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The Cannibals (Posted on 2004-02-04)

The Cannibals of an Island have the habit of eating each other.
One evening, the cannibals threw a dinner party. Six cannibals turned up and they decided to eat each other in turn. So someone was selected for everyone to eat (except the victim!), and when he had been eaten, someone else was selected, and so on.
If it took one cannibal two hours on his own to devour one person, how long was it before just one consumer remained?

Submitted by Ravi Raja

Rating: 1.2857 (7 votes)

Solution: (Hide)

It took 4 hours 34 minutes for one cannibal to remain. It took 5 cannibals, 2/5 hours to eat the first victim, four cannibals 2/4 hours to devour the second, three cannibals 2/3 hours for the third, two cannibals 2/2 hours for the fourth and one cannibal 2/1 hours for the fifth.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)

Subject	Author	Date
Puzzle Solution	K Sengupta	2023-09-08 02:38:17
selection process	jamie	2005-03-19 02:31:21
Solution	Coda	2004-03-01 16:15:18
Potential Solution	Seth	2004-02-08 16:10:23
solution	ethan	2004-02-05 18:57:45
possible solution: semantic issues	tim	2004-02-05 11:04:43
Gross Guesswork	Stu	2004-02-05 04:27:34
A tough meal	P C	2004-02-04 12:56:10
re: Stomach Contents	Penny	2004-02-04 12:32:01
Stomach Contents	Jils	2004-02-04 11:29:44
re: Solution (...what am I overlooking this time?)	Ady TZIDON	2004-02-04 09:47:33
Solution (...what am I overlooking this time?)	Penny	2004-02-04 09:41:16
tasteless solution	Ady TZIDON	2004-02-04 09:38:25
Solution (add on)	Popstar Dave	2004-02-04 09:37:21
Solution	Popstar Dave	2004-02-04 09:20:28

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