Puzzler Answer 1/18/97: New Year's Eve Party

Ray:
New Year's Eve a bunch of people attend a party; which is often the case. One neighbor invites a bunch of other neighbors and before you now it there are 60 or 70 people at your house.

Tom:
Oh. A big party.

Ray:
Did I ever tell you the joke about the tuba? Anyway, at this New Year's Eve party there are the various things you would find at a New Year's Eve party. There is champagne for a champagne toast, there's fruit punch with ice cubes in it and various pieces of rotten fruit that were going to be thrown away, hors oeuvres, desserts, and whatever. In any case, one of the guests comes to the party, but leaves early. But before he leaves he partakes of all the various things - he has a glass of champagne, a glass of fruit punch, he tries every one of the appetizers and desserts ...

Tom:
And he dies.

Ray:
He stumbles over the tuba on his way out. Not just kidding. He leaves for some unknown reason hours before the other guests leave. The next morning all the other guests are found dead by the butler. He had the night off because it was New Year's. He comes in and the other 74 guests or whatever number were there, are all dead. And they have been poisoned and they've clearly been poisoned by something that was on the table. And yet, this guy left early, even though he drank everything that everyone else did, and survived. He wasn't immune to the poison or anything. Why did he survive?

Here's the answer: It was the ice cubes. Because he was at the party at the beginning before the ice cubes melted, he did not die even though he had some of the food and drink.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]