[WiZ] PrObLEmS Brewing

[WiZ]

There is a local brewbar that opens at 10:30 every day, except for Fridays and Saturdays on which it opens at 10:31. Why?

ROIMBT. Caveat Earlispolor.

[Sundowner64]

Do they stay open longer in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays?
Is there a maximum number of hours they may be open per day?
Are they open from Friday throughout Sunday but round the clock opening is illegal? So they have technically to close the bar for one minute?

[Sarisberie]

'Brewbar' = specialist coffee shop? Opening times = 10.30/10.31 = a.m. - or p.m? At what time/s do they close? Does their later opening time affect their closing time? Is there some benefit to their closing time? Who decides (if anyone) what time the brewbar opens - owner, manager, staff, customer/s, other? Deliveries/supplies relevant?

[WiZ]

Sundowner

Do they stay open longer in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays? no
Is there a maximum number of hours they may be open per day? no
Are they open from Friday throughout Sunday but round the clock opening is illegal? So they have technically to close the bar for one minute? no to this

Sarisberie

'Brewbar' = specialist coffee shop? It's a brewery with a bar/restaurant on the premises

Opening times = 10.30/10.31 = a.m. this - or p.m? At what time/s do they close? please rephrase Does their later opening time affect their closing time? no Is there some benefit to their closing time? no Who decides (if anyone) what time the brewbar opens - owner, manager, assume the decision was made by these two in conjunction staff, customer/s, other? Deliveries/supplies relevant? no

[trebor2]

Sundowner, I had the exact same thought. One can dream.

Is the closing time of the bar relevant? Relevant only on certain days? If so, Thursday? Friday? Saturday? Does the bar close at the same time every day? Does it have defined closing hours?

Are they being clever by opening a bit later those two days? Does opening at 10:31 make a joke/wordplay/reference to one of their beers? Or to their name? Do they attract business just because of how odd it is?

Are their neighbours relevant? Does the person who opens the bar on the weekend take the bus there, and the bus arrives right at 10:31?

Are they exploiting a loophole here? Is there a legal reason for them to do this? Relevant that it's a local pub for you? Would this be as likely to happen outside of New Zealand? Tourism industry relevant?

[WiZ]

Is the closing time of the bar relevant? yes, FAs lurking Relevant only on certain days? yes If so, Thursday? no Friday? Saturday? these two Does the bar close at the same time every day? yes Does it have defined closing hours? yes

Are they being clever by opening a bit later those two days? to call this more 'clever' would be controversial Does opening at 10:31 make a joke/wordplay/reference to one of their beers? Or to their name? no to both Do they attract business just because of how odd it is? no

Are their neighbours relevant? no Does the person who opens the bar on the weekend take the bus there, and the bus arrives right at 10:31? no

Are they exploiting a loophole here? no, with like a microgram of ish Is there a legal reason for them to do this? no Relevant that it's a local pub for you? no Would this be as likely to happen outside of New Zealand? I am fairly certain this would work in any country that could legally operate a brewbar Tourism industry relevant? no

[Sundowner64]

Do they close before midnight? after midnight? relevant?
Are they making a statement with this unusual opening hours? (political, religious, or whatever)
Is there a religious reason behind these opening hours? (like, symbolically observing shabbat for one minute)
Or are they doing this mainly for promotional reasons? to attract customers?
Is there a pun or joke involved? (like, all bars are open longer on Friday and Saturday, we're the only one to open shorter)
But to clarify: On Fridays and Saturdays they're open one minute less than on all the other days, right?
Does 1031 have any other significance for this place? Is it a year? an anniversary? the altitude of the place? a date (10/31)? a sports result (10:31 min, or 10-31 lost the All Blacks in some match)?

[trebor2]

Is closing time relevant because of the literal time that the bar closes? Because of what happens at closing time? Are the songs Closing Time by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, or Semisonic relevant?

Does it matter that this is a brewbar as opposed to a bar that doesn't brew their own beer? Is food service relevant? Is the brewery trying to avoid a problem by opening one minute later? Are they making a statement about some cause or event, etc.? (There were two breweries in my province that were openly against mask mandates and vaccine passports, for example. Stayed the hell away from them.)

[Sarisberie]

Does anyone (e.g. customers, staff, management) do something with their spare minute? Is there some kind of challenge? A requirement? Can we assume that the other days are irrelevant? Or is there something special about them too? Would this work if it were more or less than one minute? Ditto if it were more than two days or different days of the week? Does anyone have a part to play apart from staff or management? Entertainment relevant? Location of the bar relevant?

[WiZ]

Sundowner

Do they close before midnight? yes after midnight? no relevant? yes
Are they making a statement with this unusual opening hours? no (political, religious, or whatever) n/a to all
Is there a religious reason behind these opening hours? no (like, symbolically observing shabbat for one minute) n/a
Or are they doing this mainly for promotional reasons? to attract customers? no to both
Is there a pun or joke involved? no (like, all bars are open longer on Friday and Saturday, we're the only one to open shorter) no
But to clarify: On Fridays and Saturdays they're open one minute less than on all the other days, right? correct
Does 1031 have any other significance for this place? no Is it a year? an anniversary? the altitude of the place? a date (10/31)? a sports result no to all (10:31 min, or 10-31 lost the All Blacks in some match)? Heh - bit of a sore point for a lot of kiwis at the moment. Fortunately, I'm not so invested...

Trebor

Is closing time relevant because of the literal time that the bar closes? yes Because of what happens at closing time? no Are the songs Closing Time by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen no to both, or Semisonic relevant? Aside from this song being the poster child for how popular music can represent the collective consciousness of an epoch of people, no

Does it matter that this is a brewbar as opposed to a bar that doesn't brew their own beer? no Is food service relevant? no Is the brewery trying to avoid a problem by opening one minute later? no Are they making a statement about some cause or event, etc.? no (There were two breweries in my province that were openly against mask mandates and vaccine passports, for example. Stayed the hell away from them wise move.)

Salisberie

Does anyone (e.g. customers, staff, management) do something with their spare minute? no Is there some kind of challenge? no A requirement? no Can we assume that the other days are irrelevant? yes Or is there something special about them too? no Would this work if it were more or less than one minute? yes, but the likelihood decreases with the number of minutes Ditto if it were more than two days or different days of the week? yes Does anyone have a part to play apart from staff or management? no Entertainment relevant? n/a Location of the bar relevant? no

[Biograd1]

Is the relevant bit the actual opening time? or rather the total number of minutes they are open? In other words, would the same purpose be served by closing one minute earlier on those days (and keeping the opening time as usual)?

Is the motive/primary benefit of the later opening experienced by the staff/employees? the bar owner? the patrons (primarily--of course something that benefits patrons may indirectly benefit the owner and/or employees through increasing the number of drinks purchased)? another party not directly affiliated with the brewbar (e.g. neighbors, the landlord of the building if the bar doesn't own it, etc.)?

[WiZ]

Is the relevant bit the actual opening time? yes or rather the total number of minutes they are open? no In other words, would the same purpose be served by closing one minute earlier on those days (and keeping the opening time as usual)? no, they could not have achieved the same effect by this

Is the motive/primary benefit of the later opening experienced by the staff/employees? the bar owner? this, mainly (I had to think about this one for a bit as it draws on knowledge I don't have - it could potentially benefit a manager in much the same way) the patrons (primarily--of course something that benefits patrons may indirectly benefit the owner and/or employees through increasing the number of drinks purchased)? another party not directly affiliated with the brewbar (e.g. neighbors, the landlord of the building if the bar doesn't own it, etc.)? no to rest

[BitterLemonCurry]

Is something relevant happening at 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays?

Are train/bus schedules relevant?

Are any other bars on the town relevant? Any other businesses? Has anyone else on the town relevantly such odd opening hours?

Would the bar attract more patrons by opening one minute late? Different patrons? Are different products sold by opening one minute late?
Do the patrons even take notice? Are they queueing up in front of the bar, waiting for opening?

Taxes relevant? Other legal issues?

[Biograd1]

Are some type of employee benefits relevant? Can the business "downgrade" its employees to some lower status that entitles them to fewer benefits if they open later? such as part time vs. full time or hourly vs. salaried? can they get away with not providing a lunch break if work starts late enough?

[WiZ]

BitterLemonCurry

Is something relevant happening at 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays? no

Are train/bus schedules relevant? no (and, unlike in Germany, they're really more of a guideline in NZ

Are any other bars on the town relevant? no Any other businesses? no Has anyone else on the town relevantly such odd opening hours? no (although there would be nothing to prevent them making a similar change if they wished)

Would the bar attract more patrons by opening one minute late? no Different patrons? no Are different products sold by opening one minute late? no
Do the patrons even take notice? yes Are they queueing up in front of the bar, waiting for opening? not relevantly

Taxes relevant? no Other legal issues? no

Biograd

Are some type of employee benefits relevant? no Can the business "downgrade" its employees to some lower status that entitles them to fewer benefits if they open later? no such as part time vs. full time or hourly vs. salaried? n/a can they get away with not providing a lunch break if work starts late enough? no

[Biograd1]

Does the later opening benefit the owner (and possibly managers) by making less work for them? by reducing the overhead cost of operating the business? by allowing them to spend less on paying employees who work under them? by increasing revenue? by allowing them to hire more easily? by simply making working conditions more pleasant in some way?

[WiZ]

Does the later opening benefit the owner (and possibly managers) by making less work for them? yes by reducing the overhead cost of operating the business? yes by allowing them to spend less on paying employees who work under them? no by increasing revenue? no by allowing them to hire more easily? no by simply making working conditions more pleasant in some way? no

[GalFisk]

Labor laws relevant? Weekend work? Do they actually precisely time the opening to the minute? Does the opening time affect the time the staff works? Is the staff relevant? Do the owner and manager work during these opening hours? Guests relevant? Taxation? Alcohol? Alcohol serving permits? The accuracy of clocks?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Could the management legally claim they pay more than minimum wages or give the employees extra benefits when they give them two minutes per week off?

[WiZ]

GalFisk

Labor laws relevant? Weekend work? no to both Do they actually precisely time the opening to the minute? no[ Does the opening time affect the time the staff works? not substantially Is the staff relevant? no Do the owner and manager work during these opening hours? no Guests relevant? Taxation? Alcohol? Alcohol serving permits? The accuracy of clocks? no to all

BitterLemonCurry

Could the management legally claim they pay more than minimum wages or give the employees extra benefits when they give them two minutes per week off? no

[GalFisk]

Would the puzzle work if they opened 11:30 and 11:31? 10:00 and 10:01? 10:29 and 10:30? Any other time with one minute's discrepancy?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Is the exakt closing time relevant? If so, can I invoke the list of closing times of brewbars?

[Nomophobe1989]

Is anyone harmed by the brewbar sometimes opening one minute later? staff members? other brewbars operating nearby? local council? the government?

Would the brewbar's plan work the same if they only opened on two days a week, and those two days opened at 10:31? Or does it require opening for some days at an earlier time?

Officially opening 1 minute later for 2 days a week adds up to about an hour and a half every year: is this relevant? e.g. is there perhaps some tax-related reason why opening for a shorter amount of time over the course of the year could benefit the business?

[WiZ]

GalFisk

Would the puzzle work if they opened 11:30 and 11:31? 10:00 and 10:01? yes to both 10:29 and 10:30? no Any other time with one minute's discrepancy? no

BitterLemonCurry

Is the exakt closing time relevant? yes If so, can I invoke the list of closing times of brewbars? Currently, the brewbar closes at 10pm every day

[BitterLemonCurry]

Are they using crafted characters to display their opening hours, and simply don‘t have enough zeroes?

[WiZ]

Are they using crafted characters to display their opening hours, and simply don‘t have enough zeroes? this is so close the solution that I'm not sure whether to spoil or keep it going. I will say that, when their opening hours were initially posted, they did have enough 0s.

[BitterLemonCurry]

Were the original opening hours different, maybe closing at 11 on Fri/Sat?
And they didn‘t have a reserve of their characters, so when they changed the closing time to 10, they also changed the opening time to 10:31, so they could just rearrange the figures they had?

[GalFisk]

Did they begin being open on days when they were previously closed?

[WiZ]

BitterLemonCurry

Were the original opening hours different, maybe closing at 11 on Fri/Sat?
And they didn‘t have a reserve of their characters, so when they changed the closing time to 10, they also changed the opening time to 10:31, so they could just rearrange the figures they had?

****** SPOILER ******

Exactly that.

Congratulations, [Bitter]LemonCurry on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing!

[Sarisberie]

Love this!

[WiZ]

Picature:

[trebor2]

Damn, I wish I had been able to contribute more here. What a pleasing, delightful answer and story. Puzzle of the year candidate!

[BitterLemonCurry]

This is a lateral puzzle at its best- intriguing and with a surprising solution, yet still possible to solve in one go with the right idea. Could be right there with the classics.