A puzzle....

[Questionable]

Sometimes a visual helps.

I thought the pipe was 2m high? If this is accurate it completely throws off my calculations...

[LRH]

Sometimes a visual helps.

I thought the pipe was 2m high? If this is accurate it completely throws off my calculations...

Author's Note: Not drawn to scale. In fact, 'drawn' in about 37 seconds.

[discordance]

Here's the riddle I always pull out on these occasions. It's super old but maybe somebody hasn't heard it yet! (Hope springs eternal.)

So there's this explorer dude (named Bill) traveling through the vast wilderness of Hedge Maze Country.  He's trying to get to a small village called True Happiness (his grandma lives there). He happens to know that Hedge Maze Country is inhabited by two tribes. The tribes are identical except for one important feature: The first tribe always tells the truth, and the second tribe always lies. Never heard that one before, have you?

After a long time he comes to a crossroads that isn't on his map. He knows that one route leads to True Happiness, and the other to Despair and Destruction, but he doesn't know which is which and doesn't want to waste hours of his life going to wrong way. Luckily, there's a tribesman standing at the crossroads, so Bill decided to ask him which is the right road. The thing is that Bill likes to make little challenges for himself. He doesn't know whether the tribesman is from the Truth Tribe or the Lying Tribe, but he's only going to ask the tribesman one question. Based on the answer, he will know which road leads to True Happiness.

What is the question he asks?

[NsMn]

As I did try to ask this before:

Spoiler

"What would the other tribe say if I asked them what the path of Happiness is?"

[close]

Only problem: IT DOESN'T WORK!

[discordance]

Yeah, there's a much better answer than that

[OneDollar]

The best thing to do would be to piss in the tube

If you kill one of the people with the knife, there'd be more than enough blood...

Alternatively sit around and eat oysters until the puzzle setter gets frustrated and tells you how to do it.

As I did try to ask this before:

Spoiler

"What would the other tribe say if I asked them what the path of Happiness is?"

[close]

Only problem: IT DOESN'T WORK!

Why not?

Spoiler

If the guy's lying he'll tell you the opposite of what the truthful tribe would say, ie the opposite of the right path. If he's telling the truth he'll tell you what the lying tribe would say, ie the wrong path. Either way you take the opposite path to the one he says.

[close]

[NsMn]

BOOM.

That was the sound of my brain exploding. And that means something, as I'm a genius.

Still, yes, Q is right - the people simply pee in the tube until they can grab the ball. Every other condition is completely useless (even though they could've also killed someone else with the knife and use his blood).

[Questionable]

BOOM.

That was the sound of my brain exploding. And that means something, as I'm a genius.

Still, yes, Q is right - the people simply pee in the tube until they can grab the ball. Every other condition is completely useless (even though they could've also killed someone else with the knife and use his blood).

You see- I was assuming that each of them had or was cpable of getting a full bladder once. If they're trapped in a room there probably wouldn't be much more than one full bladder each, unless there's a tap nearby. Bladders + Sand, only gets the tennis ball slightly less than 2/3 up the pipe, so either they need more piss, a wire, or they could each give up about 3 pints of blood for an extra 7 liters and over flow the pipe and all walk out feeling a bit light headed but more than just alive: free!



@Ali:

So they can't say any word besides the color of the hat, so to expand on your thesis they simple say the color of the hat a specific way. If they ASk the color of the hat:

"White?"  That means the guy in front has a Black hat. However, if they state the color of their hat:
"White." That means the guy in front has a White hat.
"Black?" = Next guy having Black.
"Black." = Next guy having White.

In this case you can certify a 99 survival rate with the first man (the captain/leader willing to gamble his life) having a 50/50 chance. That's the greatest quantity you could GUARANTEE, but they all might live.


@NsMn:  He's right it does work, but I would ask: "Which direction would someone from the opposite tribe tell me is the way to Happiness City?" Lets assume that LEFT is the right way and that RIGHT is the wrong way. If this man is a truth-teller he will tell me that a Liar would have me go RIGHT. If he is a liar, he knows that a truth-teller would tell me to go LEFT (being the correct direction) and so he will instead lie about this and tell me to go "RIGHT." At this point you can stab him, gain 5XP, level up, loot his corpse and travel LEFT (or the opposite direction of wherever they told you to go.)

There is a similar riddle:

Four men on Safari are kidnapped by a savage tribe. The tribal leader says that these men will serve as a sacrifice to gain favor with the Lizard God, Hemotauk. But he tells the men that it is ritual to have them decide their own fate. He will let them speak their minds collectively one one matter and if it determined that they speak a lie they will be boiled alive, one at a time. If however, what they speak is determined by the elder council to hold wisdom of truth, they will only be burned alive, one at a time. The tribe had a feast to celebrate the coming visitation by the lizard god, who was to eat the cooked and prepared bodies of the men. Throughout the night they discussed many plans of action and finally resolved on one. The time came and the tribal leader asked them to gain favor with the spirits: "Speak the truth and your death will be less painful and make a more delicious meal for the lizard god! Lie to us, and be slowly boiled and gain disfavor with Hemotauk, thus you will be forced to wander the eternal space between the stars, never becoming ones yourselves, always longing for death. SPEAK NOW!" The leader of the men cleared his throat and spoke a statement so powerful the tribal leaders determined to free the men and instead sacrifice the Tribal Leader by boiling him alive! What did the men say that set them free?

And no- they did not say: "We promise to blow the shit out of each and every male villager and then NEVER RETURN, if you set us free!"

[Snarky]

So they can't say any word besides the color of the hat, so to expand on your thesis they simple say the color of the hat a specific way. If they ASk the color of the hat:

"White?"  That means the guy in front has a Black hat. However, if they state the color of their hat:
"White." That means the guy in front has a White hat.
"Black?" = Next guy having Black.
"Black." = Next guy having White.

In this case you can certify a 99 survival rate with the first man (the captain/leader willing to gamble his life) having a 50/50 chance. That's the greatest quantity you could GUARANTEE, but they all might live.

It sort of defeats the purpose of the problem, though, and besides, I already posted the correct answer.

To make it slightly more difficult, what if the witch gave them hats of THREE different colors? What is their best strategy, and how many men are guaranteed to live if they follow it correctly?

(Once you solve it for three colors you should be able to generalize to any number of different-colored hats.)

[Chicky]

I like hats.

[Jim Reed]

Well, about the hat problem:
Let's say that we have 16 colours of hats!
Let's also say that each person can say only one colour and that there are rules about stating that colour, which prohibits any kind of voice or gesture or other similar act so they can't cheat.

Well, if the first mans mother was a librarian, they would all have big heads, and thus need no hats, but if all of this was happening in Russia, they would all have red hats. Simple! Also, if it was in Russia, they would all die or live, as they are commies and all of that.

Though you didn't say there was a time limit, so they could all keep silent and live forever.

Village:
Ask the man does he have a black or a white hat on his head. If he says "white", you need to go right, and if he says "white" you need to go up one level. You can also draw him a butterfly.

Now, for my riddle, what has three legs like a piano, has a piano looking keys, makes music like a piano, is standing in the middle of the room like a piano, but infact, it's not a piano or any kind of close relative to the piano?

Also, what has three legs like a piano, keys like a piano, sounds like a piano, but is standing on the wall?

Edit:
On second thought, if the hat people were all standing in a very dark room they could all say they are wearing black hats and as there is no way to check, they would all live. The very dark room would have to have a tube and a tennis ball.

[Anian]

It sort of defeats the purpose of the problem, though, and besides, I already posted the correct answer.

How is randomly chosen color of hats solved by counting the other hats and guess there's an odd or even number...your solutions assumes there's an equal number of hats, does it not?
I don't get it.
EDIT: oh, kept reading it wrong, my apologies

[NsMn]

Now, for my riddle, what has three legs like a piano, has a piano looking keys, makes music like a piano, is standing in the middle of the room like a piano, but infact, it's not a piano or any kind of close relative to the piano?

Also, what has three legs like a piano, keys like a piano, sounds like a piano, but is standing on the wall?

That's a tough one... is this really serious?

Spoiler

Is it a computer on a stool maybe...?

[close]

[Jasmine]

Four men on Safari are kidnapped by a savage tribe....What did the men say that set them free?

Spoiler

"I am lying."

[close]

[SSH]

Hah, I didn't solve it I just rewrote Crimson's answer . I've seen the puzzle before though.

OK, Googling brings up this one:

There are an even number of coins on a table, and there are the same number of coins with heads up as tails up. Your task is to separate the coins into two piles, where the number of heads up in each pile is equal. The problem is you are blindfolded and can't tell which way up each coin is facing. How do you do it?

I'm amazed no-one has answered this yet:

Spoiler

Divide the coins in to two equal piles and turn all the coins in one pile over.

So with 2n coins, pile A would have x heads then pile B would have n-x heads. Pile A would have n-x tails and pile B would have x tails. So turn all of pile B over and you have x heads on both sides.

[close]

[Stupot]

@SSH - D'oh! Damn, it's so obvious now you've said it.

[Questionable]

Four men on Safari are kidnapped by a savage tribe....What did the men say that set them free?

Spoiler

"I am lying."

[close]

Good answer! I suppose that would work! Not the one I came up with, but that would actually work!

[Ali]

What has twelve legs and walks in its sleep?

[tzachs]

What has twelve legs and walks in its sleep?

What has twelve breasts and walks in my sleep?

[Ali]

Girls Aloud?