The Puzzle Thread

[Evnoir]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

Probably 0% since the answer itself doesn't have to be confined to those 4 choices.
Unless I'm interpreting something wrong.

[j-rodd123]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

ya that's what I was thinking as well, if it's not 0% then im curious to see what the answer is

[leonid]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

Provide simple mathematical explanation for bonus points

[Zageron]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

The answer is in this post, be careful if you want to solve it yourself.

A can't see anything. Doesn't speak.
B can't see anything, doesn't speak.
C Can only see a white hat, doesn't know.
D Can see both white and black, so doesn't speak.

Because D doesn't speak, C assumes that since B's hat is white, his is black.

Boom. (Don't forget to use all of the information. :P)

[Evnoir]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

Can't do math l0l
I'll add onto this post, but for now, here's some rambling.

Even if the choices were different (e.g. a) 10% b) 20% c) 30% d) 40%), it wouldn't change the question. Unless the correct answer is one of the choices, there's no way to pick the right answer from the given choices. In this case, assuming uniform distribution, the answers will be weighted with different probabilities. Because of this, the answer changes depending on the which choice you pick. I'm trying to think of a mathematical approach but nothing's coming up at the moment.

hint pls

[leonid]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

Numbers on the choices matter and solutions can vary depending on them.

In our particular case, there's one solution

[Reincarnate]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

What does the fox say

[___________]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

sum up P(correct answer is " ") * P(" " was chosen), you get 1/2*1/2+1/4*1/4+1/4*1/4 = 3/8

my thoughts

EDIT: didn't realize the choices referenced themselves

[Evnoir]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

sum up P(correct answer is " ") * P(" " was chosen), you get 1/2*1/2+1/4*1/4+1/4*1/4 = 3/8

my thoughts

Depending on how the question is interpreted, I was also thinking that or

1/3*(1/2+1/4+1/4) = 1/3
or with the differently weighted answers: 1/2 and 1/4.

I'll just stick with 0 still since it seems to make the most sense

[leonid]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

It's nothing complicated

Answer is 25% -> 50% chance to get it right by guessing (=Answer is 50%) -> Contradiction
Answer is 50% -> 25% chance to get it right by guessing (=Answer is 25%) -> Contradiction
Answer is 60% -> 25% chance to get it right by guessing (=Answer is 25%) -> Contradiction
Answer is anything else that is not 0% -> 0% chance to get it right by guessing (=Answer is 0%) -> Contradiction

We only have 0% left as a candidate for the answer, and if the answer is 0%, the chance to get it right by guessing from the given choices is 0%, which satisfies the condition. Hence the answer is 0%

There's a variation where the choice C is 0% instead of 60%. For this variation, there is no solution

[Zapmeister]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

here are two more silly puzzles to kill your time

(1)

+-------+-------+-------+
| . . . | . . 1 | . . 2 |
| . . 3 | . . . | . 4 . |
| . 5 . | . 6 . | 7 . . |
+-------+-------+-------+
| . . . | 8 . . | . 7 . |
| . . 7 | . . 3 | 8 . . |
| 9 . . | . 5 . | . . 1 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| . . 6 | . 8 . | 2 . . |
| . 4 . | 6 . . | . . 7 |
| 2 . . | . . 9 | . 6 . |
+-------+-------+-------+

you are given that there is a unique solution. find it.


(2) (ok i lied this isn't really a puzzle) the answers to the first verse are "no, no, no, no" and the answer to the second verse is "get them yourself". what is it?



hat question

if d looked at b and c's hats and saw they were the same colour then d would know his own hat was the other colour. but d doesn't say anything so c assumes d has a reasonable level of intelligence so that c knows his hat colour is different from b's. that's the answer.

[igotrhythm]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

fuck you and your poker/sudoku, Zap :P

There are two poles, each 50 feet high. A 60-foot-long rope of uniform density is strung between the tops of each. The rope dips to a height of 20 feet at its lowest point. Find the distance between the two poles.

[Zapmeister]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

fuck you and your poker/sudoku, Zap :P

There are two poles, each 50 feet high. A 60-foot-long rope of uniform density is strung between the tops of each. The rope dips to a height of 20 feet at its lowest point. Find the distance between the two poles.

hey what the hell does poker have to do with any of this :P

your question actually got me scrabbling for my first-year variational principles course notes before i realised what you did. har har

[Kotarouchan]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

that's a cute one there igot

[Reincarnate]

Re: The Puzzle Thread

I have three legs, but cannot stand
I have two eyes, but cannot see
And yet, I can see very far, but nothing can be distinguished
I am constantly starving, yet always full
And if you look for me, I can never be found.

What am I?