The Riddle of the Lovers' Basket

3 months ago 2
Two Japanese women carrying a basket of fish - Bringing in the Catch - 1915 by Elstner Hilton
Two Japanese women carrying a basket of fish - Bringing in the Catch - 1915 by Elstner Hilton

This is quite a special moment for me as I am prepared to share a riddle I crafted when I was in high school.

To be honest, I didn’t always feel like the most creative person in the room, but as you may discover by registering to this newsletter : I tend to have quirky ideas.

They don’t all deserve to be written, let alone read, but a few of them may pass the great filter of my better judgment and your interest.

So this riddle was conceived in a class room by an enthusiastic teenager, and 23 years later, I suppose it’s time to stop pretending it’s not mine.

Please DO NOT SPOIL TO OTHERS by commenting the post with the answer.

If you think you have the answer, tag me on this platform, on Twitter or message me👇

I fed it to a LLM and it solved it instantly (Just saying, no pressure).

I will leave you with just one hint : I had this idea in economics class, I hoped this helps !

So enough talking and let’s go for it :

François and Marianne are in love.
After 5 years living together, they marry.
They do everything together. Especially groceries.

Every week, they buy 10 kg of groceries.
They carry the payload in a single basket, together.
They share everything equally including their weekly burden : the basket.
They are of equal strength and build. The load is evenly split.

This goes on, week after week, for 10 years.
But eventually, love fades.
Arguments grow. They separate. Then divorce.

Now, each does their grocery shopping alone.
Each fills their basket with only 5 kg of food.

One day, they bump into each other at the store.
They talk. They reminisce.
And both admit something strange:
Even though they now carry 5kg of groceries ...
The basket feels heavier.

Do not hesitate sharing this post !

Share

Discussion about this post

Read Entire Article