Case of Two Bedouins and a Dead Man
TOM: Well, you know, the only thing that had me stumped was the piece of straw.
RAY: Really?
TOM: And that's the biggest clue, of course.
RAY: It is the biggest clue.
TOM: Otherwise, I figured the guy fell out of an airplane.
RAY: So close. He was grasping the short straw. He was part of a party that was trying to make a hot air balloon trip across the desert. And, as they began to lose altitude...
TOM: Someone had to go.
RAY: -- they began to throw off suitcases.
TOM: Oh, this is bogus! The short straw and he held on to it all the way down from 20,000 feet.
RAY: Maybe he had it in his shorts! And they began to throw off suitcases, shoes, and all the clues.
TOM: And finally him.
RAY: And finally, they said, "We're going to crash; someone's got to go." And they had already thrown the sandbags off. And, of course, what do they have? The basket is made out of, what? Straw. They strip off a few pieces. They hastily pull straws and this poor bastard has to jump overboard.
TOM: You have sunk to a new low. You have fallen into the abyss of crap. I have never heard a more bogus...
RAY: I thought...
TOM: -- grasping a straw! I can't believe.
RAY: I think you have failed to grasp the beauty and the elegance of it. There's only one answer. It's a one-answer riddle. The Philistines out there were stumped. And none of you got it, and that's why you think it's bad.
TOM: I don't want to be near your computer when the mail comes in.
RAY: Really, huh?
TOM: You are going to be bombarded.
RAY: If you think this one was bad, wait 'til you hear the next one. Anyway, do we have a winner?
TOM: Of course not. We are just going to give someone the prize, because no one figured this one out. The winner is George Hasapidus.
RAY: I would say, Hasapidus.
TOM: From, of all places, Arlington, Massachusetts.[ Car Talk Puzzler ]
