----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 11:48
AM
Subject: Puzzler of the week
This week's puzzler:
Once upon a time there
lived a king who wished to find the wisest man in the realm to be his
assistant. He summons the three wisest men to his court and he administers the
following test:
He sits them in a circle, facing each other and he says
"I'm going to put either a red hat or a white hat on each of your
heads."
He proceeds to place a red hat on each of their
heads.
Obviously, they can see each other, but there are no mirrors in
the room so they can't see what's on their heads. He says "If you can see a
red hat, raise your hand." They all raise their hands. Then he says, "If you
can tell what color hat you have on, stand up."
They all look at each
other. Nobody moves. Finally, one guy stands up.
He announced, "I'm
wearing a red hat."
How did he know?
Last week's puzzler:
A fellow's driving across
the desert from Salt Lake City to Janet Reno, Nevada. He happens to look in
the rear view mirror, and says, "Yikes!" He realizes he's in urgent need of a
haircut. So, he gets off at Exit 321, which is between Winnemucca and Elko.
He finds himself in beautiful downtown Horsetown, Nevada. Where there
are, of course, two barbershops.
He strolls past barbershop number one
and looks in the window. There are no customers in the shop. It's kind of
messy. Even the barber looks kind of messy. He's unshaven, he's got a rumpled
shirt on, there's hair on the floor, and his haircut is lousy.
The guy
thinks, "Maybe I should check out the other joint." So, he moseys along and
arrives at barbershop number two and looks in that window. It looks terrific.
It's nice and clean. The mirrors are clean and shiny, there's no hair on the
floor. The barber looks neat and well groomed. He's a got the good haircut.
The question is, which barbershop does he select for his haircut?
Last week's puzzler answer:
Why does he go to the first
barbershop, the one that was messy, and disgusting, and lousy haircut? He goes
there because it's clear that each barber gives the other one his
haircut.
