India, Nov. 18 -- In the more than two years that Problematics has been running in HT, we have managed to set ourselves a template for the difficulty level of our puzzles. The puzzles are intended to challenge readers and still be gettable in the end. That said, there will be puzzles from time to time that will be more difficult than usual. Last week's clock puzzle was such an exception, as it appears to have stumped several readers.

To compensate, this week's puzzles are deliberately being kept easier than usual. They do not, however, deviate from the other key aspect of our template: you should find them fun to solve.

#Puzzle 117.1

A fireman sets out to rescue a dog trapped in a high room using a ladder. On the ground, a mathematicia...