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 Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:47 am
The king was getting desperate. His daughter was getting on in years and still not married... but not for the lack of suitors. In fact she had three fine gentlemen hanging about the court right now. The trouble was, she was extrememly smart and refused to married anyone who wasn't as intelligent as she. Finally he put his foot down. Pick one or else. So she devised a test. Placing a mark on the forehead of each of her suitors, telling them it will be either a red mark or a blue mark. She then instructs them to look at each other and to raise a hand if they see a blue mark. The first man to tell her the color of his mark and how he determined it will have her hand in marriage.
All three men raise their hands and moments later one had the answer. What was his answer and how did he come by it?
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:16 am
blue? if everyone raised their hands it means they all had blue marks on heir heads
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:14 pm
Ah, you are only half right... he did indeed have a blue mark, but your reasoning is wrong... Had he given that reason for saying what he had, I suspect he would have been sent home so fast he wouldn't have time to pack. There could have been a red, blue, blue combination. All three men would have raised their hands for that too. What was the reason he gave for his being blue? lol
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:39 pm
Umm, lessee...let's just name these guys Guy 1, Guy 2 and Guy 3 to be more clear.
Let's presume that Guys 1 and 2 have a blue mark and the last one has red mark.
Guy 1's thoughts:
"I see a red and a blue mark. I must raise my hand."
Guy 3's thoughts:
"I see two blue marks. I must raise my hand."
Guy 2's thoughts:
"I see a red and a blue mark. I must raise my hand. Guy 1 has also raised his hand, so he must see at least one blue dot. Because Guy 2 has a red dot, I must have a blue dot."
Something like this, I guess... neutral
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:23 pm
Presicely. If there had been blue dots all around, no one would have known if they were red or blue, as their peers could be seeing eachothers blue dots or their own. Good logic problem.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:11 pm
@AmbiguousSemtex... oh you are so very very close...
as the answer stems from AmbiguousSemtex's reply, let me tell you how he won her heart... well her hand for what it's worth... it may take him awhile to win that one over...
The one who eventually married the princess answered like this...
I knew my mark was blue because everyone raised their hands, but hesitated in answering. If we all had a red mark no one would have raise their hands, if two had red marks, only two hands would have been raised... the confusion would only exist if there were all blue marks or two blues and one red mark, for then all three would raise their hands, but if there were two blue marks and one red, those with blue marks would know instantly they had a blue mark and immediately say so... because no one immediately said anything I knew my mark had to be blue.
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:59 am
KABOOM!
Ow...my brain just exploded....
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:09 am
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:42 pm
Well, the combination could still be 2 blue and 1 red if the other person(s) with a blue dot were dunces... But I'd take him over the dunces any day, even if he did get it wrong.
You said he figured out the answer moments later, but I don't see much difference between instantaneous realization and a few moments.
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 5:12 pm
Not so sure he got it wrong when you think about it.... there was a kingdom on the line. Only a fool would have hesitated without good reason. And it got him what he wanted... only I"m not so sure he's going to enjoy being married to someone as analytical as she seems to be. Glad you liked my little conundrum..... blaugh
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:12 am
Well I would guess that the man saw 2 red marks, and saw the other men raise their hands when they saw his forehead, and therefore knew his forehead was blue?
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:42 pm
Sorry, Sita, the answer was already given, we were just debating the explanations given for it... all three men had blue marks, btw... that was one tricky princess.
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