2.24. A newspaper reported that Jacques Dubois finished
first in a race held in France. His average speed was given, correctly, as
19,475 km/hour. (DA, from an idea by AR and Richard Fowell)
2.24 answer: In European numbers, the comma is used the same way
Americans use a decimal point. The man thus (Americans would say) ran
19.475 km/hour, which is a pretty good speed at which to run a
standard-length (42.195 km) marathon. I assume most Europeans seeing this
item would ask “So where’s the puzzle?”, but it might be a good puzzle for
Americans. Thanks to Dmitry for providing a more palatable version than the
version that languished for years in my outtakes file.