Three young men named Ajax, Balthazar, and Cicero arrived singly at an inn and awaited the innkeeper. When she arrived at the front desk, the innkeeper explained that no rooms were available, but as the rains were especially harsh that season she was willing to put up the three men as best she could. The man who arrived first could sleep in a spare bunk in the stableboy’s room, the second to arrive could sleep in the stable, and the third would have to bunk in the pighouse, which at least was warm and dry. The following argument ensued:

Ajax: I arrived first.
Balthazar: No you didn't! I was first.
Cicero: You were not! I arrived first.
Ajax: That's a lie! I arrived first, as I said before.
Cicero: Well, Balthazar did not arrive second.
Balthzar: Agreed.

The innkeeper knew that everyone in these parts was either a knight who always told the truth, a liar who never told the truth, or a knave whose statements strictly alternated between truth and untruth. Using deductive reasoning, what is the disposition of each young man, and what berth did the innkeeper assign to each?

(In reply to re: i think... by Bryan)

If you consider each set of sentences in a line as a single statement, for the purposes of the knave's statements, then there is no problem with Cicero's statements. The discrepancy with sarah's solution, though, lies in Ajax's second line, in which his first statement becomes true while the second is false.

Posted by DJ on 2003-06-26 10:54:22