Sandy Wood
Brain Game: Rhoda Rooters
by Sandy Wood - January 21, 2009 - 7:30 AM

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It was lunchtime at the WJM newsroom in Minneapolis, and sandwiches were served all around. Lou, Mary, and Murray ate a quick lunch at their desks, while Ted had his delivered to his dressing room. The beverages that accompanied their meals were (in no particular order) a Coke, a Diet Pepsi, a 7Up, and a cup of coffee. Based on these three clues, can you determine which of the Channel 12 staffers drank which beverage with their lunches?

1. Murray’s drink was not clear in color.

2. Ted drank a dark cola, but Mary did not.

3. Lou enjoyed a Coca-Cola product.

NOTE: Clue #2 was amended to say
“dark cola” to avoid any confusion

Here is the SOLUTION.

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Comments (9)

  1. In my world (the South), 7up would be considered a cola (any carbonated beverage of the sweet, syrupy type would be included). So I assumed that Mary had neither Coke, Diet Pepsi or the 7up and that left only the coffee.

    posted by Lindsey on 1-21-2009 at 10:15 am

  2. I agree with Lindsey and came to the same conclusion.

    posted by Betsy on 1-21-2009 at 10:30 am

  3. By definition, a “cola” contains extract of the cola nut. So Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, RC Cola, and so on fit in that group.

    Any other carbonated beverage (Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper, 7Up, etc.) would have been called a “soft drink.”

    But yes, I grew up in the south too, in an area where most people called any carbonated beverage a “Coke” because it was invented there and controlled the market for so long.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 1-21-2009 at 10:34 am

  4. I agree with Sanday–a cola requires extract of the cola nut. Besides, from the late ’60s into the 90s, 7-Up was marketed as the un-cola.

    posted by Matt on 1-21-2009 at 11:11 am

  5. That’s exactly why I chose it, Matt… I originally had Mountain Dew but thought 7Up would be more un-cola-like.

    What I’ll do, though, is change the text to say “dark cola” just so that it’s clear to all involved.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 1-21-2009 at 12:09 pm

  6. Yay…. got it right on the first try :-D

    For me, cola is an actual cola product (Coke, RC, Pepsi, etc) and “Coke” does not mean any cola or soda/pop product but Coke.

    Anyway, it was pretty cute and fun.

    posted by Sarah in CA (formerly just Sarah) on 1-21-2009 at 1:18 pm

  7. First try too! I like these deductive reasoning games…keep making more.
    Also, nice initial diversion with the eat at desk vs. dressing room. I built those into my matrix, but didn’t use them.

    posted by David on 1-21-2009 at 3:51 pm

  8. In GA if they ask if you want a Coke that means any carbonated beverage. If you ask for a “pop” you might get one, upside the head, then asked “Where you from boy?”. And yes on quite nights you can hear the crickets but off in the distance a banjo or two. But I still got it.

    posted by Kev in GA on 1-21-2009 at 3:58 pm

  9. Everybody knows Lou had the Scotch

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 1-21-2009 at 8:27 pm

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