Mystery Solved
Created on: May 9th, 2011
I got tired of seeing this damn thing all over the internet, so I made a gif to very easily explain the solution to the puzzle
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So 1 day, 3 guys enter a hotel, approach the desk, and ask 4 a room. The innkeeper says, That'll be $30, so each of the 3 guys puts in...that's right, $10 each. The bellhop shows them to their room.
Bellhop gets back to the desk to find the innkeeper troubled that he just overcharged the 3 men. Turns out the room is only $25. How this mistake could be made is beyond him.
But anyway the bellhop begins to take the $5 in change back to the 3 guys. Rather than make change, and being unscrupulous, the bellhop decides to keep $2 and give each of the guys...that's right, $1 each.
So the conundrum can be stated this way: Each of the men paid $10 originally and got $1 back. 10-1=9. 9x3 is 27. The bellhop kept $2, and 27 plus 2 is 29. Where did the other dollar go?
(This only counts as a real puzzle around closing time)
Bellhop gets back to the desk to find the innkeeper troubled that he just overcharged the 3 men. Turns out the room is only $25. How this mistake could be made is beyond him.
But anyway the bellhop begins to take the $5 in change back to the 3 guys. Rather than make change, and being unscrupulous, the bellhop decides to keep $2 and give each of the guys...that's right, $1 each.
So the conundrum can be stated this way: Each of the men paid $10 originally and got $1 back. 10-1=9. 9x3 is 27. The bellhop kept $2, and 27 plus 2 is 29. Where did the other dollar go?
(This only counts as a real puzzle around closing time)
I was convinced of this response for a bit (it's so cleanly delivered, much like the problem), but then I realized that they [i]didn't[/i] pay $28. The $3 back can't really be considered a payment, can it? Rather, it's the $2 that the bellhop took that is the additional "payment."
I think JennyLeader put it perfectly; the "27 plus 2" part is the wrench in the machinery.
I think JennyLeader put it perfectly; the "27 plus 2" part is the wrench in the machinery.
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