Well after some significant thought, I have decided that I was either not given enough information to solve the puzzle in my last post, or I'm going to need a hint from the person who gave me the puzzle.
Either way though, I don't have an answer to post as I promised I would, but not to worry... I have something better: another puzzle!
This one I heard on NPR's Puzzle Master, so I know it is legit:
On a calculator display there are 5 digits. The first 4 digits are: 8 7 3 5. What is the fifth digit?
It's not a trick question, and there is a simple and elegant solution to the puzzle.
In case you're wondering, I heard this in the car listening to the radio, and I'd estimate that I drove about 5 miles or so before the answers came to me, so I'll guess that that was about 5 minutes. How long did it take you to solve?
Comments welcome.
5 Responses
FYI, from reading this in Google Reader, I can see the solution immediately since JavaScript doesn't work there…
Hmm, interesting. That must mean the CSS doesn't work either because the answer is initially styled with display: none.
Thanks for the heads up though; I'll see if I can think of a better way to handle it.
You should not publish the solution of NPR puzzles before they are announced on the air the following week.
i know it's ethically touchy to post before the show gives the answer, but this was driving me nuts! thanks for stopping me from working this over in my mind.;
@Leroy and @Jonathan:
For the record, there was no attempt here to consciously do anything unethical. I only catch Puzzle Master occasionally, and this one time it happened to be a puzzle that I found interesting and was able to solve.
But I wasn't aware that there was any sort of etiquette regarding the NPR puzzles. My apologies; I will refrain from early-posting any answers in the future (if it ever even comes up for me again).