Fuse on fire: Bogus solution?

I have to say, the provided solution seems bogus.  The whole point of the fuse is to give the bomber sufficient time to escape the blast range before the bomb explodes.

However, if the bomber needs 45 seconds to get away, he'll be caught in the explosion -- because the provided solution only gives him 30 seconds to escape!

Oliver Klozoff
Tuesday, October 12, 2004

I think that's why it's labeled 'a-ha!'

Nigel
Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Well the puzzle said he's mad, so you could take that to mean suicidal :)
And you could change the puzzle to be a fuse to fireworks not necessarily a bomb, I can't see how this tiny detail could make the solution bogus!

Christian Kamel
Thursday, October 14, 2004

Well the puzzle does specifically ask for him to "arrange the fuses" so that the bomb goes off at the right time.

It's possible to to it with three fuses.

Ham Fisted
Sunday, October 17, 2004

I have been trying to find a solution to a similar problem. Instead of two fuses taking 30 secs to burn each you have two that take 1 hour to burn each and you have to time 45 mins.what is the solution

Paul Saunders
Sunday, October 24, 2004

Light one end of one fuse and both ends of the other.  When the second fuse is totally burned out, light the other end of the first fuse.

Andrew

Andrew certain
Monday, November 15, 2004

I agree that allowing the bomber to light things twice is bogus.  The word "arrange" sure implies cutting, twisting, etc, and lighting the resulting arrangement only once.

Equally bogus: Light one fuse and blow it out after 15 seconds. Then stick the fuses together; you've got 45 seconds' worth left.
The problem did not say the bomber did NOT have a watch with him!

Now, if he could set it up so that he lights both ends of one fuse, and some Rube-Goldberg contraption causes the final spark to ignite the second fuse, that would be a great solution.

Carl Witthoft
Tuesday, January 04, 2005

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