[gregoryuconn] A Drinking Puzzle

[gregoryuconn]

Why did Bob buy a beverage which was vastly overpriced and which he had no desire to drink?

[WiZ]

Did he have to buy a drink? That drink? Does he eventually give the drink to someone else?

Relevant where he is? Is he at a supermarket? A bar? A cafe/restaurant? A convenience store? A roadside stall? An airport? A festival? Does he buy it online?

Does he pay with cash? Relevant?

Is the type of beverage relevant? If so, is it wine, or some other kind of drink which is offered at a range of price levels?

Is he surprised that it is overpriced?

[GalFisk]

Did he want the container? Would he have bought it if it was not overpriced? Did he intend to throw it away in order to demonstrate his wealth? Was it champagne for christening a boat? Was it used for anything? Was it bought at an auction? Did he buy it to spite someone? Help someone? Impress someone? As a gift? Was this drink always overpriced? Did it have sugar? Alcohol? Caffeine? Was it rare?

[gregoryuconn]

Did he have to buy a drink? Noish That drink? No Does he eventually give the drink to someone else? Irrelevant

Relevant where he is? In a sense Is he at a supermarket? A bar? A cafe/restaurant? A convenience store? A roadside stall? An airport? A festival? Could be this. Does he buy it online? Possibly. There are a few other possibilities too.

Did he want the container? Assume no. Would he have bought it if it was not overpriced? If the circumstances were otherwise identical, yes. But the circumstances basically necessitated the overpricing. Did he intend to throw it away in order to demonstrate his wealth? No. Was it champagne for christening a boat? No. Was it used for anything? Was it bought at an auction? Did he buy it to spite someone? Help someone? Impress someone? As a gift? No to all of these. Was this drink always overpriced? Yope Did it have sugar? Alcohol? Caffeine? It was probably non-alcoholic. Other than that, irrelevant. Was it rare? Irrelevant, assume no.

Does he pay with cash? Probably. Relevant? Somewhat.

Is the type of beverage relevant? If so, is it wine, or some other kind of drink which is offered at a range of price levels? No, but it was likely non-alcoholic (so not wine.)

Is he surprised that it is overpriced? No.

[GalFisk]

Was it overpriced because of where it was bought? When? From whom? Could he have bought overpriced food instead? Does buying the drink grant him a privilege? Does he carry the drink? Does he want to prove something? Does he drink it though he has no desire to?

[gregoryuconn]

Was it overpriced because of where it was bought? Yes, but there's more to it than that. When? No. From whom? The merchant he bought it from is relevant, as is something about the location of said merchant. Could he have bought overpriced food instead? Possibly, irrelevant. Does buying the drink grant him a privilege? DOYD of "privilege." Does he carry the drink? Not for any relevant purpose. Does he want to prove something? No. Does he drink it though he has no desire to? No.

[trebor]

Is the country relevant? Is there a relevant geographical feature nearby? Is the weather relevant? Is the vendor outdoors? Indoors?

Is Bob’s profession relevant? Are there any relevant people with him? Does he need to get change? To get a receipt? Does he need to prove he was there?

[gregoryuconn]

Is the country relevant? Yes! Is there a relevant geographical feature nearby? Like a lake or river? No. Is the weather relevant? No Is the vendor outdoors? Indoors? Irrelevant.

Is Bob’s profession relevant? No. Are there any relevant people with him? Only the merchant. Does he need to get change? To get a receipt? Does he need to prove he was there? No to these.

[trebor]

Is it a European country? Asian? African? North American? South American? Oceanian?

[JenBurdoo]

Is the age of the drink relevant? Its container? Its label? The language he speaks?

[gregoryuconn]

Is it a European country? Asian? African? North American? THis, it's the United States South American? Oceanian?

Is the age of the drink relevant? Its container? Its label? The language he speaks? No to all.

[GalFisk]

Can anyone buy this drink? Would the puzzle work if the drink was not overpriced? If he had a desire to drink it? Relevant how he disposed of the drink? Of the container? Does he receive change? Relevant? Is he at an event? In a crowded place? Does he want to have less money? Does he want anyone to see the drink? Does he want to blend in?

[gregoryuconn]

Can anyone buy this drink? No, there are some restrictions on who can buy it. Would the puzzle work if the drink was not overpriced? Probably not - in theory you could have a puzzle where all the circumstances were the same but the drink was not overpriced, and the puzzle would work, but this is unlikely. he had a desire to drink it? Yes. Relevant how he disposed of the drink? Of the container? Does he receive change? Relevant? None of this is relevant. Is he at an event? Possibly. In a crowded place? Possibly. Does he want to have less money? His goal wasn't to get rid of his money, no. Does he want anyone to see the drink? He doesn't care one way or the other. Does he want to blend in? No, that's not his goal either.

[trebor]

Do you have to be the age of majority to buy this drink?

[gregoryuconn]

Do you have to be the age of majority to buy this drink? Yope. Also, the answer to the question on can anyone buy this drink should be Yope.

[trebor]

Is he at something where you have to be a certain age to be? If he were to buy this drink from another vendor at another location would it be just as expensive? Would there be age restrictions there?

[GalFisk]

Does the vendor check some kind of ID? If not, may the vendor do so if others want to buy this drink? Does the vendor only sell items that anyone can yopebuy? Is he somewhere anyone can go? Somewhere you pay to go?

[gregoryuconn]

Is he at something where you have to be a certain age to be? Probably not, but this would work if he was. If he were to buy this drink from another vendor at another location would it be just as expensive? Probably not, but there may be other vendors where it would be overpriced as well. Would there be age restrictions there? Not if it wasn't overpriced.

Does the vendor check some kind of ID? Probably. If not, may the vendor do so if others want to buy this drink? He would either ID everyone or everyone who looks under a certain age. I'm not sure exactly. Does the vendor only sell items that anyone can yopebuy? FA, see below. Is he somewhere anyone can go? Most likely. Somewhere you pay to go? Probably not, but this would work if he was.

Clarification: You have to be of a certain age to buy this drink from this vendor. Anyone of any age can buy the drink from other vendors, and it would not be overpriced if they did so.

[GalFisk]

Does the vendor sell things other than drinks? If so, are they also age-restricted? Do you have to be a certain age to even approach the vendor? Is the vendor selling things from a bar? Wagon? Desk? Case?

[gregoryuconn]

Does the vendor sell things other than drinks? Yope If so, are they also age-restricted? Yes, subject to the yope from the previous question, but FA Do you have to be a certain age to even approach the vendor? You'd be refused service if you weren't of age, but you wouldn't get in trouble just for approaching the vendor. Is the vendor selling things from a bar? Wagon? Desk? Case? Irrelevant.

[LemonCurry]

Is he gambling?

[gregoryuconn]

Is he gambling? No.

[trebor]

Is the vendor indoors? Out of doors? Are state lines relevant? Zoning ordinances? Does this have to happen in the US? Could it happen in another westernised country?

Regarding the yopes... does the vendor give away other items? Does he provide a service? Does he validate parking? Allow entrance to something? Perform some other function other than vending things? Is this vendor located near something relevant? Is he someplace that is dangerous to get to? Is he at an airport? At a tourist-y place? A national park? A monument? Is the drink marked-up because he doesn’t sell as much of it as other vendors do? Because the vendor is unscrupulous, and knows there’s nowhere else nearby to get it? Do most people who buy this drink from him drink it? Do they pose for a photo with it? Do something else relevant with it? Something that might pertain to their location?

[gregoryuconn]

Is the vendor indoors? Out of doors? Irrelevant Are state lines relevant? Yopeish Zoning ordinances? No. Does this have to happen in the US? This specific situation could only happen in the US, I believe. Could it happen in another westernised country?

Regarding the yopes... does the vendor give away other items? YESISH! Does he provide a service? No. Does he validate parking? Allow entrance to something? Perform some other function other than vending things? Is this vendor located near something relevant? Is he someplace that is dangerous to get to? Is he at an airport? At a tourist-y place? A national park? A monument? Is the drink marked-up because he doesn’t sell as much of it as other vendors do? Because the vendor is unscrupulous, and knows there’s nowhere else nearby to get it? No to all of these. Do most people who buy this drink from him drink it? Some might, many don't. Do they pose for a photo with it? Do something else relevant with it? No to these. Something that might pertain to their location? No, with a slight ish

[GalFisk]

Does the vendor give away things to those who buy the drinks? Is the vendor part of a scheme to skirt a rule or regulation?

[gregoryuconn]

Does the vendor give away things to those who buy the drinks? Yes. Is the vendor part of a scheme to skirt a rule or regulation? YES! (Well, he's not part of it, he's all of it, but effectively yes.)

[trebor]

Does he do this to get around a ban on selling whatever he gives away? Is it illegal to sell those things in his state? Illegal to sell them to people under a certain age? To people who don't have a certain certificate or something enabling them to purchase this stuff? Firearms relevant? Cannabis? Is it relevant what state he's in?

When Bob receives this free stuff, is it a single item? Is it consumable?

[gregoryuconn]

Does he do this to get around a ban on selling whatever he gives away? Yes! Is it illegal to sell those things in his state? Yope but extremely OTRT - see Below Illegal to sell them to people under a certain age? See previous question To people who don't have a certain certificate or something enabling them to purchase this stuff? See previous question. Firearms relevant? No Cannabis? Yes! Is it relevant what state he's in? He is in the District of Columbia, which is not a state, hence the yope above.

You guys are really close now, just need to put it all together.

When Bob receives this free stuff, is it a single item? Is it consumable? It’s marijuana, in some form, as established above. Whether it’s one item, two, or whatever is not particularly relevant though it would be a normal amount for personal consumption.

[trebor]

Is it illegal to sell marijuana in DC, but legal to smoke/ingest it? Do people from neighbouring states go there in order to be able to get some without fear of legal repercussion?

[gregoryuconn]

Is it illegal to sell marijuana in DC, but legal to smoke/ingest it? Yes, and more relevantly to give it away. Do people from neighbouring states go there in order to be able to get some without fear of legal repercussion? Probably but irrelevant. The last question was it.


****SPOILER****
Due to a quirk in the laws of the DIstrict of Columbia, it is illegal to sell marijuana but legal to possess it, consume it, grow it, and give it away. As a result, many businesses will give the marijuana away for "free" with other products which are vastly overpriced to reflect the cost of the weed.

Another interesting way they get around the law is by selling bongs (and they can call them bongs now, they don't have to call them "sculptures") or joint paper that just "happen to" have marijuana inside. Good work everyone, especially trebor at the end.

[trebor]

Clever! Now all the ambiguity about state lines and stuff makes more sense.