Missing pound

[MossCommuter]

3 men go into a hotel. The man behindthe desk said the room is £30, so each man paid £10 and went to the room.

A while later the man behind the desk realised the room was only £25, so he sentthe bellboy to the 3 guys' room with £5.

On the way, the bellboy couldn't figure out how to split £5 evenly between 3 men,so he gave each man a £1 and kept the other £2 for himself.

This meant that the 3 men each paid £9 for the room, which is a total of £27, addthe £2 that the bellboy kept = £29.

So where is the other pound??

 

[Monsieur Remings]

If you split £25 between them (£8.33 r.) and they each got a pound back then that is £8.33 r. x 3 which is £25 (+ £3) = £28 leaving £2 for the little scamp.

 

[ASC1951]

So where is the other pound??

Never mind that. An MP and his campaign adviser is ok, but what is the third man doing there?

 

[CharlieB]

There isn't another pound. It's the way the conundrum is worded:

Hotel is up £25
Bellboy is up £2
= £27
Man 1 is down £9
Man 2 is down £9
Man 3 is down £9
=£27

Sorry, I spoilt that one, but that's what a career in accountancy does to you. Makes one a spoilsport.



Ooh, 900 posts!

 

[ASC1951]

A slightly different version is Imam Ali's puzzle of the dying Bedouin who leaves his herd of camels to his three sons, half to the eldest, a third to the middle son and a ninth to the youngest. A stranger comes across them still arguing about how to divide the herd without killing a camel or, by that stage, each other. The stranger dismounts - "Here, I'll lend you my camel" - and they try the sum again. Each gets his entitlement and they give profuse thanks to the stranger, who re-mounts his camel and rides off.

 

[ChrisKH]

There isn't another pound. It's the way the conundrum is worded:

Hotel is up £25
Bellboy is up £2
= £27
Man 1 is down £9
Man 2 is down £9
Man 3 is down £9
=£27

Sorry, I spoilt that one, but that's what a career in accountancy does to you. Makes one a spoilsport.



Ooh, 900 posts!

And a pervert. So I'm told.

 

[Aperitif]

Did you catch Charlie at one of your 'shows' then Chris?

 

[TVC]

Have you heard the one about the ducks?