12: A bored demon is never good to have around

[scaresplants]

...I'd never thought I'd say this, but frankly, I'm bored.

[Here is one Anthony J. Crowley, currently lounged back in his chair in his spotless white apartment as he adjusts the nozzle of a plant mister in his hands.]

And when I'm bored, I turn to people, because they're the best source of entertainment I can get.

So, Vatheonites, have a nice brain teaser to think about. The one who comes up with the correct answer gets a prize.

"Three people check into a hotel. They pay £30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager suddenly remembers that the room rate is £25 and gives £5 to the bellboy to return to the people. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that £5 would be difficult to share among three people so he pockets £2 and gives £1 to each person. Now each person paid £10 and got back £1. So they paid £9 each, totalling £27. The bellboy has £2, totalling £29. Where is the missing £1?"

And if that's too hard for you, then I say you are an idiot and therefore you are stupid.

I await your answers, Vatheon.

[A smirk, and he turns off the camera.]

Comments

[1776ftw.livejournal.com]

There is no missing dollar, obviously. You're just throwing around numbers to make us confused.

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[Darn you America, he thought that was a hard one. >B(]

...Hmmph.

Guess the populace is more well-read than I thought.

[Voice]

[slyhandmonk.livejournal.com]

There is no extra- enh whatever that is, from what I can gather. Though I can see how the play with numbers would fool someone.

[Video]

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[This question was supposed to be hard, darn it.]

...[Without feeling:] Good for you, you solved it.

Wow, that made my head spin. Dammit, Josh, why do you have to be smart. orz

[oh-neku-dear.livejournal.com]

There is nothing missing.

[He went up against a guy with a math fetish. This is nothing. His mun just fails at anything math.]

Would you like to try another riddle? Or shall I give you one?

I'm sorry but Crowley demands only the hardest. >>

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

Good for you, Joshua. I would've been surprised if you hadn't gotten it.

...How about one to me? I could use the mental exercise.

[toomanypetals.livejournal.com]

[Okay, it actually takes him awhile to reason it out, because everything seems to add up to him. But money can't just disappear, unless somebody burned it, so...]

...Che. There can't be a missing £1.

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

And how do you know? It could have disappeared like magic into the busboy's other pocket.

Who knows?

[ninthserenade.livejournal.com]

That's kinda confusing, but... Uh...

_{[He does some quick adding and subtracting on his good hand, messing up three times before he finally figures it out.]}

It's not missing?

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's not.

Good for you, it only took you forever to solve it.

[demon-heir.livejournal.com]

Uh...well... the math, is right, I think. But...er...

[Oh God, why must she suck so hard at math? ;A;]

I don't think there IS one missing...

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[Grumble grumble people should not solve this easily grumble.]

And there you have it. Good for you, you solved a riddle.

[ironyloli.livejournal.com]

[Oh! It's the friend of Aziraphale's. That immediately grabs Jeanne's attention, though she looks puzzled for some time at the riddle.]

... but sir, that simply does not add up! For all means and purposes, there should not be any amount of money missing.

[But what if?]

I certainly hope no squabble erupted from it, should it truly have disappeared, though.

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

Yeah, guess you're right. There isn't.

...You do realize that it wasn't based on a true story, right?

[obsequience.livejournal.com]

[He's not familiar with the "£," but he'll repeat it based on the provided phonetics.]

The £1 is not missing, because the math is incorrect. The paid total includes the bellboy's share. £27 was reached because you deducted £1 from each person. The spare £3 comes from them.

In short, the addition of the bellboy's £2 is a context trick.

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[Dryly because seriously, he's sick of people figuring it out so quickly:]

Good for you. I'm seriously jumping for joy over here.

[onceageneral.livejournal.com]

I'm rather curious as to the currency used. Is that what it's called where you're from? Pounds?

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's the official currency of the United Kingdom.

1/2

[kingofsweets.livejournal.com]

[Have a shinigami detective thinking hard.

It can't be that hard.]

2/3?

[kingofsweets.livejournal.com]

[...can it? ]

...

[Okay. There were the numbers. And it should have added up.]

[petalfeathers.livejournal.com]

[Yeah, Kurow just stopped reading halfway through and skipped to the end. :|]

Uh. Does it really matter? It's just, like, a dollar. Ya could probably find spare change or something on the floor. [/brilliant deduction]

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

It matters because it just does. Imagine- if you don't know where that dollar went, who knows what could be gone next?

[xlillackeykitty.livejournal.com]

[ This is half why he became a journalist: to avoid math. But he'll give it a try anyway because it's Crowley. ]

Uh... do I get a hint?

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[And Crowley will just smile like the snake he is.]

Nope! Figure it out on your own- I'm not helping.

[derparcana.livejournal.com]

[ ... W-wait, he can get this... maybe. ]

B-but what if you don't even know what you're tossing around, anyway...? What is it?

[ He actually... has no idea what forms of money are what or anything. Don't be surprised if he's never touched any sort of currency. ]

Ahhh, I was never good at math... there's so many better things to do than math, though! Why this?

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

It's money. Pounds, to be exact. It's common sense, really- what would they give the person if they were renting out a room? Pinecones?

Because I want to see people do math so maybe they can work out their feeble little minds out some more. It isn't that hard to do.

[girlpowertouka.livejournal.com]

Crowley-san! You shouldn't call people idiots, or stupid!

[Pause.]

Unless they're your older brother and they're being an idiot. And anyway, that riddle thing doesn't even make sense!

[And now, smile.]

How are you, by the way?

[scaresplants.livejournal.com]

[Oh, hello. He thought you were gone. /o/]

Touka?

But why shouldn't I? It's a free bubble, last time I checked. And it's a riddle, it's not supposed to make sense until somebody figures it out.

[A shrug.] Pretty good, all things considering. How was going home?