You meet six men on a road side. The problem is that your wallet is mysteriously missing and you can't figure out if these men are truth tellers or not. So you ask a few questions and here are their answers:

Allan: "Fred stole it. Fred also hears quite well."

Barry: "Calvin is a liar. I did not steal it and I know Allan did not steal it."

Calvin: "Allan and Dwayne are both knights. Eddy stole it."

Dwayne: "Allan is a liar. I did not steal it."

Eddy: "Only 4 of us are knights. I did not steal it. I know Calvin did not steal it."

Fred: "I am deaf but read lips. Barry did not steal it."

Who stole the wallet?

P.S. You are sure that all of the men either lie or tell the truth. No one does both.

Far as I can tell, none of these guys has my wallet. Since they either lie or tell the truth, the easiest way to figure it is to pick one and assume one way, then go until the theory breaks. I assumed Allen told the truth, which leads to the deaf man, Fred, being a liar about not being deaf, so Barry stole it. If Barry stole it, he is lying about not stealing it and therefore also about Allen not stealing it, but is it possible they both stole it. OK, having been born and raised in New Orleans, I had to say it is possible they worked together, but not here, right. So Allen is a liar, go from there, noone stole it. That's it. And I looked and looked again, and one more time. You left your wallet on the counter, I don't know, but these guys don't have it.

Posted by Lawrence on 2003-08-24 16:03:21