Legends of the Fall, and Spring

By THOMAS BARTLETT

You've heard the story — or one like it.

Two students party all night and sleep through a final exam. To explain their lateness, they tell the professor they had a flat tire. The professor, apparently buying the lame excuse, lets them take the test. He sends the students to separate rooms and hands them each a piece of paper. On it is a single question: Which tire?

It's one of those campus legends that gets passed from student to student, year after year, the details