589: Designated Drivers
| Designated Drivers |
 Title text: Calling a cab means cutting into beer money |
[edit] Explanation
There is an intricate kind of strategy and logical thinking required for going out with friends. As the third panel illustrates, there are three people who have yet to get to the bar that these four are at already. That whole group, after having imbibed will be splitting up, some going to a dinner party and others going to a non-descript kind of party. After dinner, everyone is moving on to the other party, and from there people are going to head home, or off to the bar. The enormous complexities of planning who car pools with whom, from where to where, and when make an excellent logic puzzle.
Speaking of logic puzzles, Randall alludes to the classic logic puzzle, in the last panel with the man with the goat saying he can't be in the car with the wolf. In terms of xkcd, Randall brings this up again in 1134: Logic Boat.
[edit] Transcript
- [Four people are outside a bar.]
- Man #1: Wait, who's driving?
- Man #2: Why?
- Man #2: Tom, right?
- Man #1: Yes, but we have to leave in two groups. One of which will need at least two drivers.
- [There is a complicated flowchart with arrows between a group of people and 3 locations, labeled 'bar', 'dinner', and 'party'. Lines point from the group of people to the bar, then to the party or dinner, then from dinner to the party and vice versa, as well as leaving the panel or entering the panel in several other directions.]
- Narrator: Someone has to get Paul, and Julia and Emily have to leave by 10:00.
- Narrator: The logistics of who can get drunk are nontrivial.
- [The third man has an animal on a string behind him, which was previously not visible.]
- Man #3: Yeah, and I can't ride in a car with the wolf because he'll eat my goat.
- Man #1: Dammit, guys.
add a comment!