题面摘自 Henry E. Dudeney 公版文本；英文为古腾堡原文整理，中文为本站自译，提示、解答骨架和闲谈保留本站原创结构。
A country "grocer and draper" had two rival assistants, who prided themselves on their rapidity in serving customers. The young man on the grocery side could weigh up two one-pound parcels of sugar per minute, while the drapery assistant could cut three one-yard lengths of cloth in the same time. Their employer, one slack day, set them a race, giving the grocer a barrel of sugar and telling him to weigh up forty-eight one-pound parcels of sugar While the draper divided a roll of forty-eight yards of cloth into yard pieces. The two men were interrupted together by customers for nine minutes, but the draper was disturbed seventeen times as long as the grocer. What was the result of the race?
一家乡村“杂货商和布商”有两名竞争对手的助理，他们为自己快速服务顾客而自豪。杂货店那边的年轻人每分钟可以称出两包一磅的糖，而窗帘助理可以同时剪三块一码长的布。他们的雇主在一个闲暇的日子里给他们安排了一场比赛，给杂货商一桶糖，并让他称重四十八包一磅的糖，同时布料商将一卷四十八码的布分成码块。两个人一起被顾客打扰了九分钟，但布料店被打扰的时间是杂货店的十七倍。比赛结果如何？
提示 1
先说出现象：哪些量会变，哪些约束不会变。
提示 2
找守恒量、相似关系、平衡条件或不变量，不急着代公式。
提示 3
把物理图景或谜题结构翻成一个最小方程组，再处理边界情况。
完整解答
解题主线是先把 Dudeney 谜题 4 的条件整理成一个稳定模型，再选择最少的变量。第一步确认约束，第二步写出关键关系，第三步检查特殊情形。这里给的是原创解法骨架；若要核对原始题面，请回到公版来源。
这类题最怕一上来套公式。先把图景或语言条件说清楚，答案通常会少绕很多路。