Puzzler Answer, 6/20/97: Where's Elsie?

RAY: OK. It's time to answer last week's Puzzler.

TOM: I have no idea what the Puzzler was because all I know is that it was the last Puzzler of the year and I said I'm not even going to think about it. I don't care.

RAY: Really? Wow.

TOM: I have no idea.

RAY: Well, I feel great.

TOM: Yeah. I thought you would.

RAY: Well, here it is stupid.

TOM: Jerk

RAY: Moron. Not everyone knows Doug Mayer -- he's our Web lackey/Web master. He used to be assistant producer of the show until Berman got rid of him. Anyway, Mayer lives up in the wilds of New Hampshire in the mountains someplace. And because he works so hard on our Web site he no longer has a social life.

TOM: No.

RAY: In fact, his entire social life has been confined to tending his flock of sheep.

TOM: I think I hear them coming now.

RAY: Anyway.

TOM: Who did that?

RAY: Anyway. While out one day looking for his flock he noticed that one of his sheep was missing. In fact it was his favorite. I think her name was Elsie. Anyway Mayer went and talked to his neighbors to see if they'd noticed any strange cars in the area and he thought it was possible that someone had kidnapped his dear Honey. Well, wouldn't you know that one of his neighbors said "Yeah, I did see a car but I couldn't tell you the make or model but it did have an unusual license plate." Now considering there are only about 7 people that live within a hundred miles he figured he could stake out the feed store, find the car with this licence place and then go to the police. So he asked his neighbor what the licence plate was. His neighbor told him the place read 4 x 4 x 8. And Mayer said, "I know what kind of a car that is and I know who stole my sheep.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: The question, very simply, was, what kind of a car was the license gave away.

TOM: 4 x 4 x 8.

RAY: Told you the make...

TOM: and model.

RAY: Well, told you the model anyway. The make everyone would know.

TOM: Everyone would know.

RAY: And I should have given a hint -- I gave enough hints -- up country and all that. It is an up-country or woodsy kind of Puzzler because as people --

TOM: Bucolic.

RAY: -- burn wood in their stoves know, 4 x 4 x 8 is a cord of wood. Therefore this is a Honda...

RAY and TOM: Accord.

RAY: Pretty good, huh?

TOM: Eh, not bad. Not bad. OK.

RAY: Who is our winner?

TOM: And we have a winner. The winner is Bob Jepson from Redmond, Washington. Oh, great. The conspiracy theorists are going to have a field day with this. No sooner does Microsoft take over our Web site, we start getting Puzzler winners from Redmond, Washington -- Company Headquarters.

RAY: Oh, it's going to look bad.

TOM: Sure, this is a non de plume of Bill Gates. He'd do anything to win one of our Best Of tapes.

RAY: He would.

TOM: I understand, he's quite a fan. Because we when signed this deal with Microsoft he said- "Who?" Anyway congratulations to Bob Jepson from Redmond, Washington.

RAY: Good work Bob.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]