7
$\begingroup$

Some time ago I visited my old friend, Alexander, who lives in Puzzlevania, where everything is a puzzle. We went to a cafe to talk a bit. To check how well we know each other I ordered for Alexander and he ordered for me. We were provided with menus, but the prices were out of this world:

Coffees:    
1. Cappuccino   6.20
2. Espresso     7.40
3. Latte        2.48
4. Macchiato    6.90

Flavoured Coffees:  
1. Banana      14.86
2. Chilli       2.30
3. Chocolate    3.21
4. Orange       9.87
5. Raspberry    4.56

Pies:  
1. Apple        1.23
2. Banana       5.41
3. Peach       15.30
4. Strawberry  34.56

Nevertheless I knew Al loves bananas and strawberries so I chose banana-flavoured coffee and a strawberry pie for him. We kept our orders secret (written on paper passed to the waitress) until they were served.

Then the waitress came back to our table with a trolley full of food including caffe latte, cappucino, espresso, apple pie, orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, banana pie, chilli-flavoured coffee, orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, chocolate-falvoured coffee, espresso, apple pie, banana-flavoured coffee, strawberry pie, espresso, peach pie, macchiato for me and banana-flavoured coffee and a strawberry pie for Alexander.

She drew out an old fashioned calculator and spelled doom on Al's wallet. Then she said:
'Your friend was very kind to you. Why didn't you do the same for him, mr. Oleslaw?' and she turned away.

I felt bad that I ordered only so little for Alexander. I knew that I should have ordered at least two more things.

Do you know which ones?

| improve this question | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Are espresso and apple pie repeated on purpose? $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Mar 27 '17 at 8:54
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot This is not a mistake. $\endgroup$ – oleslaw Mar 27 '17 at 8:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ the prices were out of this world - if you know so little about Puzzlevanian etiquette, how do you know what a reasonable price is? $\endgroup$ – boboquack Mar 27 '17 at 8:56
  • $\begingroup$ @boboquack The prices were not reasonable for me, but I knew that in Puzzlevania this would be faux pas if I questioned them. $\endgroup$ – oleslaw Mar 27 '17 at 8:58
11
$\begingroup$

The prices

need to be interpreted as specifying paths on the keyboard of that "old-fashioned calculator". Pairs of digits that don't share a row, column or diagonal on the keyboard make a break in the path. Zeros are ignored. Separation between symbols appears not to be explicitly marked.

caffe latte, cappucino,

7 8 9 / \ 4 5 6 \ / 1 2 3

espresso, apple pie,

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, banana pie, chilli-flavoured coffee,

7-8-9 | 4-5-6 | 1-2-3

orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, chocolate-falvoured coffee,

7-8-9 | 4-5-6 | 1-2-3

espresso, apple pie,

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

banana-flavoured coffee, strawberry pie,

7 8 9 / \ 4-5-6 | | 1 2 3

espresso, peach pie, macchiato

7 8 9 | | 4 5 6 |/ \| 1 2 3

Our narrator should have added, perhaps,

an espresso followed by an apple pie

so that in addition to the original

7 8 9 / \ 4-5-6 | | 1 2 3

he could add

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

thus saying

AL.

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ I have nothing to add. Exactly what I expected. Congratulations. $\endgroup$ – oleslaw Mar 30 '17 at 8:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.