MakeShift: what would you do?
Puzzle-solving of all kinds is a major leisure activity for the management of this blog. And, having finally cracked a particularly awkward local puzzle cache after several months of trying, it’s time for a new challenge.
Here is what the mind has found to chew on – the monthly challenge set by Make magazine, which I love for the parallels it draws between the pursuit of handicrafts, electronics or computer engineering and DIY.
This challenge involves picturing yourself in a dangerous and limiting fictional situation and then work out how to get free. Since this is remarkably like writing a story, it’s a very appealing exercise. Here’s the current challenge, which I am mulling over as I write:
MakeShift: Under Siege
So you plug your cellphone in to recharge in the kitchen, grab some munchies and the requisite inebriants, and assume the position on the living room sofa to slouch towards nirvana. And you’re just about there – or at least on the edge of dozing off – when there’s a knock on your door.
Thinking it might be your paramour coming by to kiss and make up, you pull yourself vertical to open the door when … you’re suddenly knocked back into the room by a pair of burly guys who barrel their way in, shouting things at you that you’d rather not hear.
Scrambling to your feet, you make a break for the back door, only to see a third guy waiting outside to cut off your escape. Your only option is to duck inside the laundry room, slam the door, and shove the dryer against it with the strength of the adrenalin pump you have going. Fortunately for you, the door opens inward and the hinges are on your side. Unfortunately for you, it’s a windowless room with only one way in and out. Read full challenge here…
So, how are you getting out of that one? I’m just off to perfect my answer…