simple

** The answer to yesterday's puzzle is: John, while James had had "had," had had "had had." "Had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.

Today's batshit puzzle, from the book I found in the trash:

Monkey Business

A rope over the top of a fence has the same length on each side. It weighs one
third of a pound per foot. On one end hangs a monkey holding a banana, and on
the other end a weight equal to the weight of the monkey. The banana weighs two
ounces per inch. The rope is as long (in feet) as the age of the monkey (in
years), and the weight of the monkey (in ounces) is the same as the age of the
monkey's mother. The combined ages of the monkey and its mother are thirty
years. One half of the weight of the monkey, plus the weight of the banana, is
one fourth as much as the weight of the weight and the weight of the rope. The
monkey's mother is half as old as the monkey will be when it is three times as
old as its mother when she was half as old as the monkey will be when it is as
old as its mother will be when she is four times as old as the monkey was when
it was twice as old as its mother was when she was one third as old as the
monkey was when it was as old as its mother was when she was three times as old
as the monkey was when it was one fourth as old as it is now. How long is the
banana?*

*You get the answer tomorrow.