STEALING THE BELL-ROPES.—solution

Whenever we have one side (a) of a right-angled triangle, and know the difference between the second side and the hypotenuse (which difference we will call b), then the length of the hypotenuse will be

a²/_2b + ^b/₂

In the case of our puzzle this will be

^(48 × 48)/₆  + 1½ in. = 32 ft. 1½ in.,

which is the length of the rope.

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