November 7, 2005
Problem of the Week

What Day of the Week is it?
from Car Talk

Ashley, Britney, Charles, David, Erika, Frank, and Gusti are having an argument about which day of the week it is.   They speak as follows:

Ashley: The day after tomorrow is Wednesday.

Britney: No, it is Wednesday today.

Charles: You are both wrong; it is Wednesday tomorrow.

David: Nonsense. Today is neither Monday, Tuesday, nor Wednesday.

Ericka: I'm quite sure yesterday was Thursday.

Frank: No, tomorrow is Thursday.

Gusti: All I know is that yesterday was not Saturday.

If only one of the remarks is true, what day of the week is it?

Solution to the Problem:

Today is Sunday.

We rewrite the statements in the following form:

Today is Monday.
Today is Wednesday.
Today is Tuesday.
Today is either Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Today is Friday.
Today is Wednesday.
Today is either Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

The only day that is not mentioned twice is Sunday, so today is Sunday!

Correctly solved by:

1. Jim Arrsion	Norristown, Pennsylvania
2. Sagar Patel	Columbus, Georgia
3. Walt Arrison	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4. Misty Carlisle	Cornell University Ithaca, New York
5. Mike Singer	Winchester, Virginia
6. David & Judy Dixon	Bennettsville, South Carolina
7. Erin Fennacy	Fresno, California
8. Jeffrey Gaither	University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Mary Bailey Wickham	Columbus, Georgia
10. Charles Washington	Winchester, Virginia
11. Zaza Carlzon	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
12. Malin Fredriksson	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
13. Patrick McDuffee	Harrisonburg, Virginia
14. Danny Gordon	Columbus, Georgia
15. Anil Nataraj	Columbus, Georgia
16. Rachel Pridgen	Columbus, Georgia
17. Jerome Pierce	Columbus, Georgia
18. Patrick Chu	Harrisonburg, Virginia
19. Nicole Wells	----------
20. Julianne Harris	Winchester, Virginia
21. Evelyne Stalzer	Montville, New Jersey
22. Adam Haglund	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
23. Bobby Arthur	Winchester, Virginia
24. Carleton 'Buck' Jones	Midwestern University - Glendale Glendale, Arizona
25. Nicholas Caligaris	Columbus, Georgia
26. Andrew Montoya	Winchester, Virginia
27. Krystle	Harrisonburg, Virginia
28. Mattias Tyresgård	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
29. Rickard Jansson	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
30. Chelsea Cockburn	Harrisonburg, Virginia
31. Olivia Quach	Harrisonburg, Virginia
32. Joakim Olsson	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
33. Richard Johnson	La Jolla, California
34. Ashley Hudson	Harrisonburg, Virginia
35. Magdalena Axelsson	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
36. Annie Craig	Harrisonburg, Virginia
37. Tim Beierle	Harrisonburg, Virginia
38. Kelsey Wong	Harrisonburg, Virginia
39. Heather Carroll	Winchester, Virginia
40. Kelley Kolar	Winchester, Virginia
41. Elizabeth Carlson	Winchester, Virginia

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher