Re: Puzzler of the week

[Cameron MacLean]

Not necessarily.  They only had to see one red hat.  It is possible that the other person was wearing a white hat.   e.g Person A, B and C.  Person A saw a red hat on B, but a white hat on C.                                      Person B saw a red hat on A, but a white hat on C                                     Person C saw red hats on both A and B   That satisfies all the conditions, but person C could still have had a white hat.    However, the fact that person A saw that Persons B and C did not stand up implied that they could see a red hat, but were unsure if they had one.  And if A knew that B knew that C had a white hat (because they could both see it), that could only mean that he (Person A) had a red hat.   ..Cameron ----- Original Message ----- From: Don Mac Lean To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 12:48 PM Subject: Re: Puzzler of the week >>They all raised their hands when asked if they saw red. Since the 'others saw red' each one had to have a red hat on their heads. ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott MacLean To: MacLean List ; Georgetown Crew Mailing List 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.