Mar 26, 2024
Time for this week's puzzler.
Many years ago, one of our producers lived in New York. And he was a two-timing guy, he had two girlfriends, you see.
One of the girlfriend's lived in Brooklyn and the other lived in the Bronx.
He could never decide which one to visit. He liked both of them equally, and decided that he would just throw it to fate. He knew that when he went down to get the train, he would descend the stairs into the subway and pretty soon a train would come. And if it was the Bronx train, he'd get on the train and go visit the girl in the Bronx. If it was the Brooklyn train, he'd get on and visit the girlfriend in Brooklyn. And what made it great was that the trains ran equally often, every 10 minutes.
So he decided that he would go down to the train at random times during the day or night. He didn't know the schedules of these trains, but he did know that every 10 minutes there would be a Brooklyn train, and every 10 minutes there would be a Bronx train. He figures his chances are 50/50, either way.
However, he finds himself going to Brooklyn 9 out of 10 times. Even though the trains run equally, every 10 minutes to each location, and he chooses random times to go down to the train, he ends up 9 out of 10 times going to Brooklyn.
Why was this happening?
Good luck.
Answer time.
So, what is happening with these 10 minute trains?
The trains run equally often every 10 minutes, so he figures it should mean a 50/50 ratio, and he should have equal time with each girl. But that isn't what happens. The trains come every 10 minutes, but 9 out of 10 times, he ends up going to Brooklyn.
Why?
And here is the answer. Yes, the trains ran equally often, every 10 minutes. That is true. But the schedule was such that the Bronx train would arrive one minute after the Brooklyn train. So, when he would get to the station and go down the steps to the platform, unless he got in there during that one minute window between the Brooklyn train and the Bronx train, he would almost always take the Brooklyn train, because it always arrives first.
So he would get on whichever train arrived first. And that was always the Brooklyn train.
