Bob worked from experience, knowing he was on a TV show. Katherine and Josh followed the brief. Noel... went brute force on it. And then there's Rob, just guessing it like a psychic.
I love how the producers of the show anticipated there will be someone who will try to smash the case, and hence, had the combination painted on top of the garage.
I am so glad that Noel had the idea of smashing the case open. That was my very first thought, and I felt so guilty when the other contestants actually tried to figure out the combination.
Best part is how the last step of the equations says "x * 201" meaning the only possible 3-digit answers are: 201, 402, 603 and 804 - regardless of what's before that. Coulda saved a whole lot of time there :D
when I saw this task, my immediate thought was "those locks look pretty flimsy, I bet I could snap them off with a double wrench" so I'm glad to see I think very similarly to Noel Fielding
My first thought was "bolt clipper". People often see locks and think "Oh no, I need the right combination" when in reality, most locks can simply be opened with a little bit of violence.
@@MsHojat That flimsy little thing? I'd be amazed if it took more than the smallest bolt-cutters available. Most likely a hacksaw with a decent blade would get through both locks in not much longer than the fastest time...
This is one of my favorite tasks because of the wide variety of ways of solving it. The way everyone chose it really highlights how they approach tasks, too
Sometimes I have to wonder how Alex feels about the contestant's approaches. He goes to all the trouble of making these tasks and hiding clues, and then people either smash the case open or just randomly guess things until they win.
I read somewhere in the original concept there was going to be a planned "right" way to do the tasks, but they quickly dropped that in favor of encouraging bizarre shit they never thought of.
You should listen to the Taskmaster podcast (hosted by Season 9 winner Ed Gamble). In some of the interviews with Alex, he says that the 5 contestants often take 5 different approaches to a task. And that's very much the nature of the show, even from its conception when he planned it as a live performance for the Edinburgh comedy festival.
This style travel suitcase lock is actually not hard to pick at all. You just need to put tension on it and then spin each the wheels until you feel it move slightly. But that is not nearly as satisfying as smashing it...
I'm always surprised no one ever starts by looking underneath and on all sides of the table. Props to Noel for quickly deciding to try to open the case manually. And to Bob for eventually seeing the tape, ofc.
@@jandedycker1748 For this kind of cheap 3 digit lock you don't even need tools, you really can just feel once you get the right number if you keep pulling the shackle while rotating the rotating discs top to bottom.
What I've learned from this is that bullshitting your way through something is only second to brute force, even if the brute is as inept at brutality as Noel Fielding.
I LOVED the moment when Noel jumped to slam all his weight on the broad side of the case and the only sound was a crisp little **tap** like the hooves of a baby goat on a tile floor.
As an engineer, I would have aced this. Not because I know the structural weak points of any object or because I am amazing at math. Simply because I know that you can't be fucked to deal with any equation and just punch it into Wolfram Alpha and directly get the result. Would have been boring, though.
If he was actually good at maths then he would have done it quicker. It only took me 30 seconds to work it out and I’m no maths prodigy. It seems I would have easily won just by solving the maths.
I'm an American and I really have loved watching a lot of these Taskmaster videos. I think the ideas are silly and I personally like the way people get around the challenges with ideas to sidestep the rules. I think the show is really creative and the personalities are great. Keep up the amazing work.
The more clips I watch of Noel Fielding, the more clips I want to watch of Noel Fielding. He seems to always be having fun and doesn't take anything too seriously. Cheers.
Going through those codes, even without trying to "feel" them, you can go through 1000 in well than 5 minutes. Assuming you start from 000, getting to 201 will cost you well under 2 minutes.
"i thought if it was an anteater I gotta get him out of there" first solution in to smash the case on the ground mate, that anteater is dead, and you killed him
Linear thinking: Following the clues or deciphering the math equation. Lateral thinking: Just looking around until you find the correct number or guess what's inside until you get it right. Diagonal thinking: Smash the fucking lock.
The fasted math way would be to skip to the last equation: x3 * 201 = ?. Try 000, 201, 402, 603, and 804. x3 would have to be a nasty fraction for it to be anything else.
@@jeremiahjackson8018 You misread. X3 is X sub 3, not X to the 3rd power. Basically just indicating that it's the third variable (solve X, then Y, then Z). To solve the last one, its X3 (the result of the previous equation) multiplied by 201. The original commenter was right, there are a few integer values for X3 which are less than 1000 when multiplied by 201.
@@pedromendes5022 Which is what he said, but the only factor that could be in play is 1/3 or 1/67 given that 201=3*67. And both are impossible because the only thing you divide x2 with is 625, which is 5*5*5*5... x1 and x2 are both trivially integers.
"Click on one, two is binding, three is in a false gate, nice click out of four, back to two, and we've picked this one open with the pick Bosnian Bill and I made. As you can see, folks, the taskmaster uses masterlocks which is unfortunate for him as they offer little in the way of security."
I have had experience with that type of lock, it's easy to crack the code. There is a reason why those style of locks made horrible bike chain locks :D
I absolutely love this. As everyone else said, because they did it all so differently and some in sort of unexpected yet understandable ways, this was exhilarating to watch!
your telling me from the time he says " your time starts now" to him guessing like 5 differnt things, looking the case over, grabbing it and leaving, putting on a jumpsuit goggles and everything, going outside, putting the case down, running to the garage and back for a hammer, smashing the locks off and opening it was only 3 min? SUS.. I CALL BS
The worst part about Josh doing all that algebra is that it was a waste of time. All you need to know is that the combination is a multiple of 201, as the last line is "x_3 × 201 = ?." So the only possible options are 201, 402, 603, or 804.
I've never understood from the video how he gets the maths to work out. Not sure if the video is not high enough quality to see everything or what. I have a degree in statistics and I can't get it. Every time I see this video I stop it and try. It's infuriating. But this is still the greatest ever task. So much diversity of solutions.
Don't know if you ever figured it out, but here it is if anyone else looks. It took me longer than I wish it did because the British decimal points looking like multiplication dots and those x's in there made for multiplication confusion. I also did 5,000 - 10 mindlessly before the parenthesis, likely because they do that in the video and somehow got to the answer so I must need to do it too!! Or because I didn't write it down and follow PEMDAS properly, but why blame myself when I can blame someone else? 200,000/40 = 5,000 5,000 - 10 x ((10 + 50)/0.25 + 10) 5,000 - 10 x (60 / 0.25 + 10) 5,000 - 10 x (240 + 10) 5,000 - 10 x 250 5,000 - 2,500 5,000 - 2,500 = 2,500 2,500 / 625 x (0.15 + 0.1) 2,500 / 625 x 0.25 4 x 0.25 = 1 1 x 201 = 201
I made sure not to do 5000 - 10, but then screwed it up immediately by doing 0.25 + 10 argh, I'd have been stuck for 10 minutes wondering what I did wrong
On the board: x1 * 201 = ? If you understand "?" to be the code then the only possible codes are 201, 402, 603 and 804 And you don't need to solve the system of equations.
That was my thought process as well, but I don't know that I'd be clever enough while on a show like that to think it up on the spot or if I'd flounder or just solve it out from the beginning.
