My friend told me this complex story. Everyone in it is either a knight, knave, or liar (more than one person can have the same status). Knights always tell truths, liars always lie, and knaves always alternate every statement.

Everyone knew the status of everyone else except for my friend (he knew nothing at first). If anyone lied about what someone said, they didn’t lie about who, when, or whether they said it; they only lied about what the person said. The story goes as follows.

Aaron and Bill were talking to me.
Aaron told me what he was.
At this point, I could tell what Aaron was.
Bill told me one thing that he wasn’t.
Aaron told me that Cassie was a knight.
I then could figure out what Cassie was.
Bill told me that Cassie was a knave.
I thought about this for a minute.
I soon found that the previous thing Bill said allowed me to know for sure what the last of the three people were.

What type is everyone? The puzzle is solvable.

Aaron probably said, " I m a liar." a Liar or a Knight will not say so, hence 'I' could figure out his status: a knave.

Since Aaron will be truthful in his next statement, Cassie is a knight.

Bill is certainly lying about Cassie. So he couldn't be a knight. 'I' could know for sure what Bill is. So what did he said about himself? say "I'm not a knave". If he is a knave, of course he'll have to tell the truth since he lied about Cassie, contradiction.

Hence Bill is a liar.

So we have Knave Aaron, Liar Bill and Knight Cassie.

-->After reading the solution, i found out my fatal mistake.... Bill said something he wasn't, not was. hence "I'm not a knight" is probably his statement.

 

Edited on October 8, 2005, 4:18 am

Posted by Terence on 2005-10-08 03:57:09