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Who has the key? (Posted on 2002-05-17) Difficulty: 2 of 5
An adventurer found a locked treasure chest in a dungeon. He tracked down three brothers (each either a Liar or a Knight) one of whom has the key to open the chest.

Each made a statement:

  • A: I have the key to the chest.
  • B: I don't have the key to the chest.
  • C: B Doesn't have the key.

    The adventurer knows that at least one of the three is a Liar, and at least one - a Knight. Who has the key?

  • See The Solution Submitted by levik    
    Rating: 2.9375 (16 votes)

    Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
    Solution Explanation to Puzzle Answer Comment 19 of 19 |
    (In reply to Puzzle Answer by K Sengupta)

    At the outset, suppose that A is a Knight. This implies that he has the key to the chest. But in that situation, the statements of each of B and C are truthful. Accordingly,  all three of A, B, and C are knights. This leads to a contradiction. 

       
     Suppose B is a knight. Then he doesn't have the key to the chest, so that C's statement is truthful, and therefore he is a Knight. Since there are 2 Knights, it follows that the remaining individual,  that is A, must be the Liar. Then A's false statement implies that he doesn't have the key. Since neither of A and B has the key, it follows that C must possess the key to the chest.

    Thus summarizing,  we have:
    A is a Liar.
    B and C are Knights.
    C has the key to the chest. 

    *** It may be evident that my second fully explained solution (present one) has employed a different method compared to the previous one.
     

    Edited on June 9, 2022, 11:03 pm
      Posted by K Sengupta on 2022-06-09 23:01:33

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