When Levik was a young man he spent a summer working as a stockboy for a large grocery store. It was a rather strange grocery store, however, and they had a very peculiar way of arranging the fruit.

In one group you would find any of the following fruits:
apple, banana, grape, and orange.

In a different area you would find fruits like:
mango, nectarine, peach, and pear.

One day a new crate of fruit arrived and Levik wasn't sure where to put it. Where would you put a crate labeled strawberry?

The solution relies on how many enclosed areas are contained within each word.  For instance, 'o' has one enclosed space, 'b' also has one, 't' has none, and 'B' has two.  Examining each group:

Group one:
apple: 4
banana: 4
grape: 4
orange: 4

Group two:
mango: 3
nectarine: 3
peach: 3
pear: 3

So, strawberry, having 3 enclosed spaces, belongs in group two.

Posted by Jim K on 2005-08-16 19:14:42