>>>>>Wouldn't the bug be dead if he started between the cover and the first page?
>>>>
>>>>Well, this would make it difficult for the bug. As with many other problems, you are supposed to ignore this "slight practical difficulty"...
>>>
>>>Yeah, I thought as much.
>>>
>>>Dots are pages and line are covers:
>>>
>>>

>>>...||...||...
>>>

>>>
>>>3 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 3 = 13, but that seems to easy. Why would someone believe the answer was 7? I must be missing something...
>>>
>>>Renoir
>>
>>Ohhhhh! On a bookshelf the books are reversed! To my credit, and this is really reaching for some fragment of credibility, I didn't need to actually look at real books, but I did imagine them in a real situation... Doh!
>>
>>I am greatly humbled... :-)
>>
>>Renoir
>
>No they are NOT reversed - go & look at a real set of encyclopaedias, Page 1 of Vol.1 will be closest to the last page of Vol2. At least my sets normally start with Vol1 to the left.

Well, I didn't state it clearly, but that is what I meant. I understand why 7 is the correct answer. Perhaps if we are that concerned with the exactness of my humble concession, then the "dead insect" theory is looking like a better response than 7. :-)

Renoir