceeded to explain some facts about the flight. She immediately calmed down. What was the woman screaming about?
Hint
They are flying on Qantas.Answer
The woman was not upset about a missing dog, but rather about a missing day. The flight from Los Angeles to Australia takes approximately 23 hours. So, logic tells you that if you left at 5:00PM Friday, you would arrive 4:00PM Saturday. However, on the flight to Australia you cross through a number of time zones. Because of that, you arrive on Sunday. The woman was pointing to Saturday in a panic, yelling that she was late for an appointment. Mike realized she was not saying "Dog" but rather "Tag", which is German for the word "Day". It is pronounced similar to "Dog".Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Although I always love linguistic riddles I din't get this one. I had a bit of the idea but the german threw me off I was even looking in my dictionary but I looked under d. oops
the German threw me off too. atleast i know a bit of German now
Good one. I vaguely remembered enough German to get the answer. Question tho: If he is flying from LA. to Australia, wouldn't it be that they cross the International Date line (going west) as well and lose a day?
i dont know any german
Very interesting, had no idea.
When you're grandparents are German, and you're also familiar with Yiddish, it helps
I had no clue AT ALL
The gerrman was really hard.
The time zones thing threw me off completely
The gerrman was really hard.
The time zones thing threw me off completely
well, it HAS been a long time since I took German in high school. Good one and the time zone threw me off. Rats.
i loved the teaser - very clever, but i don't think that tag and dog sound at all alike.
targ and dogg pronunciation.
maybe they sound more similar when a german person says "dog" :/
otherwise brilliant
targ and dogg pronunciation.
maybe they sound more similar when a german person says "dog" :/
otherwise brilliant
I got it as soon as I read the German translation. Otherwise it was easy.
wow i really had to think alot on this one you really put alot of hard work into this (but the germine thing did through me off alittle...
sorry but I have a problem with this. I live in the united states and when you said Victoria most people here think of Victoria British Columbia which is north of L.A. you really should have added Australia to the original story. I like the idea of it just lacked some important info
Greywolf, I was going to write exactly what you did. The teaser should be edited.
Very cleverly build, good job.
Excellent, very intelectual!!
I had no clue!
Likewise, dumbfound but genius.
i got as far as she was screaming Tag, not dog. man and i just read about the date line and stuff.
First of all, we are told that the woman is screaming "dog", but your answer reveals that she is really saying something that only sounds similar in a different language? That is an abstraction that couldn't reasonably be described as a clue.
Second, you say in the puzzle that the flight leaves at 9PM, but your answer states that it departed at 5PM.
Third, although the flight lands in Victoria on Sunday, it certainly is not because of crossing many timezones, in fact, the opposite is true. As you fly west from LA, each timezone that you cross turns the clock BACK, not forward. The twelve timezones that are traversed sets your time back by twelve hours. What causes the loss of an entire day is the international date line west, located between Samoa and Fiji, which sets your clock forward by 24 hours when crossed from east to west. So, 9PM Fri, plus 23 hours for the flight, minus 12 hours for the timezones, plus 24 hours for the dateline = 8AM Sun.
Second, you say in the puzzle that the flight leaves at 9PM, but your answer states that it departed at 5PM.
Third, although the flight lands in Victoria on Sunday, it certainly is not because of crossing many timezones, in fact, the opposite is true. As you fly west from LA, each timezone that you cross turns the clock BACK, not forward. The twelve timezones that are traversed sets your time back by twelve hours. What causes the loss of an entire day is the international date line west, located between Samoa and Fiji, which sets your clock forward by 24 hours when crossed from east to west. So, 9PM Fri, plus 23 hours for the flight, minus 12 hours for the timezones, plus 24 hours for the dateline = 8AM Sun.
So, instead of arriving at 8PM Sat, she gets there at 8AM Sun and has a nervous breakdown about missing an appointment? I guess it must not have been a business appointment.
The biggest mystery of all is how can the woman suddenly calm down when the detective confirms her fear that she missed her midnight appointment? I guess finding out that the world is round must be very soothing.
Don't take me seriously, QBall, I liked the teaser. I just can't help myself, though, when I spot some of the incongruities.
Don't take me seriously, QBall, I liked the teaser. I just can't help myself, though, when I spot some of the incongruities.
Plagiatism...
I thort this was rubbish. No1 could get this, and it wasn't @ all cleva. There could hav been loadsa solutions.
interesting... more clue next time...
good job anyway~
good job anyway~
you had me completely stumped! good job!
Good one! I was heading for a Hot Dog problem of some kind
The problem with the "tag" vs "dog" comparison is that in German, the trailing G is pronounced much like a K. "Tag" sounds closer to "tock" when properly pronounced.
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