Friday, October 19, 2007

There must be a "One Light" pun to be made here

U2 has a concert starting in 17 minutes, and they must cross a darkened catwalk to reach the stage. All four men begin on the same side of the catwalk, and at most two can cross at a time. The band has only one torch (you know, a flashlight), and whoever is crossing the bridge must have the torch with them. Each band member walks at a different speed, and any pair crossing must walk together at the slower man's pace.
Bono takes 1 minute to cross the catwalk.
Edge takes 2 minutes to cross the catwalk.
Adam takes 5 minutes to cross.
Larry takes 10 minutes to cross.
For example: if Bono and Adam cross together, they will take five minutes to cross. If Bono comes back with the torch, he takes only one more minute.

Without throwing the torch or using Bono's superpowers (which, as we all know, include bioluminescence) or any other weird tricks, can all four band members get to the stage in time to start the show?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're eventually going to be asked about moving Mount Fuji, right?

I am so google disqualified. It's a great answer, though.

--bad dad

anne57 said...

Bono and Edge go, Edge comes back,
4 minutes.
Larry and Adam go, Bono comes back,
15 minutes.
Bono and Edge go,
17 minutes.

You'd think they would be wealthy enough to buy another flashlight for the tour...

J. Bowman said...

The band is trying to reduce their carbon footprint. Extra flashlights mean extra batteries in the landfills, extra light pollution, etc.

Anyway, that solution is correct. It is also correct if Bono comes back the first time, and Edge returns after Adam and Larry cross. The key is recognizing that Adam and Larry must cross together, and neither can cross twice.

Leo said...

How come you're not in the ALOTT5MA group on Facebook?

J. Bowman said...

Who says I'm not?
Maybe I'm using yet another alias.