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Race Winner (Posted on 2013-05-28) Difficulty: 2 of 5
Four athletes, Ann, Bea, Carol, and Dorothy went out one morning and ran a race. At the end of the race, the following statements were made:
Ann: "I didn't come in first or last."
Bea: "I didn't come in last."
Carol: "I was first."
Dorothy: "I was last."
It is known that one, and one only, of the four athletes is the liar while the other three are knights.

Who won the race?

No Solution Yet Submitted by K Sengupta    
Rating: 2.0000 (1 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
Solution Liars don't prosper (spoiler) | Comment 1 of 2
Assume A is the liar.  Then C and D are telling the truth, and came in first and last, which means A is not lying.  Contradiction.

Assume B is the liar.  Then B came in last, but so did knight D.  Contradiction.

Assume D is the liar.  Then nobody came in last.  Contradiction.

So, C is the liar.  C did not come in first, but neither did A or D.  So B came in first.  D came in last, and A & C came in 2nd and 3rd (or 3rd and 2nd).

While we don't know the complete order, we do know that Bea won the race.

  Posted by Steve Herman on 2013-05-28 10:07:58
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