Pirjo’s obvious(ly effective) solution

Pirjo picks up the pitcher and leaves the lab. She stops near the front door, where the jackets are hung, and dons a raincoat, reasoning that it will help keep her dry.

As she mumbles the task wording to herself, she has a brilliant (and deceptively simple) realisation: she’s forbidden from touching the pitcher with her lips, so she’ll simply drink out of a glass, instead. This revelation shocks Pirjo’s studio seat-mate Joonas, in particular, whose mouth drops open in shock as he scoffs at such an obvious (and clearly overlooked) solution.

Glass by glass, Pirjo drinks the entire pitcher of liquid, keeping her mouth open between pours. When she finishes, she asks Pilvi if the task had some sort of trick to it that she did not recognise (either not realising that she, herself, had found the trick, or believing that the task was just too easy to be true).

Pirjo completes the task in 4 minutes and 38 seconds, and is initially awarded second place. However, after Jaakko awards these scores, Pirjo raises an objection, expressing her confusion that Joonas had won the task. Jaakko explains that Joonas was both the quickest and driest – clearly having forgotten the third main requirement: that the contestants’ mouths needed to remain open while drinking.

After Pirjo reminds him of this, Jaakko revises his scores, and awards Pirjo first place. He also awards her a bonus point “for her perceptiveness”, before promptly taking it away for “stepping on my toes”.

(Written by Jenny R and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by Karl Craven)