in thinking about this further , i´ve come to a semi conclusion.
a puzzle such as this must have been at some point created by someone, he either can solve it or not, and if he can´t i´ll assume he´ll change the direction for solving it until he can, if he´s above average intelligence the final outcome will often be somewhat hard for others to crack, if he is average or less then that, it´ll be easy to solve.
then the puzzle spreads, and some entrepreneurs will take over "leadership" of that puzzle and either make new directions, change them or even remove them to their own benefit, their benefit beeing able to flaunt their ability to having solved it whilst others have failed.
then the puzzle is put on a forum such as veeshanvault, and renouned for beeing the sort of centre as to attract and retain persons known for wanting to put others down, point at others faults and last but not least rectify others hence seemingly boosting (in their own mind, unknowingly or not) other´s peoples oppinion of them.
taking and using every possible leverage they can grasp to do just that, and putting more work, into creating a short, to the point, witty one-liner that will not only allow them to feel superior but also Knowing that someone else is lesser, then they should.
and the human beeing ever wanting to compare themselves to others in the hope of finding themselves near the top 10 % of what ever classification they are looking into will go to great lenghts defending their point of view, comment or attitude to be able to justify this view on themselves in their own mind.
/rant off
short version, i´d like to see the original puzzle with the direction he put forth with it, and not a version that´s nodoubtedly been changed a few times until it finally reached veeshanvault, cuz that one isn´t the same one i saw.
furthermore the solution i put up, once though over more carefully allows the puzzle to be solved in many ways using just that "trick" of crossing a line, along it like i did in the last move.
ps. a man has 2 strings, both are 50 inches long, both share two characteristics.
1)they will burn up completely in 30 minutes
2)the speed that parts of it will burn is unique, so on string A, the first 2 inches might burn up in 29 minutes and then the last 48 inches will burn up in 1 minute, and string B might burn evenly throughout the 30 minutes, it´s completely random.
how can you, using only those 2 strings and a cigarettelighter, measure 45 min.
ps. a man has 2 strings, both are 50 inches long, both share two characteristics.
1)they will burn up completely in 30 minutes
2)the speed that parts of it will burn is unique, so on string A, the first 2 inches might burn up in 29 minutes and then the last 48 inches will burn up in 1 minute, and string B might burn evenly throughout the 30 minutes, it´s completely random.
how can you, using only those 2 strings and a cigarettelighter, measure 45 min.
Light one string at both ends and it will burn at twice the rate (15 mins). Once it's done, light the 2nd string on one end and wait 30 minutes.
