The Three Logicians - (Posted on 2003-01-22)

	Submitted by Ravi Raja
Rating: 4.1429 (21 votes)
Solution:	(Hide)
From (i), (ii) and (iii), the first logician to answer “Yes” must have been told a letter that occurred only once in the list. So the first logician was told either H, R, P, D or V. Then the second logician knew the first logician was told either H, R, P, D or V. So the second logician knew the word was not TOE. Then the second logician knew what the word was if told T or E(some new letter), or if told the second letter of PAD that occurred only once in the list: P or D. The third logician knew the first logician was told either H, R, P, D or V and knew the second logician was told either T, E, P or D. So the third logician knew the word was not OAR. So the third logician knew what the word was if told O(some new letter), but would not know what the word was if told A. Then rather than PAD or VAT, the letters spelled HOE.

	Subject	Author	Date
	Puzzle Thoughts	K Sengupta	2023-04-13 22:46:23
	seoexpert	Cecilia	2023-04-13 17:49:19
	Solution	Penny	2004-02-18 09:32:35
	Solution	Lewis	2003-06-19 11:03:07
	I guess...	Corey	2003-02-17 19:18:26
	Only one of three solutions valid	Charlie	2003-01-29 04:50:22
	Correct Solution?	levik	2003-01-29 04:31:22
	solution	epperson	2003-01-22 19:16:36
	Solution to problem	Tamas Varhegyi	2003-01-22 17:10:07
	re(3): different answer	Tony	2003-01-22 05:29:56
	re(2): different answer	fwaff	2003-01-22 03:53:53
	re: different answer	Cory Taylor	2003-01-22 03:46:05
	different answer	pleasance	2003-01-22 03:03:45
	Here's the answer	Mike	2003-01-22 01:35:29