The Blank Claim Ticket
At the front desk of a small hotel, a woman tore a blank sheet of paper each time she took luggage into safekeeping.
She didn't write anything on the paper. Even so, she used it to return the right luggage to each guest who came to collect it.
How did she know which luggage to return?
Let’s unravel your preconceptions, one by one.
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Hints
Take it little by little, just as much as you need.
Hint 1
She attached one piece of the torn paper to the luggage and gave the other to the guest.
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Answer
She matched the torn edge of the guest's paper to the torn edge of the paper attached to the luggage.
Explanation
The woman tore a blank sheet of paper into two pieces, attached one to the luggage and gave the other to the guest.
When returning the luggage, she placed the paper the guest brought back beside the paper on the luggage and lined up their uneven torn edges. Once she found two pieces that fitted together to form the original sheet, she could return the luggage with that paper attached.
By tearing the paper, she had made a claim ticket without writing anything.
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