The Curiosity Shop

On almost every table in any Cracker Barrel Restaurant you will find this puzzle to amuse you while you wait for your meal. It consists of a block of wood with 15 holes, arranged in a triangle, and 14 golf tees placed in the holes. The object is to start with one point hole empty, jump the tees over eachother, like checkers, and end up with only one tee remaining.

The pictures below show six ways to do that. I'll warn you though, often knowing the answer isn't half as much fun as trying to figure it out. To quote Dr. Mark Chabot in the movie "On A Clear Day" from memory, meaning that he only said something approximating this, "I used to be in love with answers. But now, thanks to you, I've come to like the questions just as much." And as someone else once said, "The fun is in the journey, not in the arrival." So ask yourself if you really want to know, and if the answer is "yes", then study one or more of the pictures below.

I was told that there are at least 5 solutions. Obviously there are more. A Cracker Barrel web site says there are 6,000 but I doubt that. I intend to keep looking as I'm waiting for my order each time I eat at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant.

I discovered this solution a long time ago.


A Cracker Barrel manager showed me this one in 2019.


This one's from a Cracker Barrel web site. I found it in June of 2023.


I discovered this one in 2019 while trying alternate second moves.


I discovered this one July 20, 2022 while trying the remaining second move.


I discovered this one June 6, 2023 just playing with it.