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 man had a basket containing fifty potatoes. He proposed to his son, as a little recreation, that he should place these potatoes on the ground in a straight line. The distance between the first and second potatoes was to be one yard, between the second and third three yards, between the third and fourth five yards, between the fourth and fifth seven yards, and so on—an increase of two yards for every successive potato laid down. Then the boy was to pick them up and put them in the basket one at a time, the basket being placed beside the first potato. How far would the boy have to travel to accomplish the feat of picking them all up? We will not consider the journey involved in placing the potatoes, so that he starts from the basket with them all laid out.
一个人有一篮子，里面装着五十个土豆。他向儿子提议，作为一个小小的娱乐，他应该将这些土豆排成一条直线放在地上。第一个和第二个土豆之间的距离为一码，第二个和第三个之间的距离为三码，第三个和第四个之间的距离为五码，第四个和第五个之间的距离为七码，依此类推——每连续放置一个土豆，距离就增加两码。然后男孩把它们捡起来，一次一个地放进篮子里，篮子放在第一个土豆旁边。男孩需要走多远才能完成把它们全部捡起来的壮举？我们不会考虑放置土豆的过程，因此他从篮子里开始，土豆都已经摆好了。
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 44 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。