Still an evil king, still a cynic, still wants to seem benevolent.
This time, you are not imprisonned alone, but together with a friend.
Here is what the king proposes:
tomorrow, you (singular) will be lead to a room with a chessboard. On each field of the chessboard, there will be a coin, either on heads or on tails. I will tell you under which field of the chessboard the key to your freedom is hidden.
You will be allowed and obliged to turn over one single coin that you can choose freely. Then you will be lead out of the room.
Right after you leave, your friend will be lead in, she will find the chessboard as you left it. If she can find the key in one guess, both of you will be freed. If not, both of you will be hanged.
Now you and your friend have the night to deliberate about a strategy. Once you see the chessboard, you will not be able to communicate with your friend.
Are the coins in a random pattern either heads or tails?
Still an evil king, still a cynic, still wants to seem benevolent.
This time, you are not imprisonned alone, but together with a friend.
Here is what the king proposes:
tomorrow, you (singular) will be lead to a room with a chessboard. On each field of the chessboard, there will be a coin, either on heads or on tails. I will tell you under which field of the chessboard the key to your freedom is hidden.
You will be allowed and obliged to turn over one single coin that you can choose freely. Then you will be lead out of the room.
Right after you leave, your friend will be lead in, she will find the chessboard as you left it. If she can find the key in one guess, both of you will be freed. If not, both of you will be hanged.
Now you and your friend have the night to deliberate about a strategy. Once you see the chessboard, you will not be able to communicate with your friend.
Hey I just found this thread! Really enjoying although I'm not great with riddles.
Hidden:
Put some black dust on your finger, it will leave a fingerprint on the coin you turn.
Too easy, so probably not the right answer. But a good idea anyway
Last edited by abmom on Thu, Sep 24 2020, 6:08 am; edited 1 time in total
Guy #1 flips the right coin, Guy #2 brings along a fingerprint detector
If you could use a fingerprint detector then you wouldn’t need to flip a coin. Just touch it. This one has a serious solution. It needs an algorithm which I don’t have time for now.
Wow, I'm super impressed! I'll be honest: I googled the answer and still don't understand it. I thought I need to be a computer scientist to get it, but I guess I'm just not as smart as you.
Wow, I'm super impressed! I'll be honest: I googled the answer and still don't understand it. I thought I need to be a computer scientist to get it, but I guess I'm just not as smart as you.
Hey I just found this thread! Really enjoying although I'm not great with riddles.
Hidden:
Put some black dust on your finger, it will leave a fingerprint on the coin you turn.
Too easy, so probably not the right answer. But a good idea anyway
That's a very original one, but not the intended answer.
there is a (rather complex) possibility of communicating the answer unambiguously with just one coin flip.
He brings 2 cows of his own to get a total of 16
Half of that is 8 to the first wife
Quarter of that is 4 to the second wife
An eighth of that is 2 to the third wife
Total 14, so he takes his 2 back
He brings 2 cows of his own to get a total of 16
Half of that is 8 to the first wife
Quarter of that is 4 to the second wife
An eighth of that is 2 to the third wife
Total 14, so he takes his 2 back
