Whenever we have one side (a) of a right-angled triangle, and know the difference between the second side and the hypotenuse (which difference we will call b), then the length of the hypotenuse will be
a² b --- + -. 2b 2
In the case of our puzzle this will be
48 × 48 ------- + 1½ in. = 32 ft. 1½ in., 6
which is the length of the rope.
