Hats

I know this puzzle is old hat, but I think this version is really good because of the startling twist at the end.

One night, three bright mathematicians, Al, Bob, and Chuck are thrown in jail (the reason is not important, but I think it was for playing the numbers). Anyway, the jailer says to them that he has a bag of three white hats and two black hats. He then says he will turn off the lights and place one hat on the head of each of the three. Then, when he turns the lights back on, if any of the three can correctly deduce the color of the hat on their head by only seeing the hats on the other two he would let all three go free.

So, the lights go out and the hats are placed. When the lights go on there is a pause and then chuck tells the jailer what color hat he has on and gives the reason. All three are set free.

One other thing. Chuck is totally blind.

Top

---

Tennis Anyone?

Eight men entered the recent tennis tournament at Hillcrest. The tournament was played in three consecutive days, one round per day, and happily no match was defaulted. The first and second round matches were stipulated to be 2 sets out of 3, while the final was 3 sets out of 5. (Note, this puzzle was invented prior to the modern "tie-breaking" rule. This puzzle assumes the old rules where a set has to be won by a margin of at least two games.)

A spectator who was present on all three days reports the following facts:

1. Eggleston never met Haverford.
2. Before play began, Gormley remarked jocularly to Bankcroft, "I see that we meet in the finals."
3. Chadwick won a set at love but lost his first match.
4. Altogether 140 games were played, of which the losers of each set won 43.
5. When the pairings were posted, Abercrombie said to Devereaux, "Do you concede, or do you want to play it out?"
6. On the second day, the first-round losers played bridge, and the same table gathered on the third day with Eggleston in place of Abercrombie.
7. Bancroft won 9 games.
8. Franklin won 37 games.
9. The first score of the tournament was a service ace by Gormley, at which Eggleston shouted "Hey, I'm not over there!"

Now, please answer the following questions:

• Who won the tournament?
• Whom did he beat in the finals?
• and by what score?

Top

---

A Horse Divided Cannot Stand

A Missouri farmer passed away and left 17 horses to his three sons. The instructions left in the will said that the oldest boy was to get one-half, the second oldest one-third, and the youngest one-ninth. The three sons, seeing the difficulty of dividing 17 horses into these fractions, began to argue.

The uncle heard about the argument, hitched up his horse, and drove out to settle the matter. When he got there he added his horse to the 17, making 18. The eldest son then got one-half, or nine. The second eldest got one-third, or six. And the youngest got one-ninth, or two. Adding up 9, 6 and 2 equals 17. The uncle hitched up his horse and drove home.

Huh? Please explain this to me.

Top

---

A Path Well Chosen

A missionary was stranded on a really strange island. The island was inhabited by two tribes. The "Truth Tellers" and the "Prevaricators". The Truth Tellers always told the truth while the Prevaricators always lied.

Now, one day the missionary was walking down a path and came to a fork. He wanted to take the path that goes to the village, but did not know which path in the fork was the right one.

Luckily, he spotted one of the island inhabitants, but did not know to which of the tribes she belonged. He could only ask her one question (why this restriction was placed on him, I do not know - I told you it was a strange island).

What one question did the missionary ask the inhabitant to elicit an answer that told him the correct path to the village?

Top

---

Five Houses

There are 5 houses of 5 different colors arranged in a straight row. In each house lives a different owner, and each owner is a different nationality. Each of the 5 owners drinks a different beverage, enjoys a different sport, and keeps a different type of pet.

The object of the puzzle is to examine the given facts to determine:

• The color of each house
• The nationality of each owner
• The drink of each owner
• The favorite sport of each owner
• The pet of each owner

Here are the facts:

You are facing the row of houses and are reading left to right.

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is to the immediate left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
6. The owner who likes hockey keeps birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house likes baseball.
8. The owner of the house right in the middle drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The owner who likes football lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The owner who keeps horses lives next to the one who likes baseball.
12. The owner who likes basketball drinks beer.
13. The German likes soccer.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who likes football has a neighbor who drinks water.
16. One owner has a turtle as a pet.

Top