An FOFC anti-puzzle

[QuikSand]

There was once a day when we did puzzles here, with some frequency. Enough so that I occasionally stumbled onto something in real life and it generated a thought for a puzzle.

Note: This list is actually either impressive or sad

My instant case is one I couldn't find by searching...but I'll re-tell it here, as a warm-up.

PART ONE - A REAL PUZZLE

Here's a script that happened in my head one morning:

Hmmm.... three?
Yeah, probably.
(pause)
Wow, forty-one!
Awesome!

What the hell was going on?

(please pause here long enough to give this legitimate thought)



PART TWO - A NON-PUZZLE YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE

The other day, I discovered that my wad of cash that landed upon my pile of keys and sundries included seven five-dollar bills. I had no recollection of how that happened.

Now... I'm guessing the real answer is some boring coincidence.

But it did get me thinking as far as "I bet there's a decent puzzle in there somewhere..."

So far, I haven't made it past that stage. So... any takers? Can we build a puzzle that is built around the premise of an unusually high number of five-dollar bills appearing in someone's take-home pocket?

[digamma]

I believe I remember the first one, so will sit it out for a bit.

On the second, a couple of things that pop into mind, which I'm not sure lead us to a puzzle...
-You played a $5 round of liar's poker
-You collected on your daughter's girl scout cookie orders at the office

[QuikSand]

Yeah, I had a few preliminary thoughts here:

-drunken haze (either in the story or the reveal)
-cheating spouse (not sure how, but it's often a good puzzle element)
-shared restaurant/bar bill
-gambling or office pool of some sort

[CU Tiger]

And in an odd but 100% true coincidence yesterday I took my sons jeep to the gas station a couple miles down the road and filled it up with gas. We buy all our gas on an AMEX card that gives us rebates on gas. Anyway after paying at the pump and while it filled up I walked into the store and bought a bottle of water.

All I had in my wallet was 4 20s.

So I paid for the 1.09 bottle of water with a $20 bill. The cashier gave me
3-5s back for change. Apparently they were out of $10s. Who knows. So I go home and workout in my home gym after changing into a pair of sweat pants. After my workout I go for a walk along the same route to the same store ~2 miles away. I grab my wallet before heading out the door, just in case. Along the way I catch a coughing fit and and cant clear my throat. When I get to the store walk in and buy another bottle of water, but since I had shoved the change in my pocket earlier and not returned it to my wallet all I had in my wallet were 3 -20s. I again got the same 3-5s for change.

Which lead to quite the conversation last night about why I had 6-5s laying on my desk.

And now you post this thread today. Are you stalking me?

[Maple Leafs]

Weirdly, I actually have a wallet stuffed with fives right now, although not in a way that would be satisfying in a puzzle. (My daughter gets $5/week allowance and I never seem to have any handy to pay her, so I broke a $50 at the bank intending to use that over the coming months.)

Puzzle related: If you want to get tricky, remember that the five is the smallest bill in Canada, and a few other countries.

[Logan]

I have ten 5s in my wallet right now, also for a puzzle-unworthy reason. But someone is still free to guess why.

[QuikSand]

Well, that escalated quickly...

[albionmoonlight]

I cannot get out of my head the idea of Q thinking about some accomplishment. Like "how many games in a row has Durant scored over 30" or something like that. Then guessing it might be three and realized that it is actually 41.

But I cannot think of what kind of accomplishment could reasonably be guessed as three but really be 41. The spread seems too large.

[QuikSand]

It's a minor clue that it happened in the morning. Like early morning. And I was alone, probably just saying those things to myself in my head.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It's a minor clue that it happened in the morning. Like early morning. And I was alone, probably just saying those things to myself in my head.

Checking the weather report for the day?

[Logan]

(fires up preferred Adult streaming site)
(sees thumbnail of particularly high interest)
How many seconds will I last on this one?
Hmmm.... three?
Yeah, probably.
(pause)
Wow, forty-one!
Awesome!

[Marmel]

I feel 100% confident on the answer to the 3/41 puzzle, but you must have posted that one before or something? There is no way that answer just came to me without having heard it in the past, is there?

Edited, OK I read it now instead of quickly scanning and see that it was a previous puzzle. And I was just starting to feel smart.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Marmel

I feel 100% confident on the answer to the 3/41 puzzle, but you must have posted that one before or something? There is no way that answer just came to me without having heard it in the past, is there?

Edited, OK I read it now instead of quickly scanning and see that it was a previous puzzle. And I was just starting to feel smart.

What's the answer?

[QuikSand]

Hint:

I was getting dressed in the morning, and was putting on a pair of pants. I can sometimes be forgetful, especially late at night. Perhaps these were a pair of jeans I had worn once already...

[digamma]

OK, this is not the puzzle I remembered, but fairly sure with the hint I've got it.

Spoiler

Three bills in the pocket, with the first assumption being that it is $3 total. Upon further inspection, you have two twenties and a single for $41.

[QuikSand]

Quite right. Start with the pessimistic view, and you can only be surprised to the good.