"May I please have one of those biscuits?" asked Alice rather timedly, rather taken aback by the sight of her present company.

"A biscuit?? Oh, I don't know. Those are the March Hare's special un-birthday biscuits, don't you know. Can she have a biscuit, March ?" asked the Hatter.

"A biscuit?? One of mine? Hurmph. Ok, I'm thinking of an integer from one to three (inclusive). If you get it, you can have a biscuit. If not, I'm afraid you'll just have to leave" said the March Hare, leaning back.

"Oh goodness, I don't know" said Alice worriedly. "Couldn't I just get a hint?"

"Oh, all right..." the March Hare sighed. "You get to ask me one yes-or-no question, that's all"

Alice thought for a moment, then smiled, knowing exactly what to ask.

What question should Alice ask?

Like the March Hare and the Mad Hatter would know all about Fermat's Last Theorem and the Goldbach Conjecture...

Why can't I keep it simple ?

Alice: "Is the number an odd number such that, were I to subtract 1 from the number, the temperature that many hours from now will be the same as it is now?" 

1: Yes, 1-1 = 0 and 0 hours from now is right now.

2: No,  2 is not an odd number.

3: I don't know whether the temperature will be the same 2 hours from now. 

Edited on December 20, 2004, 10:38 pm

Posted by Penny on 2004-12-20 17:39:51