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The Race (Posted on 2003-08-02) Difficulty: 3 of 5
An annual knave (someone who alternates between truth and lie) race was held in Knavesville. There was one judge, who was either a knight or a liar, and all of the racers were knaves. After the race a news team asked the top five finishers and the judge who won. These were their answers:

Alex - I won.
Bert - Alex won.
Coby - Dave won.
Dave - I came 3rd.
Ed - I won.
Judge - Bert won.

Confused, they asked them all again, but their names all got lost, so the order is muddled up.

Runner a - Dave won.
Runner b - I won.
Runner c - I didn't win.
Runner d - I came 4th.
Runner e - Bert won.
Judge - Coby won.

Can you work out who won? (Assuming each individual's comments were similar, i.e. both of their comments would suggest that a certain person won, or their own position).

  Submitted by Lewis    
Rating: 3.2000 (5 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
The judges answers don't match, so he is a Liar, therefore we know neither Bert nor Coby won.

Then, all you have to do is match the statements up.
The original statements were: Alex - I won.
Bert - Alex won.
Coby - Dave won.
Dave - I came 3rd.
Ed - I won.

And the second statements were:
Runner a - Dave won.
Runner b - I won.
Runner c - I didn't win.
Runner d - I came 4th.
Runner e - Bert won.

Runners b,c & d can be matched to Alex, Dave and Ed, although we cannot be sure which each said.
Runners a and e can then be matched to Coby and Bert. We know that Coby couldn't have said 'Dave won' twice, so runner A must be Bert and runner E must be Coby. Coby's second statement was 'Bert won', which we know is a lie. So, his first statement, 'Dave won' must be true.

So the winner of the race was Dave, who was runner B.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
Puzzle AnswerK Sengupta2022-06-15 00:05:42
Hmmmm.Jefflol2005-12-18 22:47:59
re(3): Noodle bakeLewis2003-08-03 22:26:45
Some Thoughtsre(2): Noodle bakeDJ2003-08-03 16:39:08
Some Thoughtsre: Noodle bakeLewis2003-08-03 09:05:06
Noodle bakeMr. Spock2003-08-03 07:49:50
re(2): I disagree ...Bryan2003-08-02 18:18:08
re: I disagree ...Brian Wainscott2003-08-02 15:51:04
Hints/TipsI disagree ...Bryan2003-08-02 13:53:44
re(2): Is it this simple or am I misinterpreting the rules?Charlie2003-08-02 09:21:51
re: Is it this simple or am I misinterpreting the rules?Lewis2003-08-02 07:43:04
SolutionIs it this simple or am I misinterpreting the rules?Charlie2003-08-02 05:17:49
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