Shorts Elastic Problem

[Ghost Post]

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My father solved this problem by creating an ingenious little device. It's a chopstick with a piece of string glued onto one end. To use it, you would pull the drawstring all the way out of the shorts, tie one end onto one end of the string attached to the chopstick, and then thread the chopstick into the drawstring hole. It's pretty easy to push the chopstick along as it is a big solid object.

[Ghost Post]

Methinks we're scraping the bottom of the puzzle barrel.

Anyway, Wajurgmitr's (did I pronounce that right?) solution was more or less what I was thinking. I've done it with a piece of coat-hanger wire.

Didn't get the reference though.

[Mercuria]

well, there's actually a tool designed for this express purpose (forgot what it's called). basically, they're like tweezers that can hold themselves shut. you use them as described above.

but as a real-world solution, attatching the string to *anything* straight and solid that would fit through the pants would work... i usually use a hairpin, since i don't really have another use for them (well, picking luggage locks, but we don't need to discuss that...)

[Wonko the Sane]

Man, I never get to this place in time to make first post. Yeah, I usually solve this one by taking a hanger and pushing it through the side where the string is already still coming out, it usually hooks it partway up and pushes it the rest of the way through. I had this problem all the time on this one jacket...

Don't know the reference though.

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It's not the size of the spork, it's whether or not it's made of #7 recyclable plastic.

[Alfie]

Or simply tie a very long stopper (20 rounds) in the end of the rope.


It will in effect stiffen the end of the string. This is how I always fixed the hood of my sweater.

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I always wondered why they don't use ducks a stools. Then I realized: You can't get down off a duck's back!

[This message has been edited by Alfie (edited 08-11-2000).]

[ewan]

aww come on, there must be better solution. I suppose the ancient refference is to do with silver string trailing out behind you in the labyrinth??

How about this. wet the shorts and blow through the other end of the belt tube. even better attach a garden hose to the other end and turn it on, the flow of water will suck the string through?

[Quailman]

Alfie: I can't believe you took a picture of a knot in your drawstring to post here. Thankfully, it appears that you were not wearing the shorts at the time.

My son's swimsuits use shoelaces with aglets for drawstrings. If not too far gone, I can feel for the aglet and grasp the lace right behind it. Then I bunch up the waistband over the aglet. Changing my grasp to the tip of the aglet, I stretch the waistband out behind it. I then repeat this process as necessary.

[jasbro]

Next week, we'll discuss grass stains and how to get them out of your shirt.

Come on, why not just apologize for not having a puzzle, and put one up in a week or two.

My solution to the waistband problem: pull out the belt, put shorts on, wrap generously with pretty silver duct tape.

[Wonko the Sane]

Jasbro is the winner.

[Alex]

tie a really, really thin string around an ant, then put some honey. . . . . -wait, that won't work-

[Eamonn Magrath]

Sometimes the drawstring is partially stitched to keep it centralised ... when you lose one end with this type you can't pull it out.

I remember my mother used to slit the body side of the fabric at a point where the end of the string could be felt, pull out the string end and attach a safety pin to it . The pin was then inserted into the seam and pulled through.


Association with ancient conundrum :
How long is a piece of string !!!

[This message has been edited by Eamonn Magrath (edited 08-13-2000).]

[Green Dragon]

Aww, come on here! I know the puzzle asked for a "Real life solution," but can't we come up with something a little more original? Ewan's solution of soaking the shorts in water, and blowing dosen't work at all well (yes, I tried it) but come on! At least it was an innovative solution! We have to come up with something a little more original the the old coathanger (is it one word?)

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"They're all crazy! They're all crazy except you 'n me. And sometimes I have me dobuts about you."

[Eamonn Magrath]

What about :

Thoroughly wet appropriate area of garment and stick it in the freezer until frozen. Remove from freezer and apply heat with hairdryer until exterior is supple. Interior cord should still be sufficiently frozen to manipulate it through?
( Didn’t try this … suspect frozen cord will stick to melting water on inside of seam if it is not allowed to thaw a bit itself!)

[Tom]

Shorty bidness -

Using the shorts as a pulley, hang a monkey on the end of the string. Get it to climb up the rope, and the other end of the string will just pop out the shorts, won't it? Isn't that what we decided?

[Tom]

If you stitch one leg hole of the shorts to the whole that the string comes out of, you can then turn the shorts half inside out, pull the other end of the string through the other leg hole, then twist the shorts totally inside out, undo the stitching and ta-dah, it's done.

It's possible this method uses an extra dimension.

[Murray]

I think I've figured out the solution as well as the old puzzle to which the Minotaur is referring:

Go to your building manager and say, "I'll give you this nice barometer if you can fix my shorts."

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"de·feat--n. Failure to win." Hmm. I guess I do know the meaning of the word "defeat."

[Ghost Post]

this is more preventative than cure but buy 2 small metal wire collars from your local diy store (used for securing the loose ends of steel wire) then clip them round either end of your drawstring there. Now when your drawstring gets lost in the lining use a strong magnet to draw the string via the metal collar out. If you really want to go to town you can buy telescopic magnets these days that look like a pen when they're closed up but extend to a metre or so - perfect for getting into the hole in drawstring shorts.

[Soma^3]

I'm thinking that it'd be easier to start from scratch than to try and fix the pants from the state they're in. That is, instead of trying to get the one end back out from somewhere inside the pants, simply remove the string from the other end and then tie it to a chopstick or opened coat hanger (or if you prefer, wet the string and freeze it and then thread it through pants, this way the pants don't get as wet or cold). But starting with the string half-threaded doesn't mean the problem's halfway solved, it's gonna make the problem harder than it should be.

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Life – n. A series of races to see who can be first to the next traffic light.

[Boeuftete]

If the elastic in the shorts had retreated into the lining about half way, does that imply that the other end of the elastic is now hanging halfway out of the shorts? If so, my solution is to thread the half that's outside back into the other (now empty) side of the shorts, then put the shorts on backwards.

[This message has been edited by Boeuftete (edited 08-14-2000).]

[Mercuria]

lol... i think that's my favorite answer yet ;->

[Ghost Post]

Is the title of this 'puzzle' a reference to the Gordian Knot? and that the only way to undo it was to cut it?



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Mike

[Ghost Post]

Haven't figured out a good solution to this problem yet, as elastic is much trickier to work with than thread.

However, the ancient puzzle referred to is the one posed by King Minos in Greek myth. In attempting to locate Daedalus he devised the following puzzle: pass a thread through a spiral shell of great complexity. The solution was to tie a thread to an ant and then let the ant wander through the shell to the exit.

[Ghost Post]

if u really wanna solve this problem, why not just buy a new pair of shorts and quit whining about a string jabroni.