You are a spy in a hostile country, trying to escape the local authorities. As a disguise, you join the local Knavy, which is like a navy, but is made up entirely of knaves (people who alternate telling the truth and lying). You get word that a ship, the HMS Levik is docked in the harbor to help you escape. The problem is, there are five ships in port (at docks one through five) and none of them are marked with a name.
  You manage to talk with two old sea captains in the Knavy about which ship is which. They talk some, but you don't know if their first statement is a truth or a falsehood.
  Based on their curious descriptions, can you figure out which ship is the HMS Levik?

CAPT. HUDSON:
1. The Salamander is not moored next to the Revenge.
2. The Antimony is moored at dock one.
3. The Levik is moored at dock two.
4. The Defiance is moored next to the Levik

CAPT. BAFFIN
1. The Defiance is not moored at dock two.
2. The Levik is moored at dock four.
3. The Salamander is moored next to the Revenge.
4. The Antimony is not moored next to the Salamander.

Capt. Hudson's 1st statement contradicts Capt. Baffin's 3rd, so either Hudson told the truth first and Baffin lied first or vice versa. If Hudson's first statement was the truth, then so was his third. If Baffin lied first then his 2nd was true. Since the Levik can't be moored at dock two AND four, Hudson's first statement has to be false. So the Levik is at neither 2 nor 4. It can't be at one either because Antimony is there according to Hudson's 2nd statement. The Salamander is next to the Revenge according to Baffin's 3rd statement, and the Defiance is next to the Levik according to Hudson's 4th, so that mean the Salamander and the Revenge can't be in 3 and 4 because that would separate the Defiance and the Levik (and vice versa). Since neither the Defiance nor the Levik can be at 2, the Levik has to be at 5. The rest is irrevelvant because, remember, you're trying to figure all this out while fleeing from the authorities!

Posted by Danny on 2004-05-27 08:39:54