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Topic: Cursed island (Read 3383 times) |
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alien2
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Cursed island
« on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:25am » |
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Tommy owes more than $4000 to loan shark for quite some time now, so one day loan shark decides to take him to the island, which locals call Cursed island. Nobody usually ventures there, as the island has a lot of sharp black rocks, and credulous locals avoid it because of frightening stories. Still, its middle is w/o these rocks, where minions of loan shark dig a hole with a pick, and lower down naked Tommy in it. The hole is not that deep, but it is certainly deep enough for Tommy, for he is rather short. Loan shark says to Tommy, that if he, somehow, manages to get out of the hole, he will give him another chance to meet the debt. Said that, loan shark and his men leave the island w/o attention of getting back, leaving only a spare boat behind. Nobody assists Tommy and nothing unusual happens, but Tommy manages to leave the island due to luck, as island's soil was to firm to manipulate it with his hands, and the nature was friendly. What happened?
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| « Last Edit: Sep 3rd, 2007, 6:51am by alien2 » |
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pex
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #1 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:30am » |
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It started raining?
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #2 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:35am » |
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It wasn't raining. 
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towr
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #3 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:55am » |
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Is the hole rather narrow, so that he could just climb out by pushing out against the walls with hands and feet and moving himself up?
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Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
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srn437
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #4 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:58am » |
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He extended the hole to the spare boat.
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denis
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #5 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 10:11am » |
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the tide came in and submerged the island. Tommy swam to the boat.
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| « Last Edit: Aug 30th, 2007, 10:23am by denis » |
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #6 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 10:29am » |
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on Aug 30th, 2007, 9:55am, towr wrote:| Is the hole rather narrow, so that he could just climb out by pushing out against the walls with hands and feet and moving himself up? |
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They are not that stupid.
on Aug 30th, 2007, 9:58am, srn347 wrote:| He extended the hole to the spare boat. |
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Huh?
on Aug 30th, 2007, 10:11am, denis wrote:| the tide came in and submerged the island. Tommy swam to the boat. |
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No tide. No tsunami. Good try though. Then again, the name of this island isn't Atlantis is back. The answer is not so dramatic, so the weather was fair and there were no quakes.
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| « Last Edit: Aug 30th, 2007, 11:36am by alien2 » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #7 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 2:59pm » |
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As the riddle says, the loan shark "decides to take him to the island". But "the island is inaccessible". So obviously the decision could not be realized. After a lot of trying, they decided to leave Tommy on the spare boat and told him to "go there yourself".
Of course, he, just as the bad guys, is not that stupid.
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| « Last Edit: Aug 31st, 2007, 1:02am by Grimbal » |
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mikedagr8
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #8 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:15pm » |
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Tommy caved in the pit, which made it possible for him to climb up.
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #9 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:30pm » |
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on Aug 30th, 2007, 2:59pm, Grimbal wrote:But "the island is inaccessible".
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Good tip. I changed it. Hope it looks better now.
on Aug 30th, 2007, 3:15pm, mikedagr8 wrote:| Tommy caved in the pit, which made it possible for him to climb up. |
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Who climbed up? His spirit? 
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mikedagr8
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #10 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:40pm » |
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He did. Imagine a wide pit (a square one, because I can't word it for circular). Then digout under one of the walls. It will cave in, lowering the distance to the surface, and create a mound for which Tommy can climb. Now he continues doing this on all sides, slowly, he moves the dirt over into the middle, levels it out, and starts again. Eventually he would reach the top. Tommy's body climbs out.
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #11 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:43pm » |
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I'm not familiar with the concept, and I am too tired to think about it. See you tomorrow. Pleasant dreams.
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mikedagr8
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #12 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:44pm » |
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You too.  
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| « Last Edit: Aug 30th, 2007, 3:44pm by mikedagr8 » |
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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #13 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 6:28pm » |
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Doesn't "too firm to manipulate with his hands" rule out digging? Or is digging allowed? 
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ima1trkpny
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #14 on: Aug 30th, 2007, 9:40pm » |
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If I haven't misread something, Icey never specified that the walls were somehow perfectly smooth or some such. That leaves the possibilities of handholds, etc with which it would just take some effort to get out. (Though I highly doubt this is imaginitive enough to be the solution, given Icey's record)
Though if somehow it is smooth and the walls so hard that in there current state they are unable to be manipulated by hands... he could use moisture (i.e. saliva, sweat if he gets worked up, etc) to moisten spots enough to make handholds.
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Grimbal
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #15 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 1:12am » |
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on Aug 30th, 2007, 10:29am, Iceman wrote:| No tide. No tsunami. Good try though. [...] The answer is not so dramatic, so the weather was fair and there were no quakes. |
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Maybe ground water collects, the walls get wet and collapse, and the hole becomes a pond with gentle slopes.
Another idea: The "sharp black rocks", can they be used as a tool to dig the walls?
Or: did you forget to mention that Tommy is a butterfly?
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Grimbal
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #16 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 1:13am » |
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on Aug 30th, 2007, 10:29am, Iceman wrote:| No tide. No tsunami. Good try though. [...] The answer is not so dramatic, so the weather was fair and there were no quakes. |
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Maybe ground water collects, the walls get wet and collapse, and the hole becomes a pond with gentle slopes.
Another idea: The "sharp black rocks", can they be used as a tool to dig the walls?
Or: did you forget to mention that Tommy is a butterfly?
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #17 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 5:45am » |
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on Aug 30th, 2007, 6:28pm, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:| Doesn't "too firm to manipulate with his hands" rule out digging? Or is digging allowed? |
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It rules it out.
on Aug 30th, 2007, 9:40pm, ima1trkpny wrote:If I haven't misread something, Icey never specified that the walls were somehow perfectly smooth or some such. That leaves the possibilities of handholds, etc with which it would just take some effort to get out. (Though I highly doubt this is imaginitive enough to be the solution, given Icey's record)
Though if somehow it is smooth and the walls so hard that in there current state they are unable to be manipulated by hands... he could use moisture (i.e. saliva, sweat if he gets worked up, etc) to moisten spots enough to make handholds. |
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.....quite smooth.
on Aug 31st, 2007, 1:12am, Grimbal wrote:
Maybe ground water collects, the walls get wet and collapse, and the hole becomes a pond with gentle slopes.
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No water.
on Aug 31st, 2007, 1:12am, Grimbal wrote:
Another idea: The "sharp black rocks", can they be used as a tool to dig the walls?
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No rocks there.
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ima1trkpny
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #18 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 8:25am » |
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Condensation? This is overnight... so dew, etc would accumulate in rather large quantities.
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #19 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 11:20am » |
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Nope.
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gotit
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #20 on: Aug 31st, 2007, 2:23pm » |
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Were there any plants around e.g. plants with very strong roots and that grow along the ground.I don't remember what exactly they are called.
OR
May be the locals saw the spare boat and rescued poor Tommy.
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Grimbal
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #21 on: Sep 1st, 2007, 5:27am » |
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Hm... maybe the whale sneezes?
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #22 on: Sep 1st, 2007, 7:41am » |
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on Aug 31st, 2007, 2:23pm, gotit wrote:
May be the locals saw the spare boat and rescued poor Tommy. |
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on Sep 1st, 2007, 5:27am, Grimbal wrote:| Hm... maybe the whale sneezes? |
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No.
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denis
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #23 on: Sep 1st, 2007, 8:41am » |
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Is there any significance that they used a pick instead of a shovel to dig the hole?
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| « Last Edit: Sep 1st, 2007, 8:44am by denis » |
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alien2
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Re: Cursed island
« Reply #24 on: Sep 1st, 2007, 10:12am » |
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Not really.
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