17 replies to this topic

[rookie1ja]

I don't think you're reading it correctly. The bolded part should say this:
then Friday will be as far from Sunday as that day which would have been called "today" when (that's the key) the day before yesterday (2 days before Friday = Wednesday) was Tomorrow (which makes the day that would've been called today Tuesday).

I see your point ... however, I still think that my interpretation (2 'todays') makes more sense - at least to me

[Taidaishar]

Fair enough.

[carafate]

The way I see it, any day is a good day for prattle, but Sunday is a lousy day for school. Although, since I have worked almost every Sunday since I graduated, maybe it is better to never leave school, even if one must be schooled on Sunday.

[me4tunate]

i think the real question here is ......today will be as far from sunday as today (hence the quotation marks)all other prattle is just that prattle to confuse and amuse..... so no maths needed .............you cant get much further from sunday than sunday??? (can you?) correct me if my logic is off but i had (guesed LOL) the answer before i checked!!!

[dipti]

Puzzling Prattle (by Sam Loyd) - Back to the Logic Puzzles
Two children, who were all tangled up in their reckoning of the days of the week, paused on their way to school to straighten matters out. "When the day after tomorrow is yesterday," said Priscilla, then 'today' will be as far from Sunday as that day was which was 'today' when the day before yesterday was tomorrow!"
On which day of the week did this puzzling prattle occur?

Spoiler for Solution

Puzzling Prattle - solution
The two children were so befogged over the calendar that they had started on their way to school on Sunday morning!

Tuesday/Friday

[Idienasty]

THIS WAS A FUN PUZZLE

[Steve Luke]

Tuesday/Friday

I like this puzzle, but I like the two different perspectives just as much. There are two current theories on which day the discussion occurred, either Tuesday or Sunday.

Both sides realize that the result of:
When the day after tomorrow is yesterday
is today+3 days. Now the girl places herself 'in' that day by talking about today+3 as 'today', and this is where the points of view split. In the second part of the prattle the girl says:
the day before yesterday was tomorrow!
We all know that that means today-3. In the original answer (Sunday) the today in today-3 is the same day that the prattle occurs. This means that today+3 and today-3 must be equidistant from Sunday, so the prattle must have occurred on Sunday. While in the second opinion we are still in the 'today' reached by the first part of the conversation when we talk about the day before yesterday being tomorrow. So 'today'-3 becomes (today+3)-3. From this we have to find a day which is as far from Sunday as 3 days later than itself. The solution to that case is that the prattle occurred on Tuesday.

Both are interesting interpretations. Both work, I think, but I would lean towards the Sunday interpretation because the hypothetical 'today' was in quotes while the tomorrows and yesterdays were not which leads me to think they were not hypothetical tomorrows and yesterdays, but real.

[Macc]

Couldn't "today" actually be "tonight" or at midnight between wednesday/thursday?
That would give "day after tomorrow is yesterday" ==> midnight saturday/sunday, sunday is just about to start
and "day before yesterday was tomorrow" ==> midnight sunday/monday, sunday has just ended

so i guess the kids have quite a long way to school, or just an early start.

another answer could be that the riddle takes place in kiribati before 1995, with the date line crossing through the country. that would make priscilla say the first part on wednesday (+3 days is saturday), before crossing the date line and say the second part on thursday (-3 days is monday) or going the other way and say the first part on thursday (+3 is sunday) and the second part on wednesday (-3 is sunday)