A puzzle by David Wells:
Every day I take the subway from Startville to Endville. Today I arrived at the Startville station to find that my train was just departing. I caught the next train to Endville, where I left the station at exactly the same time as if I had caught the first train. How did I manage this? The two trains traveled at the same speed, and I myself did not have to rush to make up the lost time.
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Startville is north of Endville. Normally I arrive at the north end of the Startville station, enter the last car of my regular train, and ride it to Endville, where I leave the train and walk the length of the platform to exit at the south end of the station.
Today, when I saw that I had missed my regular train, I walked the length of the Startville platform and arrived at the south end just as the next train arrived. I boarded the first car, rode it to Endville, and debarked at the south end of the Endville station, next to the exit.
My normal commute involves walking the length of a subway platform; today I simply did it in Startville rather than Endville.
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