Geez.... the swine..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />
Am I even getting close yet?
One more guess before I slit my wrists... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
<span class='standouttext'>Spoiler : </span><span class='spoiler'> It looks like if the torch has to be carried back and forth across the bridge each time then they will run out of time. Even with Dad doing the trips, they will run out of time - by the two minutes that he takes to cross back to the starting point twice.
So either the torch must be thrown back – and there’s nothing in the puzzle that specifically says what sort of torch it is, or how wide the chasm – OR they have to do as follows:
Dad takes Grandpa across and returns. 11 minutes gone.
Mum and Grandma cross with the torch. 11+5 = 16 minutes gone.
Dad only needs the remaining minute to get across, but now he doesn’t have the torch!
But wait! He doesn’t actually need the torch now, because he’s already crossed the bridge twice so he knows where all the rotten planks are, and he counted his steps as he went. Rotten planks are the ONLY reason given for needing a torch.
So he crosses in the dark – to freedom. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/party.gif" alt="" />
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