Solution to Riddle of the Week

Solution to Riddle of the Week: Le Havre to New York

Difficulty level: Moderate

Michael Stillwell
 
By Jay Bennett

It can be tricky to mentally visualize all the ship crossings, so grab that pen and pad. And remember, the correct answer includes all the ships that are already at sea when the target ship sets sail. You can see the original question here.

SOLUTION

The answer is 15 ocean liners. When one sets sail from Le Havre, there are 6 other ocean liners already at sea that set out from New York. In addition to these, 7 more ocean liners will leave New York during the voyage, including the ship that leaves simultaneously from New York as our ship casts off from Le Havre. So a ship leaving Le Havre "today" will see 13 other ships in the ocean. In addition to these, it will cross paths with another ship as it casts off from Le Havre, and yet another as soon as it arrives in New York, adding 2 more. An ocean liner leaving Le Havre on any given day will pass 15 other ocean liners on its way to New York.

If you have a hard time picturing it, check out the diagram below. The chart imagines a month of 30 days, and each line represents an ocean liner. Blue lines are casting off from Le Havre, and red lines are casting off from New York. If we suppose that the ship leaving "today" is leaving on the 7th of the month, you can see that it encounters 15 other ocean liners during its 7-day journey.


Michael Stillwell