The Mad Hatter poured Alice another cup of tea and set the teapot down.

"May I please have one of those biscuits?" asked Alice rather timedly, rather taken aback by the sight of her present company.

"A biscuit?? Oh, I don't know. Those are the March Hare's special un-birthday biscuits, don't you know. Can she have a biscuit, March ?" asked the Hatter.

"A biscuit?? One of mine? Hurmph. Ok, I'm thinking of an integer from one to three (inclusive). If you get it, you can have a biscuit. If not, I'm afraid you'll just have to leave" said the March Hare, leaning back.

"Oh goodness, I don't know" said Alice worriedly. "Couldn't I just get a hint?"

"Oh, all right..." the March Hare sighed. "You get to ask me one yes-or-no question, that's all"

Alice thought for a moment, then smiled, knowing exactly what to ask.

What question should Alice ask?

Right, here's my two cents..

The question Alice should ask is:
If you sum up the wrong answers, is the sum 3?

If yes, then the number the Hare is thinking is 3 and Alice answers this.

If no, the number must be 1 or 2. Alice should say:
"My answer is the number of biscuits I get +1, if I were to answer 2."

The Hare is talking about _A_ biscuit. Therefore, if 2 is wrong, Alice's answer would be 0+1=1, which must be the correct answer. If the Hare's number is 2, then Alices answer is 1+1=2.

This all assuming, that the Hare doesn't require a flat out number.. :)

   - J

Posted by Juha Salonen on 2004-12-22 19:45:52