A woman had two identical letters. They both were made out of the same paper and were placed in identical envelopes with no other contents. She put exactly 41 cents postage on each one. She put both letters in the same mailbox. Both letters went to the same address and were sent First Class. Yet one of the letters went to its destination, while the other was returned for more postage. Why?
NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. Please see the comments section for the answer.
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Both letters were sent to the address of 123 Smith Street, one local the other in Canada?
ReplyDelete:)De
No, they had exact same addresses, down to the city, state, zip and country. Keep guessing!
ReplyDeleteDid the stamp fall off of one of the letters?
ReplyDeleteoh wait...I thought of this after I hit publish...did 1 letter arrive on one day, postage prices changed and the other arrived a day later?
ReplyDeleteWas one letter longer than the other? You know, more pages?
ReplyDeleteNo, none of these guesses are correct. The contents were exactly the same, the stamps did not fall off, and they went at the same time.
ReplyDeleteKeep guessing. I know one of you will get it.
Was ont US postage and one Canadian postage?
ReplyDeleteNo, Christy, they were both US postage.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I've been able to come up with is that neither envelope had sufficient postage, but one of them slipped through the system (like apparently a large percentage of them do).
ReplyDeleteMe again. You said that the envelopes were identical, so I didn't want to go here, but perhaps you didn't mean to imply that the writing on them was also identical. If the woman forgot to put her return address on one of the envelopes, or if she'd put the intended recipient's address as the return address, the postal service might have delivered it to the intended recipient even though it was postage due.
ReplyDeleteNo, GiGi, neither answer is correct. The envelopes were addressed identically, including the return address, and the post office did not make a mistake.
ReplyDeleteWow -- I've even stumped you! The answer really is attainable. Study the wording of the riddle, and feel free to ask questions.
Do both envelopes weigh the same amount when they are placed in the mailbox?
ReplyDeleteQ: "Do both envelopes weigh the same amount when they are placed in the mailbox?"
ReplyDeleteA: No.
The only thing that my husband and I can think of is that for whatever reason, the "letters" did not weigh the same amount. Even though they were made out of the same paper, they did not use the same amount of the paper, or something. I don't know, but it's time that you told us the answer, so that I can think of something else for a change! :)
ReplyDeleteNo, GiGi, the letters weighed the same amount. I'm not giving up my ideas so easily, but here's a clue: The envelopes weighed the same; the letters weighed the same; there were no enclosures. What else could possibly be different?
ReplyDeleteI don't know! One had an attachment? One stamp weighed a lot more than the other? One of the envelopes got really wet and stayed really wet all the way to the post office? You said that they weighed different amounts when they were put into the mailbox, so something happened to make one of them heavier than the other. I just don't know what. I tried redefining "First Class" and "letter" and "identical" and "address," and nothing comes to me. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteDiffernet ink?
ReplyDeleteemwcee - Caught your blog address on the forum and decided to check in. Did she use forty-one 1-cent stamps on one, which added up to a lot more micro ounces than the one 41-cent stamp she put on the other envelope?
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to fiind your site - catch you on the other one off and on all year?! Mush on! - sugarriver
sugarriver, YOU ARE CORRECT! She used one 41-cent stamp on one, and 41 one-cent stamps on the other, which made the second one weigh more. Good job! It's fun to hear from one of my Iditabuddies on the blog. Stop in from time to time.
ReplyDeleteGigi Lynn, you were really close with the comment that one stamp weighed more than the other. I suppose that could have been correct, as well. But you'll notice that I never said she put a "41 cent stamp" on each one, just that she put "exactly 41 cents postage" on each one. There are different ways to put "exactly 41 cents postage" on a letter -- one stamp, two stamps, or even 41 stamps.
ReplyDeleteYep, I smacked my head when I read sugarriver's answer. Of course.
ReplyDeleteI actually figured this one out before I read the answer... That's a first. I love these riddles :)
ReplyDelete