During lunch hour at school, a group of five boys from Miss Jones' home room visited a nearby lunch wagon. One of the five boys took a candy bar without paying for it. When the boys were questioned by the school principal, they made the following statements in respective order:
1. Rex: "Neither Earl nor I did it."
2. Jack: "It was Rex or Abe."
3. Abe: "Both Rex and Jack are liars."
4. Dan: "Abe's statement is not true; one of them is lying and the other is speaking the truth."
5. Earl: "What Dan said is wrong."
When Miss Jones was consulted, she said, "Three of these boys are knights, but two are liars." Assuming that Miss Jones is correct, can you determine who took the candy bar?
Thief = Abe
Liars = Abe and Dan
It's easiest if you separate it into 2 different riddles; who are the
liars and who stole the candy bars. If you look only at the statements
pertaining to who is lying, it is relatively easy to figure out who the
liars are. If Abe's statement were true, that would make 3 liars (Rex,
Jack and Dan). If Dan's statement were true, that would also make 3
liars (Abe, Rex
or Jack, and
Earl). Earl's statement is the only one that can be true in that
category. Having figured out that Dan and Abe are both liars, that
makes Jack and Rex's statements true by default. After that if you look
at the statements pertaining to the actual theft, it is a rather simple
deduction. Rex didn't do it, Earl didn't do it, therefore Jack's
statement correctly fingers the thief; Abe took the candybar.
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Posted by KP
on 2006-01-25 01:30:35 |
solution
