by GalFisk » Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:27 am
So Tom put something inside the cannon on purpose? Something he used to clean it? Yes to both. The tampion? The rammer? The wadding? A powder horn? Worm? Linstock? A ladle? It was a metallic brush, according to the short story I based the puzzle on, but if the writer had known more about cannons, it'd probably have been parts of the worm or rammer that had broken off.
id Tom shoot with the cannon? Yes. Did he put there the object I order to show how the cannon was supposed to shoot? No. Or maybe it was not his intention to shoot with the something inside? Correct.
Was the object that he put inside considered a projectile? A potential projectile? This. Did he put in there a part of his body? No. Did he want to show something to the spectators? Yes. How the cannon shoot? Yesish, he wanted to fire a blank. How deep was the cannon? If so, did something fall in the cannon when he was showing it to the spectators? No to both. Diid he light up a fuse? Yes. Or maybe he had a lighter and wanted to show what was inside the cannon? No.
Is glass relevant? a phone? cigarettes? No to all. something involving fire? The firing of the cannon involved fire, but no other fire or accidental firing is relevant.
Did he want to direct the fire somewhere else? (so maybe he throw himself toward the cannon in order to direct it away from the crowd) He threw himself in front of the cannon to keep the crowd form being hit by the cleaning implement he'd accidentally left inside.
Relevant where the cannon was? On a boat? on the land? This; an old fortification. Was the cannon used? Used by the army? Relevant?
SPOILER:
At the last second, when it was too late to try and yank out the fuse, the operator realized to his horror that he had left some cleaning equipment inside the barrel. He threw himself in front of the cannon in order to save the spectators from being hit by shrapnel. I don't remember the short story that well, but I think either his boss or his wife caused the distraction that made him leave the object in the barrel.