One absent-minded ancient philosopher forgot to wind up his only clock in the house. He had no radio, TV, telephone, internet, or any other means for telling time. So he travelled on foot to his friend's place a few miles down the straight desert road. He stayed at his friend's house for the night and when he came back home, he knew how to set his clock. How did he know?
In a guessing game, five friends had to guess the exact numbers of apples in a covered basket.
Friends guessed 22, 24, 29, 33, and 38, but none of the guesses was correct. The guesses were off by 1, 8, 6, 3, and 8 (in random order).
Can you determine the number of apples in a basket from this information?
The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.
