RAY: Ha! We're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack, the Tappett Brothers, and we're here to talk, of course, about cars, car repair, and, duh, the answer to last week's Puzzler.

TOM: OK. Go ahead.

RAY: Anyway, this came from Rob Somebody-Or-Other who used to work for Applied Logic, because that's what his email address says, and I'd say used to because I'm sure he's since been fired for writing personal email on company time.

TOM: Of course.

RAY: Anyway, he writes, my wife owns a '92 Olds Achieva with a quad four engine, five-speed manual transmission, and power everything. One morning, as she's headed to work, she comes back into the house and says her car won't start. I go out and listen as she tries to start the car, and zippo, not even a click. She's in a hurry, so she takes my car. So, I put the battery charger on her car, and later in the day, I go out and I start it right up. I drive it around a bit to charge the battery. Everything's fine. The next day, the exact same thing happens.

TOM: Whew!

RAY: Right?

TOM: Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo.

RAY: She turns the key, zippo.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: I visit a website and I find instructions for determining if there's a drain on the battery and all that. I do the test. I find out there's no drain. So, I go out and buy a new battery and put it in. Same problem. So we push the car out of the garage and I jump it with my car. I turn the key, and it starts right up.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: And I drive her car to the dealership, and she follows in my car. Hours later, they say they can't find the problem, so we leave it there overnight, figuring, this is an overnight problem.

TOM: Mmm-hmm.

RAY: The next day, my wife gets in with her keys, turns the key, and it won't start at the dealership, even though they said is was all right. At which point, I ask her, did you just buy something for your car? She says, yes. And the question is, what did she buy that was preventing her from starting the car?

TOM: Whew! I have to say that you obfuscated this one really beautifully.

RAY: Well, I didn't. I mean, Rob did.

TOM: You helped.

RAY: A little bit.

TOM: Yeah, no. It's well done. Very well done. In fact, I will say that you did throw in a hint toward the end there, that was unnecessary.

RAY: I did?

TOM: You said she got in the car again with her keys, and da-da-da-da. You didn't have to say that. You could have just said she got in the car and it wouldn't start.

RAY: Oh! See?

TOM: You could have been even more --

RAY: I really obfuscated, because you got the wrong answer!

TOM: Great! It was a red herring!

RAY: What she had bought for her car on Rob's Applied Logic credit card --

TOM: Let me guess! Air freshener.

RAY: Floor mats.

TOM: Floor mats.

RAY: Yes. Way back in the beginning, like about an hour ago, I mentioned that she had an Olds Achieva with a quad four engine and a five-speed manual transmission. And because she has a manual transmission --

TOM: Oh! Oh, I love it!

RAY: -- she has attached to her clutch pedal --

TOM: You didn't mention that she was short.

RAY: I didn't mention that she was short.

TOM: Because that would have been necessary.

RAY: She has a starter inhibit switch, and that is a switch located on the clutch pedal --

TOM: Mmm-hmm.

RAY: -- which prevents the starter from engaging unless the pedal is depressed all the way to the floor.

TOM: Right.

RAY: And when she put the carpet, the new rugs in, it prevented her from pushing the thing far enough down, but when manly Rob, who works, did I mention, for Applied Logic?

TOM: Used to.

RAY: Used to work for Applied Logic. Got in with his big legs --

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: -- he had no trouble mashing this pedal to the floor, and as was the case, the guys at the dealership didn't have a problem, either.

TOM: Hey. Neanderthals.

RAY: Right.

TOM: Lucky they didn't go right through the floor.

RAY: And when it didn't start, they just pushed the pedal even harder.

TOM: Sure.

RAY: So all she had to do was cut a piece off of the floor mat or pull it back a little bit, and voila! The car started. All the hints were there.

TOM: I think it's great!

RAY: And Rob has a new career in floor mat sales and installation, since he lost his job.

TOM: I think it's great.

RAY: And who's our winner?

TOM: The winner is Charles Gruber.

RAY: From where?

RAY: Shaplee. Shaplee, Maine.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]