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cos i miss you.
miss vb. (tr.) regret the loss or absence of
the more i learn

the more my heart

and there's nothing you can do about it.


Thursday, May 05, 2005

ok intellectual question here. a pirate has 3 prisoners and 4 hats, 2 of which are black, and the remaining 2 white. he makes his prisoners stand in single file, and it is such that the 1st man can't see any of the other 2 men, the 2nd man can see the first man, and the 3rd man can see the other 2 men clearly. the pirate blindfolds the prisoners, throws away 1 hat and puts 1 hat on each man's head. he then removes the blindfolds and says that if any of the 3 men can determine what colour hat he himself is wearing, all 3 will go free. the first 2 men cannot turn around, and they are not allowed to communicate with each other. anyone smart enough to find out the answer? post them in the comments box below, before my name and the timestamp :)



lun @ 11:19 PM

Comments:
Just surfed on in! I'll take a whack at your lil' question.

The problem would be simply solved should the 3rd person in line be able to determine the color of the hat which he is wearing. This would be as a result of the 1st and 2nd persons wearing hats of the same color.

However, should the 3rd person be unable to do so, it cannot be as mentioned in the above scenario. Hence, one of the 1st or 2nd persons must be wearing a white hat, and the other a black hat.

Therefore, if the 1st person is wearing a white hat, the 2nd person would be able to tell that his hat is black and vice versa.

Cheers!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5/06/2005 1:50 AM
 
good try, but u're missing smth here. the 2nd man doesnt know what hat the 3rd man's wearing, so he cannot be sure that his own hat's the opposite of the 1st man's. he would be wearing the same-coloured hat with the 1st man if the 3rd man's hat is the odd one out. remember, they can't communicate, so the 3rd man can't tell the 2nd man if his hat and the 1st man's hat are different.

btw, who're u ah?
# posted by Blogger lun : 5/06/2005 2:48 AM
 
ive worked out the scenarios in my head, the 6 possible ones, of which 4 are more plausible. however, actually i dont know what your question is. if u read ur entry again, u will realise that u didnt ask an actual question =X
"anyone smart enough to find out the answer?" what answer?
# posted by Blogger the little fat blob : 5/06/2005 3:57 AM
 
"if any of the 3 men can determine what colour hat he himself is wearing, all 3 will go free."
# posted by Blogger lun : 5/06/2005 6:55 AM
 
Gee hi! I juz surfed your web from "singapore army stories"... Heh! I think I might have the answer.

Actually, it's either the second or the third man who can free them all.

Assuming, the first and second man are wearing the same colour hat, the third man will be able to answer straight away, allowing the three to be free.

However, if after moments of hesitations, the third man is not able to guess the colour of his hat, it means that the first and second man wear hats of different colour. So the second man juz have to take this oppurtunity and guess the colour of his hat, which is the opposite of the first man's!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5/06/2005 7:22 AM
 
I clicked some links and got here somehow. My answer is that as Anonymous has provided. I suppose you did not understand my answer. Silence from the last person in line is more than sufficient to make up for the lack of communication. And as Anonymous said, the 2nd person would be able tell which hat he's wearing should the 3rd person hesitate.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5/06/2005 9:02 AM
 
ah. well both of you are correct. how long did this question take you? now be honest here haha.
# posted by Blogger lun : 5/08/2005 1:52 AM
 
10 minutes... Hahaha!!! :-p

-kyle
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5/09/2005 2:30 PM
 
kyle: i see i see. well good on ya! i asked a group of my girl friends and they took over an hour before they got it, with much hinting from me. lol.
# posted by Blogger lun : 5/09/2005 6:37 PM
 
yah yah n that group of girl friends happen to include me rite?! ugh ugh
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5/10/2005 10:38 PM
 
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