Puzzle challenge: Can you help four friends reach the station on time using 1 umbrella?

New Delhi: If you love brainstorming then you will love to know that we have brought another intriguing puzzle challenge for you. This challenge revolves around four friends who want to reach the station using an umbrella amid the heavy rain. However, what makes the puzzle more interesting is that there is only one umbrella and all have to reach the station in 17 minutes to take the train on time.

Situation: There are four friends at a hotel who want to reach the station amid the heavy rain. The four friends’ names are: Ram, Shyam, Madan and Arun. However, they have only one umbrella between them. All friends have different speeds to travel to the station. Ram takes 1 minute to reach the station, followed by Shyam (2 minutes), Madan (7 minutes) and Arun (10 minutes).

Condition: The umbrella has the capacity to keep safe up to two people dry at a time. As we told you, the four of them have different walking speeds, the fastest in each pair will need to slow down and move at the speed of the slowest partner.

Question: They have only 17 minutes to reach the station. How can they all reach the platform in time, without anyone getting wet?

How we cracked the puzzle

Ram should walk with Shyam to the platfrom, which will take 2 minutes. Ram can return back in one minute with the umbrella. After this, he passes the umbrella to Madan and Arun. Both take 10 minutes to reach the destination. Shyam then take the umbrella and came back in two minutes. In the end, Shyam and Ram come to the station taking 2 minutes.

As with the above-mentioned method, the whole journey can be completed in 17 minutes in total.