A place for Ryans, sealions, and other things that bark.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Water Under the Bridge

It's Thursday again, and that means another puzzle:

Four people need to cross a bridge in the dark as fast as possible. Problem is, the bridge is old and rickety, which has the following implications:
1.The bridge can only support a maximum of two people at one time
2. Anyone crossing must be holding, or standing next to the person holding, the only flashlight they have between the four of them, (so they can see the holes in the bridge).

Due to varying levels of physical fitness, they can cross at different speeds. Alice is a sprinter, and she can cross in 1 minute flat. Bob does his Pilates, and cross in 2 minutes. Caroline is a bit rotund, and it takes her 5 minutes. Doug is very old, and it takes him a full ten minutes to maneuver his walker across the bridge. The problem is, when two people try to cross at the same time, they can only move as fast as the slower of the two. SOOOOOOO...What is the fastest time in which they can get everyone safely across?

6 Comments:

Blogger Ryan said...

How would you do it in 17 minutes?

6:54 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, weber you and your crazy puzzles.

The answer is 17.

2 and 1 minute guy cross
1 Minute guy returns
10 and 5 minute guy cross
2 minute guy comes back
1 and 2 minute guy cross.

12:02 PM

 
Blogger Ryan said...

Good job matt. You win.

12:57 PM

 
Blogger Ryan said...

Um, Karen wins too, because I didn't make it clear you needed to have a full answer. But in the future, if one of you want to answer, post how you got it, so we know you did't pull it out of your ass, (because pulling things out of your ass is freaking gross).

3:52 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I WIN. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. That is all for now

4:22 PM

 
Blogger FrannyD said...

ew dorkville over here.

10:38 AM

 

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