Sandy Wood
Brain Game: Bradymania #1
by Sandy Wood - November 3, 2008 - 6:30 AM

bloghead_braingames.jpg

Some of you may recall a 1973 fourth-season episode of the Brady Bunch titled Amateur Nite, in which the six kids purchase a silver platter for their parents’ anniversary. Unbeknownst to her siblings, Jan orders an engraving for the platter. Unfortunately, said engraving increases the total price to well beyond their means. To earn the money, the kids make an appearance on a local TV show, The Pete Sterne Amateur Hour, in the hopes of earning the $100 first prize. Since we know you’re dying to see it, here’s the song they performed on the program.

Okay! Now that you’ve stopped singing along, here’s today’s Brain Game. The kids paid for the platter in advance. The price of the engraving is mentioned several times during the show: It’s 85 cents a letter, and that bill (tax included) came up to $56.23. The text that follows is what appeared on the engraving:

MOM AND DAD
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
ALL OUR LOVE
GREG MARCIA PETER JAN BOBBY CINDY

While service fees aren’t taxable in some areas, they are in Bradyland. Given all the information above, can you figure out the tax rate the kids had to pay?

HERE is the solution.

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Comments (9)

  1. Yes, this song will be stuck in my head all day, but it is my own fault for clicking the link. Still . . . I blame mental_floss.

    posted by nutmeag on 11-3-2008 at 9:00 am

  2. It’s a 5% rounded up!

    posted by Koketika on 11-3-2008 at 10:01 am

  3. Yes, Koketika… the 75/100ths of a cent is rounded up. But government ALWAYS seem to round taxes up!

    posted by Sandy on 11-3-2008 at 10:26 am

  4. 5% tax. The hard part was counting the letters!

    posted by Gibbs on 11-3-2008 at 10:57 am

  5. Two more important questions than what tax rate the kids had to pay are how did they afford the costumes if they didn’t have enough to cover the engraving and did they win? Maybe I’m just too reality based as an adult–these sorts of things never bothered me when I was watching the show live.

    posted by Meg Hunter on 11-3-2008 at 11:45 am

  6. The accountant on her lunch break loved this question!

    posted by ag on 11-3-2008 at 12:06 pm

  7. Meg,

    The show provided the costumes. And no, they did not win. They came in second to Patty’s Prancing Poodles. Mom and Dad ended up paying for the platter for them. They won a plaque engraved with their names, of which Cindy bitterly complained,”How much do *you* charge per letter?”

    posted by loripop on 11-3-2008 at 12:16 pm

  8. @Meg

    Wow, you saw the show live?! Cool! Everyone vote tomorrow; my recaptcha is Expected Tax.

    posted by Johnny Cat on 11-3-2008 at 9:24 pm

  9. Loripop–Wow. I meant those as rhetorical (actually even kind of snarky) questions and didn’t expect an answer! I’m impressed.

    Johnny Cat–I should have been more precise. What I really meant was “when I saw the original airings of the shows.”

    posted by Meg on 11-4-2008 at 3:47 pm

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