The sun., 1910-01-02

Suppose that the monkey climbs the
rope. what will happen2 That is the
oonundrum.
Lewis Carroll records in his diary that
he was astonished at the difference Of
opinion expressed by several mathema-
! tioians who were friends of his. Prof
Clifton said that the weight would go up
at the same rate that the monkey did.
Haroourt agreed with this view.
Prof. Price thought that the weight
would go up with increasing velocity
as soon as the monkey began to climb.
but Prof Simpson was OF opinion that the
weight would remain stationary and that
the monkey would actually climb the rope
to the top.
In commenting upon this puzzle one
authority on such matters said: 1T is
not difficult to arrive at an answer on
theoretical grounds IL you eliminate such
things as friction. the inertia OF the pulley,
the weight Of the rope. initial impulse OF
the climb, &c. But when you have to
deal with a living climber and a real rope
and pulley the conditions are such that
Il is not possible to give an answer to the
question"
IL this view is correct il means thmt
there is a problem in practical mechanics
that cannot be solved.s IL would seem
that IL a theoretical answer can be OBJ
tanned by eliminating conditions that
always exist. as this authority says, you
surely ought to be able to get an answer
by taking the conditions into considera-
tion; in fact the second way would seem
to he easier than the first.
What do the readers OF The Sun think
about IL!
Bridge problem No. 20 10 another OF
Prof. T. J. Wertenbaker's puzzlers. and
although large number OF soivers ar
rived at the correct solution many OF
them acknowledge that it took them
some time to do IL.
II was hinted when this problem was
printed, two weeks ago, that unless the
best defence were found Tor A and b, Y
and would get their six tricks without
any trouble. The very ease with which
they secured these six tricks seems to
have bothered the solvers not 4 little,
because they knew that could not be the
correct line Of play.
At the first glance il looks as il all z
had to do was to lead the heart queen
and have give up the eight, the lead
knocking the king and jack together,
and the play of the eight establishing
the seven and six in rs hand. With
this opening and 2 must win all the
ace and king OF spades, king Of diamonds.
ace OF clubs and the two mentioned hearts
queen?
Ifz goes on with the suit to establish
one of'the small cards. how is he going
to get in again to make a trick with itt
Obviously the heart lead in wrong, and
those who got that solution are In error
The correct solution lie for TO lead
a spade. A must cover 1t in order to
prevent and u from making three
tricks in the suit. Y wins the first trick
and leads the eight OF hearts, not the four.
u plays the queen and A refuses to give
up the king. That is the defence. and it
kills the extra trick in hearts.
y now leads the ace of clubs and Y
dscards the four OF hearts. Then Y leads
his remaining spade and A is obliged 10
cover IL as before. compelling Y to win
IL. comes right back with his losing
spade putting B In and at the same time I
y gets rid OF the Ten Of diamonds so as
to be out OF the way Of the tenace in Y's
hand, and the problem IL solved.
Here are some Of the comments:
Thanks 10 your hint to look for good
defence. found one which was too much !
for and to break down and IL took me !
long tine TO discover the play in the |
spade suit combined with the getting rid |
Of the club ace and the diamond ten. !"
I found this problem required a lot
OF study, although the solution when |
found seens simple enough on paper" |
Not as easy as IL looks. l came very |
near sending in solution which was |
unsound.' Il have wasted several hours |
trying TO make that extra trick in dia- !
not be done. AZ least give IL up" En- |
joyed this problem very much. The first |
night ] worked on 1t I concluded 1t was |
impossible
swell, elegant problem" Very neat, !
and especially interesting as a no
trumper because IL keeps both sides |
on the jump shifting forces !
TO meet the tactics OF the defence" Very |
pretty. especially Us nimbleness In get |
ting out Of his partners way at the criti-
cal moment"
very fine problem. No amateur COM
posed this" very neat, with onlv |
one possible key move and only one
norrect return. Thought all the good |
ideas in problems were exhausted and |
here You are with something entirely
new; These American composers have
the English cracks skinned to death at /
their own game This No. 20 is one
OF the best you have printed
The diamond key " well hidden bv
the heart bluff.' Never dreamed that
the six of diamonds was to be the card
70 get that sixth trick with" ~The best
no trumPer ! have seen. Tell the COM
poser to do IL some more" @Very clever.