Jan 23, 1999
RAY: Ha, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers. And we're here to discuss cars, car repair and the -- the new puzzler.
TOM: I can hardly wait, Olly.
RAY: Well, this is very brief. And I'll try to obfuscate as much as possible.
TOM: Right. Go ahead.
RAY: My son was performing a common household task. OK. Are you satisfied with that?
TOM: I like that, yeah.
RAY: He asked me, is 50 enough? No, I said, I don't think so. He said, what about 125? I said, no, I don't think that's enough either. I'd try 90.
TOM: What?
RAY: There you go. This is a common household task which most of us I would say --
TOM: Have performed --
RAY: Have engaged in many times.
TOM: 50, not enough?
RAY: He said, is 50 enough? I said, I don't think so.
TOM: How about 125? No, I don't think so. Try 90.
RAY: And he says, okie doke.
TOM: Did it work?
RAY: Well, no. 90 wasn't enough either, actually.
TOM: So, that's it, and the question is what was he doing?
RAY: What was he doing? What household task --
TOM: Could he possibly have been doing for this little conversation --
RAY: To have taken place and to be correct.
RAY: I'd be willing to bet that most people, because our staff didn't have any clue, that most people don't know that this --
TOM: Our staff has no clue about anything.
RAY: Oh, yeah, they can't find their feet in the shower. What he was doing, is that he was using the microwave oven.
TOM: Oh, yes!
RAY: Where 90 -- when you punch in 9, 0, start, is 90 seconds, which is a minute and 30 seconds. And it's more than 1,2,5, which is a minute and 25 seconds, not 125 seconds.
TOM: No. Wow.
RAY: So, there. Of course, there were doubting Thomases among us, including whom; my brother, Thomas. And --
TOM: No, I'm the one who ran over to the microwave to prove that you were right, because Dougie kept saying, No, no, if you put in 125 it's going to be 125 seconds. To which we said, Doug, I think you might be wrong about that. And indeed, when you put in 125, it reads it as a minute and 25 seconds.
RAY: Yes. In fact, when it has counted off the last of the 25 seconds, it jumps to 59.
TOM: Yes.
RAY: Do we have a winner?
TOM: Of course we have a winner. The winner this week is Martha the McGuinness from Philadelphia, PA.
