It was icy and cold morning in Michigan when Mr. Busdriver Bob arrived to work. When he got into his bus he remembered Mr. Boss having told him yesterday to first pick up some students 5 miles north. Despite having lost his compass and having a poor sense of direction, Bob deduced his bus was facing north. How did he know? P.S. Sorry for my bad artistic skills! enter image description here

  • 4
    $\begingroup$ That's a nice detective puzzle and nice picture too. If you draw few more elements around it may look even better and harder to guess. $\endgroup$ – Puzzle Prime Jun 22 '17 at 23:33
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @ArturKirkoryan Thanks for the suggestion! I added a couple more details. I'll add more if I can think of them! :) $\endgroup$ – Clangorous Chimera Jun 23 '17 at 0:03
  • $\begingroup$ Mr. Bob probably shouldn't be a bus driver. $\endgroup$ – Strawberry Jun 23 '17 at 9:06
  • $\begingroup$ If Bob arrived at work, he would have to know how he got there. If Bob is driving the bus he drove yesterday (when his boss told him about the pickup), didn't he know how he parked it? $\endgroup$ – Keeta Jun 23 '17 at 15:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Keeta But you are forgetting he has a very poor sense of direction! And memory as well I'm guessing. $\endgroup$ – Clangorous Chimera Jun 23 '17 at 15:13

I assume it's as simple as it looks.

The ice is melted on the east side of the bus because the sun rises in the east so it was likely to start melting there first.

  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Err, wouldn't the position of the sun itself be a greater hint? $\endgroup$ – Thomas Jun 23 '17 at 5:12
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Thomas but the suns position isn't mentioned $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Jun 23 '17 at 6:46
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ Anyone from Michigan knows that the sun is basically south all winter... $\endgroup$ – MooseBoys Jun 23 '17 at 7:23
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Keeta The only way the sun isn't shining on something is if it has something bigger than it between it and the sun, or the thing is under something. Regardless of which way the bus is facing the sun will shine on it. $\endgroup$ – dcfyj Jun 23 '17 at 15:20
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ @Keeta True enough, but keep in mind that the bus defrosting on the east side by default is all that's needed for this puzzle. Also, vehicles do have heaters to defrost windows once the engines are started. $\endgroup$ – dcfyj Jun 23 '17 at 15:26

May be because of: 1. lake effect, wind usually blows from north to north west/east 2. Or, birds migrating from north to south Both giving him some sense of direction

  • $\begingroup$ Birds migrate in the autumn and spring, not in winter. $\endgroup$ – David Richerby Jun 23 '17 at 15:02

Because Bob dropped the kids off the previous day, drove home in a straight line, turned the bus 180 degrees and parked up.


Your Answer

