I'm commenting about the Missing Buck Logical Puzzle.
I was sure fooled at first until I put my accounting hat on and wrote down the numbers trying to think of debits and credits and what values needed to be reconciled. I realized the missing buck is in the faulty logic (hense the name "Logical Puzzle" :) ).
Bear with me while I try to explain it:
The attempted mathematical proof makes it sound like "What was paid after discount" + "what was over-paid after discount" should equal "What was paid originally paid". That's not right.
To re-calculate what was originally paid you add "What was paid after discount" ($9 * 3 people = $27) + the discount refunded to the 3 people ($1 * 3 people = $3), which comes to $30.
When reconciling what was paid with the amount of change given, you have to reach the amount due, which is $25. They paid $27 (9 * 3), which is an overpayment of $2 (27 - 25), which the crooked receptionist kept for himself.
The fair thing would have been to give $1.67 to two of them, and $1.66 to one them them and let the 3 guests decide who's going to be paying the extra penny.
Better yet, if the 3 guests were all obstinate, and none of them was willing to pay an extra penny, the receptionist could have given them all $1.67, using a penny from his own pocket to keep them happy. Who knows, maybe the three guests would have been so pleased that they complemented the receptionist to his supervisor, contributing to a raise, earning him much more than $2 extra on every paycheck from then on out. This would allow him to both sleep well and prosper at the same time.
Here's the moral of the story: A little greed is a heavy burden to carry, and a little generosity often multiplies and comes back to you!

DAN8/27/2005 8:58:00 AM