The Llama Problem

The llama challenge is making its way around Facebook again:

It’s 3 in the morning, you are asleep, and you hear the doorbell. It is your parents; they’re here for a surprise visit and want breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, bread, and cheese. What do you open first?

The problem with the riddle is that the “answer” requires the reader to ignore the rules of tenses and the linear fashion of story-telling.

Since the question is “what DO you open first,” the answer should be something which has not already been opened, i.e.: any of the food listed.

If the question were “what DID you open first,” the answer could feasibly be the pantry, fridge, front door, or eyes, i.e.: everything that already had to be opened so we know the time, who’s at the door, and the food available.

<end rant>

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