One more time (this time with a very different job) I find myself on a Thursday evening flying from DC to Atlanta. Which means time for another puzzle.

This time it is one of those about measuring arbitrary time with those dratted hourglasses. If you are reading this on FB, you probably remember that you can ask clarifying questions in the comments section but send answers by messaging me.

You have two hourglasses – one empties in four minutes and the other empties in seven minutes. You have to bake a cake but it must be baked for exactly nine minutes. What is the minimum time it will take you after I say Go! for you to bake the cake? (You don’t have to start baking the cake immediately when you turn the hourglass(es) but once you start baking, it has to finish in exactly nine minutes).

To further clarify, if you said “I will flip the four minute hourglass first and then moment it is done, I will start baking and flip both hourglasses….. And say you figured out how to bake the cake in nine minutes now using those two hourglasses”, then total time taken is thirteen minutes. Get it?

Go!