[net.puzzle] stupid verbal trick

colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (02/09/86)

> Of course the intention here is that when you see "the oldest",
> you're supposed to deduce that the two oldest ones have ages that
> are a different number of years.  This is silly.  Even among twins
> one is older than the other; and the person could have non-twin
> sons born *almost* a year apart but whose age in years is the same
> at the moment.
> 
> This is a silly verbal trick and nobody should pose problems that
> depend on it.

"Didn't he know the Gowachin dearly loved tricks?"

Somebody ought to post Sam Loyd's puzzle about the little boy who ate
four pigs' feet at one sitting.  And what about Loyd's "Cat and Dog
Race?"
-- 
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: csdsicher@sunyabva