May 24, 1996
RAY: You're driving in your automobile on a fine spring afternoon in our fair city, and you see in front of you another car with an interesting license plate. And the license plate has 6 characters. They are T-A-N 2-7-0. The question is: What make of car is the license plate attached to? That's it, elegant in its simplicity.
TOM: Aren't you going to give them a hint?
RAY: Do you think it's necessary? I was hoping to save that for weeks two and three. Okay, okay. The hint is high school.
TOM: That was a lousy hint.
RAY: I don't think so.
TOM: Well, maybe not, I mean, after you know the answer. The hint sure didn't help me. I'm embarrassed to have not jumped right on it. Only Ken Rogers jumped right on it.
RAY: Well, that's because when I said it to him I didn't say,"T-A-N." I said, "Tan270." And he immediately started saying, "What's the tangent of 270, let me see, sine over the cosine..." The answer is infinity (Infiniti). Hence the car, the license plate.
