At a remote location, you just finished trenching a data cable across a large plot of land. The cable has 64 individual wires that are not color-coded or labeled.
You have a wire stripper, a simple electrical continuity tester, and a label maker. There is sufficient excess at either end to allow connecting and reconnecting the individual wire ends in whatever combinations you wish.
It's a long walk and you are tired. What is the fewest number of trips from one end of the cable to the other required to identify and label each individual wire in the cable?
Addenda:
- The continuity tester is a sealed unit. You can't pull the battery out and leave it behind.
- It's not necessary to make a final trip after the wires are labeled just to clean up. If they are all labeled at both ends, the job is done.
Spoiler #1
Solve the puzzle for 2 wires and extrapolate from there.
Spoiler #2
Not all spoilers are helpful.