Riddle of the Week

Riddle of the Week: A Shipment of Apples to Bananaville

Difficulty level: Hard

Michael Stillwell
 
By Jay Bennett

Welcome back. This week we try to help the fictional town of Bananaville, which, despite its predilection for the yellow fruit, is eagerly awaiting a shipment of delicious apples.

PROBLEM

You are tasked with transporting 3,000 apples from Appleland to Bananaville, a distance of 1,000 miles. You have a truck that holds 1,000 apples. However, there is an apple toll on the road to Bananaville, and you must pay 1 apple per mile you drive. There is no toll when you are headed in the opposite direction, toward Appleland.

What is the largest number of apples you can transport to Bananaville?

HINT

You may leave apples on the side of the road and return to pick them up later.

SOLUTION

Once you bring as many apples as you possibly can to the potassium-enriched citizens of Bananaville, you can see the solution on Friday.