Friday Riddle

nudgie
nudgie Member Posts: 1,478 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
NO GOOGLING OR SEARCHING THE INTERNET ALLOWED :)

RIDDLE: There were 4 people sitting in a row, trying to win $50 from a riddle.

The one in front was wearing a red hat.
The second from the front was wearing a blue hat.
The third from the front was wearing a red hat.
The last was wearing a blue hat and is blind-folded.

Each of them were informed that they are all wearing a hat, the last person is blind-folded and that there are 2 red and 2 blue hats. if they can guess the color of their hat, then they win the prize.

There was a long silence, then one of them guessed the color of his hat correctly. Who was it?

(note that they can only see the person in front of them and are not allowed to turn around and see behind them.)

Comments

  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    #2
    second
    He reasons that if the third man saw that the front two had the same color hat, then the third man would immediately know that he, the third man, had a hat of the other color. But the third man says nothing, so the second man concludes that the front two have hats of different colors. The second man sees that the first man has a red hat, so now he knows that his hat has a different color from that, and so it must be blue.

    --Greg
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #3
    Not enough info
    You state that: (note that they can only see the person in front of them and are not allowed to turn around and see behind them.)
    According to the information provided they can ONLY see the person in front of them, not the people in front of them. So, only the 3rd person knows the color of the second hat, the second only knows the color of the first hat, the 4th person is SOL as is the person in the front.
    Based on only knowing the one person in front of them they can not tell who is wearing what color hat.

    If this was worded wrong and they can see everyone in front of them and not just one person, then it's another story...
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #4
    The last guy would have to
    The last guy would have to guess since he's blindfolded and the front person has no one in front of him, so he would have to guess. They do have a 50/50 chance of being right.

    The middle two can guess based on the hat in front of them, but I agree with Phil that there isn't enough information AND since any guess has a 50/50 chance of being right, this doesn't give enough info or has more than one answer.
  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    #5
    dianetavegia said:

    The last guy would have to
    The last guy would have to guess since he's blindfolded and the front person has no one in front of him, so he would have to guess. They do have a 50/50 chance of being right.

    The middle two can guess based on the hat in front of them, but I agree with Phil that there isn't enough information AND since any guess has a 50/50 chance of being right, this doesn't give enough info or has more than one answer.

    A riddle without a solution?
    Riddles should always have answers, so if a riddle seems not to have one, you know you must not be interpreting it in the way intended. That last parenthetical remark in the statement of the riddle cannot be taken seriously, because if it were, the riddle would have no solution, as Phil and Diane point out. Besides, if those in the rear could only see the one hat immediately in front of them, there would have been no point in blindfolding the fourth man, since even without the blindfold, he would have had no more information than the others.

    --Greg
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #6
    PGLGreg said:

    A riddle without a solution?
    Riddles should always have answers, so if a riddle seems not to have one, you know you must not be interpreting it in the way intended. That last parenthetical remark in the statement of the riddle cannot be taken seriously, because if it were, the riddle would have no solution, as Phil and Diane point out. Besides, if those in the rear could only see the one hat immediately in front of them, there would have been no point in blindfolding the fourth man, since even without the blindfold, he would have had no more information than the others.

    --Greg

    I googled...
    The answer doesn't seem 'right on'. It's based on a 'pause'. The answer is based on someone knowing what color hat 2 people are wearing.
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #7
    PGLGreg said:

    A riddle without a solution?
    Riddles should always have answers, so if a riddle seems not to have one, you know you must not be interpreting it in the way intended. That last parenthetical remark in the statement of the riddle cannot be taken seriously, because if it were, the riddle would have no solution, as Phil and Diane point out. Besides, if those in the rear could only see the one hat immediately in front of them, there would have been no point in blindfolding the fourth man, since even without the blindfold, he would have had no more information than the others.

    --Greg

    Therefore
    the riddle became a puzzle.

    Another way of looking at it is that possibly it's a faulty riddle. A riddle should include all of the information needed and it should not be left to conditions that are not clear.

    I looked it up too and the answer is what it is, but it was written in a misleading way.
    It wouldn't stand up in a court of law ;-)
    No fault of Nudgie's or anyone.

Discussion Boards