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The Puzzler

Puzzler Answer: Fathers and Sons

RAY: Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, and we're here to talk about cars, car repair, and the answer to last week's incredibly lame puzzler. Well, it wasn't incredibly lame.

TOM: It wasn't incredibly lame, but I thought it was pretty brave of you to even attempt it.

RAY: Well, you know, you can't make all of the puzzlers challenging and difficult.

TOM: No, no. I thought it was a brave move on your part. I'm crediting you with that.

RAY: You need one to, you know, what do you call it. Lift people's spirits.

TOM: Sure. I think it's called dumbing down.

RAY: Dumbing down...

TOM: Yeah, that's it. And I agree with you.

RAY: Well, I --

TOM: I thought it was great. It was a great puzzler. Just repeat it. Go ahead.

RAY: I don't want to now.

TOM: I thought it was very clever the way you did it. I mean, two Malaysians are standing on a street corner or something. Wasn't that how it started?

RAY: Yes. Yes.

TOM: And I said to myself, why the heck did he pick two Malaysians, and of course when you finished with the puzzler it became immediately obvious to me.

RAY: Well, I could easily have picked two Italians or two Americans.

TOM: Sure, but Malaysians.

RAY: But not two Frenchmen.

TOM: No, no. But two Malaysians was very, very good.

RAY: Well, here it is. Two Malaysians are standing on a street corner in downtown Kuala Lampur having a conversation.

TOM: See, you've got some interesting folkloric stuff in you already.

RAY: And they all, of course, they were giggling about some advice they had read from our column in the New Straits Times.

TOM: That's good.

RAY: Anyway, as it turns out, one of these two Malaysians is the father of the other one's son. The question was how could this be. And I'll admit on the heels of the previous week's puzzler, Frank, Frank, don't shoot. I mean, if you didn't get this one...

TOM: Wow, then you are really a male chauvinist pig.

RAY: Exactly. Because the assumption would be that the two Malaysians are males, but in fact one is the father and one is the mother.

TOM: The mother.

RAY: Of course.

TOM: Of course. No, it's very good. It's very good.

RAY: There were many who I'm sure didn't get it, and right now are going, duh!

TOM: I mean, if you're saying, duh, right now.

RAY: One of them is Berman.

TOM: If you're duhing right now, you know that you've got a long way to come before you become a sensitive guy of the 90's, and the 90's are fast disappearing.

RAY: Yes, indeed. Who's our winner this week?

TOM: The winner is David Blumquist from Littleton, Colorado.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]

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