Puzzler Answer, 5/5/97: Of Subways, Tokens, and Silent Transactions

TOM: Is it time for the puzzler about the blind guy?

RAY: So you know, I was going to suggest, today, that you ask me what the puzzler is.

TOM: Well you know, if you didn't have your little piece of paper there, I wonder if you'd remember yourself?

RAY: Well, as I was driving in, I turned off the radio and I couldn't.

TOM: See?

RAY: All right.

TOM: So? What is the puzzler? Do you remember?

RAY: No. I have to get my notes. All right, here it is.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: A major league umpire enters the subway by walking down the stairs with the assistance of his seeing eye dog.

TOM: Uh oh. You are going to get nasty mail from all the major league umpires now.

RAY: Do you know?

TOM: Matter of trivia...

RAY: It wasn't until 1966 that a major league umpire wore glasses.

TOM: No kidding? Up until that time they were afraid to? Because everyone was always yelling 'Hey! What do you need? Glasses?'

RAY: Right.

TOM: And finally said 'Geesh, you know I do!'

RAY: Finally one brave soul wore his glasses and he escorted all the umpires to their positions from that point on.

TOM: Yeah. OK. So?

RAY: Anyway, so this major league blind umpire goes into the subway station.

TOM: Right. With his seeing eye dog.

RAY: In fact, he had just come from Yankee Stadium where he had worked an afternoon double-header behind the plate. Anyway the dog leads him to the bottom of the stairs at the subway station where he arrives at a cage, behind which is sitting a woman who is the token vendor. Right? Are you with me so far?

TOM: She was the token vendor? Not the token vendor -- you mean the vendor of tokens. I mean I'm usually the token Italian wherever I go.

RAY: And there's a sign below the window that says 'Tokens - 40 cents.'

TOM: Um hmmm.

RAY: The dog pees on the sign while the guy rummages around in his pocket and through the slit in the cage he hands her a dollar.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: No words are spoken.

TOM: Of course not.

RAY: No gestures are exchanged.

TOM: Oh!

RAY: No little notes handed between them.

TOM: No.

RAY: She has never seen him before and he obviously has never seen her before.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: She hands him two tokens and 20 cents change. The question is very simply, how did she know he wanted two tokens and not one?

TOM: Is the dog involved?

TOM: Is the fact that he is blind involved?

RAY: Only tangentially.

TOM: Oh!

RAY: That was in the way of a hint.

TOM: Oh!

RAY: A very small hint.

TOM: Everything counts.

RAY: Yeah. Very small hint. And the answer, very simply, is, that he didn't give her a dollar bill, he gave her, in fact, four quarters.

TOM: So simple.

RAY: So simple. Of course if he had given her four quarters he'd wanted two tokens otherwise he would have given her two quarters for which he would have received one token and a dime change.

TOM: Right. What if he had given her like three quarters? She would have given him a dope slap.

RAY: No. She would have given him a dime change and token.

TOM: Here you are sir!

RAY: Who's our winner?

TOM: The winner is Rebecca Dodson from Hawkins, Texas.

RAY: 'awkins!

TOM: That's the British part of Texas.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]