A teacher writes six words on a board:
CAT DOG HAS MAX DIM TAG
She gives three students Abner, Bentley, and Charlotte each a piece of paper with precisely one letter from one of the words, so that:
- Each student gets a different letter, and:
- All three students get a letter from the same word.
Then she asks, "Abner, do you know the word?"
Abner immediately replies "yes".
She then asks, "Bentley, do you know the word?"
Bentley thinks for a moment and replies "yes".
Then she asks Charlotte the same question.
Charlotte thinks for a short while and then replies "yes".
What is the word?
I have gone back and forth on this but here is where I have landed:
As per tomarken, could Bentley have had S or H? I would say not, because he then would have immediately said "I know", just like Abner did, and for the same reason: there is only one word where H or S occurs. But he had to think. So, he could only have a G or a T and Charlotte could have figured this out.
Therefore, if Charlotte had had an "A" she could have concluded CAT.
So DOG and CAT each stay as possibilities.
BTW - I suspect this is _not_ the expected answer, but rather a better one. :-)
That which Bentley could have
