Life is A Test 2: Test Harder (Quite A Bit Harder)

by Brony_of_Brody

The Answer 17

Check mini-orchards 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, in that order.

To find the crab before dusk, you can't make assumptions. Assume the worst and prepare accordingly. Simply searching each orchard at random, or the same ones over and over won't work.

Let's imagine that the crab started in one of the even-numbered orchards - in other words, either 2 or 4. If we search orchard 2 and find the crab, great! If not, that must mean the crab started in orchard 4, and moved to either 3 or 5.

So now we check 3. If it's not there, it must have moved to 5. Now the crab is cornered - it can only move to orchard number 4 from there, so you simply search orchard 4 and you'll find the crab for sure.

All this, of course, assumes the crab was in orchard 2 or 4. but what if it was in 1, 3, or 5? If it started in any of those, in the second hour it will have moved to either orchard 2 or 4. Now we discover an incredibly important pattern: after three hours, if the crab started in an odd-numbered orchard, it will be definitely in an even-numbered orchard at the start of the fourth day.

So if after three hours you haven't found the crab following the strategy for even-numbered starts, all you have to do is repeat the pattern again, and you'll catch the crab for sure!