A word about our Micro Softies: When applying to be a programmer at a major software company, prospects can be asked questions whose answers require clever thinking. Often, the candidate is also asked — during the interview — to write code to solve an assigned problem.

I first heard of many of these clever questions when working at the University of Washington in Seattle during the early days of Microsoft. My students returned from Microsoft interviews and shared the questions they were asked. I began collecting these and similar questions. This is the source of the Micro Softies offered each week here at MindMatters.ai.

If you missed the earlier Micro Softies, links to them are listed at the end of each column.

I’d like to tell you that I immediately solved each and every one of the Micro Softies presented each week. But, since I pride myself in being honest, I won’t.

 Now here’s this week’s Micro Softy:

This problem requires the use of abductive reasoning, which is a way of arriving at the most reasonable solution. (The solution to last week’s Micro Softy then follows.)

Here’s this week’s problem: 

Image Credit: Taras Grebinets - Adobe Stock

It was a frigid morning in rural Blackburn, West Virginia. Ray warmed up his hybrid Ford Taurus and started his drive to Weston to his job at the Walmart. Every day, Ray had to cross Kanoaha Creek. Today, after heavy rain for two days and then a freezing day of snow, the creek was iced over. Ray heard the thick surface ice crack as the Ford Taurus forded the deeper-than-usual creek, like it did every morning.

Ray noticed that two of his tires had a slow leak, so he stopped at Percy’s garage on the way to air them up. Percy’s garage was next to the long winding creek, which sometimes flooded after a heavy rain. Percy’s air pump was old, but it was free for good customers like Ray. A new one was scheduled to arrive the next day. Ray’s tires were low, and he aired up each tire to 30 pounds of pressure.

After 8 hours working as a Walmart cashier, Ray bundled up against the freezing weather and began his drive home. But something happened.  His car shook terribly, like he was in a cement mixer. It was too late to stop at the garage and have Percy take a look. So he drove his shaking car back home. It shook all the way. Ray decided to get up early the next day and take the car to the garage to find out what was wrong.

Early the next morning, he began to drive to see Percy. The water in Kanoaha creek now ran cool and clear from the thaw during the night. As he was crossing the creek, Ray noticed something. The car was no longer driving like a cement mixer. The ride was smoother.

Even though the shaking problem had disappeared, Ray took the car to Percy’s garage. Ray told Percy he thought the leaky tires might be underinflated. Maybe there was something wrong with the engine.  Percy said no to both. In fact, Percy immediately knew what the problem was and apologized to Ray. 

Percy said it was probably his fault. After looking at the car, he showed Ray the problem. Ray, who knew next to nothing about mechanics, immediately understood why his car shook the day before. Percy then fixed the problem.

So here’s the Micro Softy for this week: What caused Ray’s car to violently vibrate? What was Percy’s diagnosis?

Solution to Micro Softy 29:  A Funeral Lament

Image Credit: David L/peopleimages.com - Adobe Stock

The solution to this problem requires the application of cold hard logic. Here’s a recap:

Dan slowly walked to the open casket at the funeral home and looked at the deceased.  When asked how he was related, he responded with a poem.

                Brothers and sisters

                I have none.

                But this man’s father

                Is my father’s son.

Who was in the casket? The answer is Dan’s son.

To explain more clearly, suppose Dan’s father is named Moses and Dan’s dead son is named Junior. Here is the poem with comments that make the conclusion clearer.

                Brothers and sisters

                I have none.

                But this man’s (Junior’s) father (Dan)

                Is my father’s (Moses’) son (Dan).

This Micro Softy shows that unambiguous facts can be stated in confusing language.

Shady lawyers and politicians excel at this.

Links to all the Monday Micro Softies

Monday Microsofty 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere. Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29 as well.

Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. There, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20 as well.

At Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar?, you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!