Here is a puzzle for your enjoyment. I saw it recently and it was new to me.
I am not
sure I would have solved it if I hadn't used J.
88 people stand in a circle, each having a hat with a number from 1 to 88
written on it. Everybody can see numbers on other people's hats but cannot
see
his own number. At the ring they simultaneously write a number on a piece of
paper and give it to the judge. If at least one of them wrote number that is
on
his hat then everybody wins, if nobody guessed, then nobody wins. What
strategy
should they use to guarantee the victory?
(Numbers on the hats do not have to be all different. People cannot exchange
any information during the procedure, but can agree on some strategy
beforehand. They are not supposed to be perfect logicians mutually aware of
each other's perfect logicianshipness, just if any of them is smart enough
to
come up with a strategy that guarantees the victory, everybody else is smart
enough to accept this strategy and follow it.)
nsg
_________________________________________________________________
Get a preview of Live Earth, the hottest event this summer - only on MSN
http://liveearth.msn.com?source=msntaglineliveearthhm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm