George Washington Trivia

I hope you enjoyed my 17-part series on the Camino de Santiago. Some of those newsletters featured a new logic puzzle as well as answering the puzzle from the previous week. My proofreaders were always very confused by such organization. I still have more puzzles I would like to share with you. However, from now on, I will indicate the puzzle question and answer in the same newsletter. I will trust you readers to be patient and give the puzzle a good college try before scrolling to the bottom to see the answer.

In addition, I will provide some presidential trivia, one president at a time. Rather than put it in question-and-answer form, I will just tell you some bits of trivia I find interesting about each president. Let’s go in order, starting with our first president George Washington. However, let’s start with a puzzle asked in the February 13, 2025 newsletter.

Puzzle Question

You have two sand timers. One measures 7 minutes and the other 11 minutes. The king orders a 15-minute egg and wants it in exactly 15 minutes. How do you do it?

1. George Washington had no biological children of his own. However, he helped raise two children, four grandchildren from a previous marriage of Martha Washington as well as several nieces and nephews. Given that he married a fertile wife, Washington was probably infertile.
2. Washington is the only president to win the electoral college unanimously, which he did in both his terms.
3. Washington received no salary as president.
4. Washington’s last words were “tis well.”
5. Washington inherited many slaves from his father and freed 123 of them. He is also the only president to free slaves.
6. Washington formal schooling ended at the age of 15.
7. Washington was the only president to serve in the French and Indian war. This war, by the way, is very poorly named, in my opinion. It was actually between the French and English, with different Indian tribes on both sides.
8. The story about George Washington cutting down a cherry tree is probably a myth.
9. Washington was an excellent dancer and enjoyed dancing late into the night at various events.
10. Washington was the first person to sign the United States Constitution.

Puzzle Answer

1. Flip both timers over and start boiling the egg.
2. After 7 minutes, the 7-minute timer will run out. At this time, flip it again.
3. After 4 more minutes (11 total minutes), the 11-minute timer will run out. At this time, flip the 7-minute timer again, which will now about 4 minutes left after the flip.
4. After 4 more minutes (15 total minutes), the 7-minute timer will run out. This will mark exactly 15 minutes. Take the egg out of the water and serve it to the king.