You are a spy in a hostile country, trying to escape the local authorities. As a disguise, you join the local Knavy, which is like a navy, but is made up entirely of knaves (people who alternate telling the truth and lying). You get word that a ship, the HMS Levik is docked in the harbor to help you escape. The problem is, there are five ships in port (at docks one through five) and none of them are marked with a name.
  You manage to talk with two old sea captains in the Knavy about which ship is which. They talk some, but you don't know if their first statement is a truth or a falsehood.
  Based on their curious descriptions, can you figure out which ship is the HMS Levik?

CAPT. HUDSON:
1. The Salamander is not moored next to the Revenge.
2. The Antimony is moored at dock one.
3. The Levik is moored at dock two.
4. The Defiance is moored next to the Levik

CAPT. BAFFIN
1. The Defiance is not moored at dock two.
2. The Levik is moored at dock four.
3. The Salamander is moored next to the Revenge.
4. The Antimony is not moored next to the Salamander.

(In reply to Ta-dah! by Carlos Da Peanut)

IF... Hudson is TFTF,(1) 'Salamander is not moored next to the Revenge', THEN Baffin must be FTFT because (3) 'Salamander is moored next to the Revenge(has to be False).  Then Baffin (2) 'Levik is moored at dock four' has to be True, so then Hudson (3) 'Levik is moored at dock two' must be false, however this contradicts Hudson being TFTF, therefore Hudson is NOT TFTF, he is FTFT.  So...

Hudson (1) 'Salamander is not moored next to the Revenge' is FALSE, therefore Baffin (3) 'Salamander is moored next to the Revenge' must be True.  So Baffin is TFTF.

Hudson (2) is True, so Dock 1 is ANTIMONY
Baffin (4) is False, so Dock 2 is SALAMANDER
Hudons (1) is False, so Dock 3 is REVENGE
Baffin (3) is False, so Levik is not 4, and therefore Levik is 5
Hudson(4) is True, so Defiance is dock 4

So to answer the question to the puzzle, the answer is 'Yes, based on their curious descriptions, I can you figure out which ship is the HMS Levik.'

Posted by Scott on 2004-07-13 04:39:19