----- 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.
