“What would you do ?” used to figure on the cover of a boys’ comic called “Boys’ World”. This was a publication, obviously, aimed at boys and first appeared on January 26th 1963. There were 89 issues before the comic was merged with Eagle in 1964. The last issue of “Boys’ World” came out on October 3rd 1964.
I used to buy “Boys’ World”, and this was mainly for the front cover which always featured a kind of puzzle. It was called “What would you do ?” and was based on somebody being in what Ned Flanders would call “A dilly of a pickle”. Here’s the situation:
Do you see him? Middle of the left hand side? The orange box. The worthless orange box, the father that the poor little orange arrow has been looking for ever since Big Box, as he then was, walked out and fled to Canada to escape the war.
The orange box sets the scene, and the task is for you to solve the situation. Perhaps you might like to write your idea in the “Comments” section.
Here’s the orange box enlarged:
So…..it’s one “A dilly of a pickle”.
A climber is trapped half way up the rock face. The rock was covered in ice, but now there’s rain pouring over the already treacherous surface. His friend below is next to useless. He hasn’t even brought an umbrella.
So what can the climber do? To go up is as difficult as going down. And his rubber soled boots are next to useless too.
What can he do??
John Knifton 
I hope he has a cup with him. With a bit of luck he has enough water to make some tea and to think a solution meanwhile.
I think that this is the most difficult situation we have had so far. I certainly hadn’t got it correct when the time came to look it up. As for tea,the problem may be keeping the tea in the cup in such a severe wind.
You wouldn’t get me up there in the first place. Abseil?
Your first idea is excellent, Derrick, and I fully concur.
As for abseiling, I’m not too sure that anybody had heard of it in 1963, at least not in England. I don’t know if you need special equipment for abseiling. Perhaps somebody out there knows that?
haha, Derrick beat me to it – I sure wouldn’t be up there in the first place! I kept looking at the picture and tried to figure a way for him to get traction, but if I was him, I’d call for a helicopter!! 🤪
If you had a suitable helicopter in 1963, that is probably a decent solution, but the major problem might be the downwash of the helicopter,which could blow him off the cliff.
(I’m quite tempted to say that it certainly looks as if he shouldn’t be up there in the first place either!!)
Speaking as someone who goes dizzy on a 5-foot step-ladder I’m probably not best qualified to answer. I would suggest, counter to intuition, that he should hang on with his hands and lean back as far as he can so that his feet are pushed more firmly against the rock-face. However, that would take far more nerve than I could muster in that situation.
Ingenious, but I think that that method would eventually end in a long, echoing scream ringing round the cliffs, followed by a dull thump. “Close, but no cigar!” as they say.
How about pulling a pair of socks over his shoes to better grip the rocks. Either that or pound in a spike into the rock and tie off until the weather clears. Or call to his space ship and get himself beamed off the rock.
Three excellent suggestions! In the official explanation of the solution, socks come into it, but not in the way you suggest, and they are only mentioned incidentally.
To be honest, though, I wasn’t over impressed by the official solution and I think that your solution #1 is better than theirs! So well done.
My first thought is just to make your peace with God…
Excellent idea. If you get the chance, you could remind him of Luke’s Gospel and the Angel Rescue Service offered to Jesus as part of the temptation by Satan:
“For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
To be honest, though, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
I’d probably curse a lot, then blame god for allowing me to get into such a ridiculous predicament, and after that stay as still as possible with the strongest grip I could. None of which is probably the answer our intrepid climber wants. The good news is I’m glad that the orange box and the little orange arrow may now be reunited – happy times are here again!
Actually, your solution isn’t that crazy. If this is a popular climbing spot in, say, the Lake District or the Peak District, his friend below could go and get help for him from some more experienced climbers. In actual fact, I remember from somewhere that this situation,where a climber “freezes” and can’t go either forward or back is not that uncommon.
The photo takes me back to all those comics I read long back 🙂 They were fun.
They certainly were. Lots of children nowadays spend all their time playing computer games but they don’t know what they are missing!
Unfortunately yes. So I feel very happy that my grandchildren love reading. They get a lot of books in the library. They get audio books too.