It was the holiday season. Jane and Norman Potkins, along with several suitcases, three dogs and the twins Alfy and Betty, had set off from Hometown en route for Seaville and Mrs Waddington's B&B. Along the way, they always stopped for lunch at the Duke's Legs pub in Whoppingly Parva.
Norman, who was driving, knew what to expect, and dreaded it. Not long after they had set out, Alfy piped up with, "Are we nearly there yet?"
"No!"
"How far have we come so far, dear?" said Jane, trying to elicit a more helpful response.
"One third as far as we still have to go to get to the pub," said Norman mournfully.
Exactly 150 miles later, after an excellent lunch marred only by one of the dogs being sick over the potted hydrangea, Betty stopped playing with her shocking pink My Little Tasmanian Devil Set to ask, "Are we nearly there yet?"
"No!"
"I think she's asking how far we still have to go, dear."
"One third as far as we've travelled since we got to the pub," said Norman, brightening up now that the end was in sight.
How far was the journey altogether?
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The answer
The total journey was 200 miles.
When the first question was asked, the Potkins had come ? as far as they still had to go to get to the pub. So, the distance they had travelled was ¼ of the distance to the pub, and the remaining distance was ¾—three times as far. When the second question was asked, they were ¾ of the way from the pub to Seaville, for similar reasons. So the 150 miles covered between questions is ¾ of the total.
The winner is Myles Eastwood, St Agnes, Cornwall
