In my humble opinion, there is NOTHING better than a really tricky logic puzzle. Now, there are many books full of such pleasures, but occasionally i hear one from a friend and have to write it down somewhere. I figure here is as good a place as any. There are only a couple now, but I am sure that figure will grow. If you have a good one you would like to see ont he page, go ahead and submit it with your name, and i will post it as soon as i can figure it out. Which brings me to the question of answers (no pun intended). I refuse to post answers, because when you know it, you know it, and if you don't know it, i am not about to ruin the fun for you. If you are dying to know, though, email me something to convince me to tell you and i just might.
I usually don't go for ones that are tricks, and not really logic. I will make a note of it if i do put one up that you couldn't get purely from what is given to you. For example, there is no glass in the room in #1 so that the first guy can see his own hat. If there was, i wouldn't say "no one can see their own hat."
There are five hats, two red and three black. there are three men, lined up in a room one in front of another, and each man is wearing a hat from the five. The other two are discarded, and none of the men know which two were left over. The man in back can see the color of the hat on each of the men in front of him, and the middle man can see the color of the hat on the first man, but no one can see their own hat. The last man in the line is asked if he can determine the color of his own hat. He was blessed with a brain that can quickly deduce whether something is logically possible, and he still cannot determine for sure what color his hat is. Then the middle man is asked what color his hat is, but he cannot determine the answer either, although his logic is just as flawless as the man's behind him. However, when the first man in the line is asked, he does know the answer to the question. What is his response, and how could he have known?
Alice, Sam, and Paul are three students at a prestigious university. Their professor gives them a test as follows: Alice is to think of two numbers from 1-100 in her head. She writes the Sum on a slip of paper and gives it to Sam, and writes the Product on another piece of paper and gives it to Paul. Sam and Paul are not allowed to share their information, so Sam does not know the product and Paul does not know the sum. The professor asks Paul what the two numbers are, and he says, "I cannot tell." Sam says, "I knew he wouldn't be able to tell." To which Paul replies, "Oh! Now I know what they were." To which Sam replies, "Oh! Now I know what they were too." What were the numbers?
This is my favorite logic puzzle, because it took me over six hours to finally get the answer. Yes, I am *that* sick. I worked on it for six hours straight. Now, it wouldn't have taken me that long, except I did it in a car with no paper. Try to do it in your head first. You are captured by terrorists of logic. This always seems to happen to me, btw. They say that unless you can solve a logic problem, they will brutally murder all of your family and friends one by one. You are given twelve blocks, which look identical. You are not allowed to touch the blocks. One of the terrorists tells you that one of the blocks does not weigh the same as the others. It might weight more, it might weigh less. You are to tell him the fewest number of scales one would need to determine which of the blocks is different, and whether it weighs more or less. You are allowed to use each scale only once. You must then direct the terrorist in how to place the blocks on the scales to determine the odd one out. If you are right, your family and friends will be happy. If you think you have this one but are not sure, email me and i will be glad to review your work. I have found only two distinctly different solutions, and if you send me a new one, i will be very grateful.
I am always looking for new puzzles. I have about twenty books of them, but i still hear new ones from friends, and they appear in newspapers and magazines often. If you find an interesting twist on an old puzzle, or just a good puzzle you would like to see posted, send it in. No diagrams, as i prefer puzzles that can be shared vocally without pen and paper (i am a mental person, and do not like to *have* to write stuff down). Thanks, and good luck
