Puzzler Answer, 9/29/97: Igor and His Princess

RAY: Hey. Guess what it's time for?

TOM: The Puzzler answer. Guy loses his brakes. Doesn't know what the heck is wrong. He pulls in and Manny says, "I fixed it. I put a fuse in and it's all set."

RAY: You're brilliant. You are. You're brilliant and a week late, but not bad.

TOM: It's not bad. Better late than never.

RAY: It's true. Yeah. OK. Uh, anyway, this was sent to us via cartalk.com from a listener Adrienne Lowe or A-dre-en.

TOM: Adrienne.

RAY: Adrienne. I don't remember the spelling, but if it's Adrienne, it's certainly a woman. Here it is. I didn't change much. The beautiful young princess had a dilemma. She was in love.

TOM: Now, you think I didn't remember this.

RAY: I knew you remembered. Of course, I did. She was in love with Igor, a blacksmith's son and a hunchback, but she wanted to marry him anyway. However, she knew that her father, the King, would not approve. Moreover if the King knew of their love, he would surely have the young man executed. Wouldn't he?

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: They devise a plan. They will elope. Aha! Pretty good, huh.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: Old plan, but sometimes works. Sadly, their plan is foiled and they are stopped at the castle gate by the guards who spotted Igor's hump. And they are brought before the King.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: Now, the King was indeed furious, but he decided to offer Igor a sporting chance.

TOM: Yeah. Just to make it look good, it turns out.

RAY: He said he would take two pieces of paper and write the word, princess on one piece and Dodge Dart. I mean death on the other and the young lad could decide his own fate by selecting one of the slips of paper from a jar.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: The two slips of paper are crumpled up and thrown into an olive jar and young Igor has his fate in his own hands.

TOM: Um.

RAY: If he picks princess, he gets the princess. Death, he gets the Dart. However, he knows that the King is sneaky and the King writes death on both pieces of paper.

TOM: Oh.

RAY: But despite this, despite this, Igor manages to win the princess' hand. How does he manage this?

TOM: Wow! This is good.

RAY: Historic folklore.

TOM: Any story with a hump in it is good.

RAY: He reaches into the jar. He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. He uncrumples it.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: And he reads on it, death. A big smile comes across his face.

TOM: Guy's a quick thinker.

RAY: He immediately stuffs the piece of paper in his mouth, chews it and swallows it.

TOM: Right.

RAY: Dances around the room and says, "Oh my God, I can't believe my good fortune." And everyone says, "What did it say?" He says, "Ask the King what it says on his slip of paper and you'll know what mine said."

TOM: Oh, ho-ho-ho. What mine said.

RAY: The King don't want it to be revealed as a duplicate, sneaking liar that he is has to show the piece of paper.

TOM: Shoves the paper in his mouth and swallows it.

RAY: Wasn't thinking quickly enough to do it. Shows his piece of paper that says, death.

TOM: It says death.

RAY: Dodge Dart.

TOM: So, the other one must have said, "the princess."

RAY: Of course, after they execute him, they do order an autopsy. Who's our winner this week?

TOM: Oh, we have a winner?

RAY: Of course we do.

TOM: Well, it must be on one of the these little scraps of paper. Here it is, man. Sir Gallahad is the winner. No. The winner is Dave Bry. B-R-Y. From Sacramento, California.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]