RAY: There was a young gal who had a few bad accidents. So, her grandmother decided to give her an unusual gift: a large sum of money with which she was to buy a brand-new Volvo‹a nice, safe car.

There was one condition, however. When she got the car, grandma wanted to see it to make sure that she didn¹t take the money and go out and buy a Firebird.

TOM: Or a pearl necklace!

RAY: Exactly. So, on the first available Saturday she decides to drive to grandma¹s house, which is 120 miles away. Because she¹s not particularly eager to get there, she gets on the highway and sets the cruise control for 40 miles an hour.

She drives 120 miles to grandma¹s house. Her new car has a little computer that tells her that her average speed is 40 miles an hour.

She gets there, shows grandma the car and leaves. On the way back, she¹s eager to get back home because she wants to get to the tattoo parlor before it closes. She sets the cruise control for 60 miles an hour.

She travels the same road and the same 120 miles. When she gets home, she does a little figuring. She says, "I drove 120 miles up, 120 miles back, or 240 miles. I drove 40 miles an hour up, and 60 miles an hour back, so my average speed was 50 miles an hour, and it should have taken me 4.8 hours.

"But it took me 5 hours!"

How can that be?

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]