Aug 27, 2024
Time for today's puzzler.
Here we go.
We will make this one about my brother.
Back in the old days, my brother used to have his wife drive him to the train station, and then he'd take the train and go to work.
So he would work for an hour or two, not very long honestly!
Anyway after work, he would leave and walk to the train station. He'd take the train, and his wife would meet him there, and they would drive home.
Well, one day, he decides to leave work an hour early. Even earlier than usual. So, of course he gets to the train station an hour early. So, rather than call his wife, he decides to start walking. It's a nice day, so he starts walking in the direction he knows she will take to come pick him up.
So, he starts walking for a bit. Then he sees his wife coming up the road. She sees him by the side of the road. She stops. He gets in the car, they drive home, and they arrive home 20 minutes earlier than they usually do.
How long was he walking before they met?
So, I know we didn't give any details like how fast she drives, how fast he walks, which train he takes home, or any of the distances.
But the puzzler question still is, how long was he walking before she picked him up?
Good luck.
So, how long was he walking before she picked him up?
Here is the answer.
So, he left work and gets to the train station one hour earlier than he normally does. So he starts walking home along the route that his wife takes to pick him up.
And lo and behold, he sees his wife coming up the road, and she sees him. He gets in the car, and they drive home, and they arrive 20 minutes earlier than usual.
So, he is one hour early at the train station. He starts walking. She picks him up and they get home 20 minutes earlier than they usually do.
The question is how long was he walking before she picked him up.
The answer is, he was walking for 50 minutes.
So, if they arrived home 20 minutes earlier than usual, by walking, he saved 10 minutes off her travel time to the station and 10 minutes of her travel time away from the station.
So if you put all the pieces together, he left an hour early. She left at her normal time. He started walking, and she picked him up and they got home 20 minutes earlier than they usually would. So, she saves 20 minutes off the total trip. So by walking he allows her to save 10 minutes on the way to the station and 10 minutes on the way back, allowing them to get home 20 minutes early.
And since we know he was an hour early at the train station, we can deduce that he was walking for 50 minutes, if they got home 20 minutes early.
