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DifficultLogicPuzzles

LogicPuzzles
1.TheMostIntelligentPrince
Akingwantshisdaughtertomarrythesmartestof3extremelyintelligentyoungprinces,andsotheking'swisemendevised
anintelligencetest.
Theprincesaregatheredintoaroomandseated,facingoneanother,andareshown2blackhatsand3whitehats.Theyare
blindfolded,and1hatisplacedoneachoftheirheads,withtheremaininghatshiddeninadifferentroom.
Thekingtellsthemthatthefirstprincetodeducethecolorofhishatwithoutremovingitorlookingatitwillmarryhis
daughter.Awrongguesswillmeandeath.Theblindfoldsarethenremoved.
Youareoneoftheprinces.Yousee2whitehatsontheotherprince'sheads.Aftersometimeyourealizethattheother
prince'sareunabletodeducethecoloroftheirhat,orareunwillingtoguess.Whatcolorisyourhat?
Note:Youknowthatyourcompetitorsareveryintelligentandwantnothingmorethantomarrytheprincess.Youalsoknow
thatthekingisamanofhisword,andhehassaidthatthetestisafairtestofintelligenceandbravery.
Hint:Basedonwhatyouknow,whyaretheotherprincesunabletosolvethispuzzle?

Solution:White.
Thekingwouldnotselecttwowhitehatsandoneblackhat.Thiswouldmeantwoprinceswouldseeoneblack
hatandonewhitehat.Youwouldbeatadisadvantageifyouweretheonlyprincewearingablackhat.
Ifyouwerewearingtheblackhat,itwouldnottakelongforoneoftheotherprincestodeducehewaswearinga
whitehat.
Ifanintelligentprincesawawhitehatandablackhat,hewouldeventuallyrealizethatthekingwouldnever
selecttwoblackhatsandonewhitehat.Anyprinceseeingtwoblackhatswouldinstantlyknowhewaswearing
awhitehat.Thereforeifaprincecanseeoneblackhat,hecanworkoutheiswearingwhite.
Thereforetheonlyfairtestisforallthreeprincestobewearingwhitehats.Afterwaitingsometimejusttobe
sure,youcansafelyassertyouarewearingawhitehat.

2.100GoldCoins
Fivepirateshaveobtained100goldcoinsandhavetodivideuptheloot.Thepiratesareallextremelyintelligent,treacherous
andselfish(especiallythecaptain).
Thecaptainalwaysproposesadistributionoftheloot.Allpiratesvoteontheproposal,andifhalfthecrewormorego"Aye",
thelootisdividedasproposed,asnopiratewouldbewillingtotakeonthecaptainwithoutsuperiorforceontheirside.
Ifthecaptainfailstoobtainsupportofatleasthalfhiscrew(whichincludeshimself),hefacesamutiny,andallpirateswill
turnagainsthimandmakehimwalktheplank.Thepiratesstartoveragainwiththenextseniorpirateascaptain.
Whatisthemaximumnumberofcoinsthecaptaincankeepwithoutriskinghislife?
Hint:Whathappensiftherearetwopirates?Whocompletelylosesout?Whathappensiftherearethree
pirates?Whocompletelylosesout?Whathappensiftherearefourpirates?Whichtwopiratescompletelylose
out?

Solution:98

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DifficultLogicPuzzles

Thecaptainsayshewilltake98coins,andwillgiveonecointothethirdmostseniorpirateandanothercointo
themostjuniorpirate.Hethenexplainshisdecisioninamannerlikethis...
Iftherewere2pirates,pirate2beingthemostsenior,hewouldjustvoteforhimselfandthatwouldbe50%of
thevote,sohe'sobviouslygoingtokeepallthemoneyforhimself.
Iftherewere3pirates,pirate3hastoconvinceatleastoneotherpersontojoininhisplan.Pirate3wouldtake
99goldcoinsandgive1cointopirate1.Pirate1knowsifhedoesnotvoteforpirate3,thenhegetsnothing,so
obviouslyisgoingtovoteforthisplan.
Iftherewere4pirates,pirate4wouldgive1cointopirate2,andpirate2knowsifhedoesnotvoteforpirate4,
thenhegetsnothing,soobviouslyisgoingtovoteforthisplan.
Asthereare5pirates,pirates1&3hadobviouslybettervoteforthecaptain,ortheyfacechoosingnothingor
riskingdeath.

3.1GoldCoin
Thefivepiratesmentionedpreviouslyarejoinedbyasixth,thenplunderashipwithonlyonegoldcoin.
Afterventingsomeoftheirfrustrationbykillingallonboardtheship,theynowneedtodivvyuptheonecoin.Theyareso
angry,theynowvalueinpriorityorder:
1.Theirlives
2.Gettingmoney
3.Seeingotherpiratesdie.
Soifgiventhechoicebetweentwooutcomes,inwhichtheygetthesameamountofmoney,they'dchoosetheoutcome
wheretheygettoseemoreoftheotherpiratesdie.
Howcanthecaptainsavehisskin?
Hint:Usethesameapproach.

Solution:Themostseniorpiratecouldgivethecointotheleastseniorpirate.Hecanusethesamelogicinthe
previouspuzzletoexplainthefutilityofanyonetryingtokeepthecoinforhimself.

4.TheGreekPhilosophers
OnedaythreeGreekphilosopherssettledundertheshadeofanolivetree,openedabottleofRetsina,andbeganalengthy
discussionoftheFundamentalOntologicalQuestion:Whydoesanythingexist?
Afterawhile,theybegantoramble.Then,onebyone,theyfellasleep.
Whilethemenslept,threeowls,oneaboveeachphilosopher,completedtheirdigestiveprocess,droppedapresentoneach
philosopher'sforehead,theflewoffwithanoisy"hoot."
Perhapsthehootawakenedthephilosophers.Assoonastheylookedateachother,allthreebegan,simultaneously,tolaugh.
Then,oneofthemabruptlystoppedlaughing.Why?
Hint:Theonewhostoppedlaughing,askedhimselfwhattheotherphilosopherswereseeingthatmadethem
laugh.

Solution:Ifhe(thesmartestphilosopher)hadnothingonhishead,thenherealizedthatthesecondsmartest
philosopherwouldhavequicklyworkedoutthatthethirdsmartestwaslaughingonlyatthesecondsmartest
philosopher,andthusthesecondsmartestphilosopherwouldhavestoppedlaughing.

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DifficultLogicPuzzles

5.The100Coins
Thereare10setsof10coins.Youknowhowmuchthecoinsshouldweigh.Youknowallthecoinsinonesetoftenare
exactlyahundredthofanounceoff,makingtheentiresetoftencoinsatenthofanounceoff.Youalsoknowthatallthe
othercoinsweightthecorrectamount.Youareallowedtouseanextremelyaccuratedigitalweighingmachineonlyonce.
Howdoyoudeterminewhichsetof10coinsisfaulty?
Hint:Youcanweighasfeworasmanyofthetencoinsfromeachsetasyouchoose.

Solution:Onecoinfromthefirstsetisplacedonthescalealongwithtwofromthesecondsetetc...Ifthe
weightisoffbyonehundredthofanouncethenitisthefirstsetthatisfaulty,iftheweightisoffbytwohundred
ofanouncethenitisthesecondsetwhichisfaulty,etc...

6.TheMonkeyandtheCoconut
Tenpeoplelandonadesertedisland.Theretheyfindlotsofcoconutsandamonkey.Duringtheirfirstdaytheygather
coconutsandputthemallinacommunitypile.Afterworkingalldaytheydecidetosleepanddividethemintotenequalpiles
thenextmorning.
Thatnightonecastawaywakesuphungryanddecidestotakehisshareearly.Afterdividingupthecoconutshefindsheis
onecoconutshortoftenequalpiles.Healsonoticesthemonkeyholdingonemorecoconut.Sohetriestotakethemonkey's
coconuttohaveatotalevenlydivisibleby10.Howeverwhenhetriestotakeitthemonkeyconkshimontheheadwithitand
killshim.
Lateranothercastawaywakesuphungryanddecidestotakehisshareearly.Onthewaytothecoconutshefindsthebody
ofthefirstcastaway,whichpleaseshimbecausehewillnowbeentitledto1/9ofthetotalpile.Afterdividingthemupinto
ninepilesheisagainonecoconutshortandtriestotakethemonkey'sslightlybloodiedcoconut.Themonkeyconksthe
secondmanontheheadandkillshim.
Onebyoneeachoftheremainingcastawaysgoesthroughthesameprocess,untilthe10thpersontowakeupgetstheentire
pileforhimself.Whatisthesmallestnumberofpossiblecoconutsinthepile,notcountingthemonkeys?
Hint:LookuptheformulafortheLCM.

Solution:2519
ThesolutionfortheansweristheLCM(LowestCommonMultiple)of10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,11.LCMwouldgivethe
leastnumberwhichisdivisiblebyallofthesenumberandsubtractingonewouldgiveusthenumberofcoconuts
whichwereinitiallythere.

7.FlippingCoins
Therearetwentycoinssittingonthetable,tenarecurrentlyheadsandtensarecurrentlytails.Youaresittingatthetablewith
ablindfoldandgloveson.Youareabletofeelwherethecoinsare,butareunabletoseeorfeeliftheyheadsortails.You
mustcreatetwosetsofcoins.Eachsetmusthavethesamenumberofheadsandtailsastheothergroup.Youcanonly
moveorflipthecoins,youareunabletodeterminetheircurrentstate.Howdoyoucreatetwoevengroupsofcoinswiththe
samenumberofheadsandtailsineachgroup?
Solution:Createtwosetsoftencoins.Flipthecoinsinoneofthesetsover,andleavethecoinsintheother
setalone.Thefirstsetoftencoinswillhavethesamenumberofheadsandtailsastheothersetoftencoins.

8.TwoChildren

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DifficultLogicPuzzles

Iaskpeopleatrandomiftheyhavetwochildrenandalsoifoneisaboybornonatuesday.AfteralongsearchIfinallyfind
someonewhoanswersyes.Whatistheprobabilitythatthispersonhastwoboys?Assumeanequalchanceofgivingbirthto
eithersexandanequalchancetogivingbirthonanyday.
Solution:13/27.Ifyouthinktheanswershouldbe1/2,youwouldbewrong.Ifyouknewwhichchildwasaboy
(say,theyoungerone),youwouldbeclosertothetruth.Butsincetheboycouldbeeithertheyoungerorthe
olderchild,theanalysisismoresubtle.ButwhatdoesTuesdayhavetodowithit?

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