The Turtle Soup Game

[Randy Jackson]

Many years ago, I taught folklore at a summer camp(we had new campers each week of different ages, from 8-15). At the time, the folklore class was pretty unstructured, so I could more or less do as I pleased. Sometimes I told ghost stories, sometimes sports games, sometimes mythology, whatever I thought might be entertaining to the kids. One of the most useful things we did was two minute mysteries, as they allowed me to be lazy.

The basic rules are as follows: a scenario is laid before the people playing, and you're allowed to ask as many yes/no questions as you like to determine the answer. The answer to the question may also be 'Irrelevant' if it has no bearing on the solution.

I request the following :

* One question per post

* If you already know the answer, please keep it to yourself and let others play. Same with Googling the answer.

Once the scenario is solved, the person who solves it gets to post a new one OR they can pass it back to someone else who's interested (FYI, I'm happy to post more).

So here's the first scenario:

A man is found dead, surrounded by 52 bicycles. What happened?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

That's not the answer -- it's the same currency. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"A man buys rice at $1 a pound from American growers and sells it for 2 cents a pound. As a result of this he becomes a millionaire. How could this be?"

Is it significant that he bought from American growers, specifically?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

It's not crucial to the understanding of the solution. It might point you in a direction that helps, though.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"A man buys rice at $1 a pound from American growers and sells it for 2 cents a pound. As a result of this he becomes a millionaire. How could this be?"

Is it significant that he bought from American growers, specifically?

[Peter Wrexham]

Is he buying seed rice?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Irrelevant.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

(neat idea, though!)

[Peter Wrexham]

Is he involved in some sort of tax dodge?

[JD DeLuzio]

Did he buy and sell in different countries?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

He pays his taxes accurately.

Peter Wrexham said:

Is he involved in some sort of tax dodge?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Yes.

JD DeLuzio said:

Did he buy and sell in different countries?

[Peter Wrexham]

He buys and sells in the same currency, but in different countries.  Does he become a millionaire in the same currency in which he buys and sells the rice?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Let me clarify. The amount he buys and sells for is measured in the same currency for the purposes of this question. It might not, in practicality, be the same currency. But the solution has nothing to do with exchange rates. He becomes a millionaire by selling the rice at a considerably cheaper price than he is buying it for.