After the weight lifting event, the announcer said “Either Holland was better than Italy, or Greece won gold.”

An Italian reporter heard that, and commented that even knowing his own country’s final place, he wasn’t able to deduce the other places.

Curiously, a Dutch reporter who knew Holland’s final place, and who hadn’t heard the other reporter, made exactly the same remark.

Which were the final places?

(In reply to solution by Amy)

If Greece had won gold, "Greece won gold" is true, so "Holland was better than Italy" must be false. (You have to assume that those statements cannot both be true, or this riddle makes no sense). Greece would have won the gold, Italy the silver and Holland the bronze. The Dutch reporter would have known that, since he knew Holland's standing, and would have known that "Holland was better than Italy" is false, and "Greece won gold" is therefore true. Then he would have known that Greece won gold, Italy silver and Holland bronze. Therefore Greece did not win the gold, since the Dutch reporter could not figure out the standings.

Posted by Dan on 2003-10-14 21:19:13