Puzzler of the week

[Scott MacLean]

This week's puzzler:

There�s a high school election for senior class president. There are three guys running: Tom, Ted and Tim.

As luck would have it, after all the votes are counted they each have exactly the same number. So, the principal calls them into his office. He says, "We could have another election but there�s a good chance that the count is going to be the same. Let�s decide this right now. We�ll throw each of your names into a hat, and the name I pull out will be the winner. Is that alright with you?"

They agree. So, the Principal takes a clean, white, eight and a half by 11 sheet paper off of his desk and folds it into thirds. Holding the paper on the sharp edge of the desk, he tears it so there are three pieces that are exactly the same size.

He then hands them each a blank piece of paper and tells them to each write their name on their piece of paper.

"Just to make sure that it�s on the up and up, you can blindfold me," he says, "I�m going to hold the hat above my head, reach in and pull out the winner�s name."

Here�s the catch.  The principal wants Ted to win because the other two kids are knuckleheads, and he knows that if either one of these kids becomes president, the school is going down, and he�s going to lose his job.

The question is, "How does principal fix it so Ted wins?"

Last week's puzzler:

A few weeks ago, my vacuum cleaner broke. This is a conventional vacuum cleaner -- the kind that's on wheels, with the hose that plugs in on one end. It looks like a torpedo.

Before I threw it out, however, I decided I'd take it apart to see if I could fix it. I surprised myself and found the problem. It was a broken wire.

While I'm fixing it, I notice a huge chunk of iron attached to the base of the vacuum. It looks like it weighs about two pounds.

I remembered two years ago when I took a stereo component apart. I noticed that it also had a similar chunk of iron, so you wouldn't think it was a big empty box with 65 cents worth of components.

I thought, "Do I want my wife dragging around this vacuum cleaner that's two pounds heavier? Of course not! I'll just throw the iron out." So, I pry off the piece of iron and I put the vacuum back together.

It works fine. But something very funny happens. The question is, what happens?

Last week's puzzler answer:

Well, I'm sure most of you would expect that the thing burst into flames or vibrated itself to death. But I gave a hint and the hint was: I was chewing on an apple and the apple should remind you of whom? Isaac Newton, there you go. And I was reminded of Newton's third, second or first law of motion. I think it's the third, which says, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And when she hit the switch, the fact that I had removed this hunk of iron made the vacuum cleaner behave in a peculiar manner. The motor started turning in one direction and the whole vacuum cleaner turned in the other direction. Ripping the cord out of the wall, creating all kinds of sparks at which point my wife said, good work, Hon. So they had put the weight in for a reason.

_______________________
Scott MacLean
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