All about flooble | fun stuff | Get a free chatterbox | Free JavaScript | Avatars    
perplexus dot info

Home > Logic
Wrong Place, Right Place (Posted on 2003-11-17) Difficulty: 3 of 5
One person comes up to another person beside his bike. "Can I use your bike?" he asks. The person by the bike replies, "Only if you figure out the combination to my bike lock, which is made up of 4 different numbers from 1 through 8. You can guess 3 numbers."

He guessed 1235, 4721, and 3862. All three were answered with "One number in the combination is in the wrong place, and another is in the right place. The other two aren't in the combination."

The guesser was puzzled and asked "Is the number divisible by 7?" The person with the bike answered this question and after thinking for a while, the guesser told him the combination. What is the combination?

See The Solution Submitted by Gamer    
Rating: 3.3333 (9 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
Solution In Basic | Comment 16 of 35 |
(In reply to Solution - the original problem is fine as it is! by SilverKnight)

DECLARE SUB check (str1$, str2$, bl!, wh!)
PRINT
FOR n = 1234 TO 8765
  n$ = LTRIM$(STR$(n))
  check n$, "1235", black, white
  IF black = 1 AND white = 1 THEN
    check n$, "4721", black, white
    IF black = 1 AND white = 1 THEN
      check n$, "3862", black, white
      IF black = 1 AND white = 1 THEN
        good = 1
        FOR i = 1 TO LEN(n$)
          IF MID$(n$, i, 1) < \\"1\\" OR MID$(n$, i, 1) > "8" THEN
            good = 0: EXIT FOR
          END IF
         IF INSTR(MID$(n$, i + 1), MID$(n$, i, 1)) THEN
           good = 0: EXIT FOR
         END IF
        NEXT
        IF good THEN
          PRINT n$, n MOD 7
        END IF
      END IF
    END IF
  END IF
NEXT

SUB check (str1$, str2$, bl, wh)
  s1$ = str1$: s2$ = str2$
  bl = 0: wh = 0
  FOR i = 1 TO LEN(s1$)
    IF MID$(s1$, i, 1) = MID$(s2$, i, 1) THEN
      bl = bl + 1
    END IF
  NEXT
  FOR i = 1 TO LEN(s1$)
    ix = INSTR(s2$, MID$(s1$, i, 1))
    IF ix > 0 THEN
      wh = wh + 1
      s2$ = LEFT$(s2$, ix - 1) + MID$(s2$, ix + 1)
    END IF
  NEXT
  wh = wh - bl
END SUB

with results:
1763 6
2765 0
7825 6
7831 5

with 2765 uniquely divisible by 7.

(The terminology black and white comes from MasterMind, which uses black and white pegs to indicate such matches.)
Edited on November 18, 2003, 9:42 am
  Posted by Charlie on 2003-11-18 09:40:19

Please log in:
Login:
Password:
Remember me:
Sign up! | Forgot password


Search:
Search body:
Forums (1)
Newest Problems
Random Problem
FAQ | About This Site
Site Statistics
New Comments (17)
Unsolved Problems
Top Rated Problems
This month's top
Most Commented On

Chatterbox:
Copyright © 2002 - 2024 by Animus Pactum Consulting. All rights reserved. Privacy Information