The next day, there were two pots; one was a tea pot and the other was a coffee pot. They all got on fine provided the same number of people wanted coffee as those that wanted tea.
On the third day, seven people wanted tea and six wanted coffee, and one wanted a double whisky.
On the fourth day, fourteen people wanted whisky, and none wanted tea or coffee, because (a) on the third day the tea cups and coffee cups had had a civil war, but no one knew who won, and, in the argument, the coffee pot and the tea pot had smashed one another so, on the fourth day, there was nothing to hold the tea and coffee in; and (b) on the third day, everyone had seen that the man who had whisky had enjoyed it, so they tried it on the fourth day.
On the fifth day, everyone was having a hangover, and
on the sixth day they all went out to buy new cups and pots.
If the number of people drinking tea on the seventh day varied inversely as the number who were still in bed after two o'clock in the afternoon on the fifth day, how many people drank coffee on the second day?
(Salvatorian Advanced Level.)
Answer:
Neglecting time-reversal and neglecting the 0.0003% who wanted orange squash, the number
drinking coffee on day two is independent of the number of people in bed after two a 'clock
on day five. Assuming that there was the same number of people present each day, (i.e.
fourteen, from the figures given for day three), there must have been half of this number
(i.e. seven) drinking coffee on day two since civil war did not break out until day three.
Therefore, final answer : SEVEN.
NT