In a cliche effort to illustrate the importance of teamwork-oriented problem solving, the Boss has chained Dilbert to Carol The Secretary via wire wrapped around their wrists, as shown in the following snapshot:

The goal is for Dilbert and Carol to unlink themselves from each other; considering what a horrible woman Carol is, Dilbert wouldn't have it any other way. The wire is unbreakable, and as much as Dilbert would like to saw off Carol's limbs, that's against company policy. How can Dilbert and Carol get away from each other?

untie the knots

good try, but no.

This is a team-building exercise, the boss will only allow them to untie the knots once they are separated.

she needs to climb over his wire........it'll be tight but it can be done...

not sure if that'll work bluegirl... if you consider the wire as unbreakable and impassable, and their torso as similarly unbreakable, then from wire to wrists to torso is a continuous loop... need to find some way of cheating to unlink the 2 loops

so that he's hugging her?

yes....he's hugging her briefly....and then she climbs under his cuffs...

they'd end up back where they started.

no....look at the picture....it would work..

Yeah, I agree with bluegirl

They'd need to get close.... reeeal close

Try it with someone. it doesn't work.
while hugging, her  left arm would be above his left, and her right below his right.  The ropes would cross in the middle.  When she rotates around, it'll be still caught.

Like I said, 2 interlinked loops

She doesn't rotate... she has to go over and under

no.....look at the picture.....they aren't really hugging ...she steps into the circle and ducks out.....

exactly, dek

but her other hand will still be caught round the rope

she would be in her cuffs...he would be in his....

they wouldn't be attached anymore....

would it look like this?

apologies for mspaint.

Aughhh!

Can they (or do they have to) use anything outside of just their bodies to get undone?

I've seen it done. I can't describe how to do it cause I don't remember, but I don't think it's any word play, it's just bending the ropes in ways that end up undoing them.

The cuffs form a complete circle with their arms and bodies, however you bend and twist 2 linked circles you won't unlink them - must be some way to break the circle to separate them, or some way to exploit the places where it isn't quite a complete circle.

Maybe some kind of buggering about with the loops around their wrists...

SK, exactly.  Slide Dilbert to the right of Carol so that his wire is pressed against her inner forearm.  Now slide Dilbert's wire between Carol's wrist and her wire.  Pull it out enough to get some slack and pass it over her right hand.  Now bring it back between the wire and Carol's wrist, but now on Carol's outer forearm.  They are now free.

There are a whole class of puzzles like this called disentanglement puzzles or sometimes tavern puzzles.  They are usually made of metal and chains (I have five on my desk right now.)   You can usually buy them for $15-20 (US).

drdec has it!

okay...

So in the course of the riddle, we've found out that drdec has many of these 'get tied together' puzzles eh?

*wink wink*

Erm...

kekeke!

LOL!

DJ must be very very shocked....

extremely.

I'm so shocked, I'm pixelated!

lmao.

hahahahah I like it!

tee hee. i'm imagining dec's desk covered in tie-me-up metal and chains

don't forget the blindfold and the feathers in the side drawer....

tee hee. i'm imagining dec's desk covered in tie-me-up metal and chains

I read it as dek, and was about to express shock and outrage...

OHHH Same here....

That makes sense now

hehehe to me too....

wow....i'm usually the one who's confused....

You can tell he spent a long time enlarging that smiley, too.

Well, I have one that I spent no time on at all

WIN!

we all have way too much time on our hands......

*checks url on the image, sees it's from gamespy.com*  you're right, you didn't spend any time on it!

I thought you were lying

See, not only am I honest, I'm resourceful!

lol.... Is he supposed to be in fisticuffs, or is he flashing his middle fingers pompously?

ummm... neither?

I think he's supposed to be dancing

Eggactly

happy winning dance...

I thought that white spot in the middle of his hands was a censor....

Oh! hahahah

You can get those interlinking puzzles from heaps of places...  I have a few as well....

:P

My EYES!

Those aren't your eyes, dek

lol

No, they just hurt mine!!

(Nah, maybe cos I'm having a headache... but that image really GOT me)

Actually, you're right.... They make mine go a bit funny too...

hey dek.....

hehehe like your eyes try to bring it into focus right?

Yeah?

I can't see the bottom of this topic....

Eh?

it's like, what's meant to be there is hidden behind where I'm writing...

Reload the page and try again?

yeah.. I did...

I'm using my notifier to read your messages lol

Ok, hit ctrl+r

I've seen it happen once or twice before, but I don't know what causes it. Navigating away and coming back/reloading/restarting the broswer resets it

Hmm.. ok.. I'll try again.... It's across every page in tangler, I was just wondering if it was only me

brb then

OH? Every page?!

yeah - every forum i go into

I'd recommend a broswer restart

Can you snap a screenshot first please?

i'm gonna try it again...

ok..

Thanks

i had something similar....

dek fixed me....

*puts her tools away*

I'm going to email it to you - screenshot is too big to post here, k

Oh sorry, I meant to ask you to mail it to me

rai@tangler.com please.

Thank you!

ok.. sent !

Danke!

Oh wait! That's a new one... never seen it like that before

*sigh*

>Oh wait! That's a new one... never seen it like that before

that statement usually means it will be a small, stupid mistake somewhere completely out of sight  - or - it will take several long days and nights to find out what is wrong.

good luck with that.

Probably the latter, so thanks!

at least it isn't 1am there yet.  g'night.

Goodnight!