Arthur and Bert each writes down a positive integer on a piece of paper and then shows it to Charles. Charles then writes two numbers on a blackboard, visible to Arthur and Bert: one of them is the sum of Arthur's and Bert's numbers, and the other is a random number.

After this Charles asks Arthur if he knows Bert's number. If Arthur says he doesn't know, then he asks Bert if he knows Arthur's number. If Bert says he doesn't know, Charles continues with Arthur, then if necessary with Bert and so on... until he gets a positive answer.

When will Charles get a positive answer?

If A = S, then Arthur can answer YES on the first round,
since B cannot be 0.

Arthur only answers NO on the first round if
A < S < L.

Posted by Steve Herman on 2005-11-05 23:44:29