Zero
Prime
All things are possible...
Posts: 3,921
|
Post by Zero on Aug 12, 2013 18:31:08 GMT -4
Post a brain teaser for us to solve. MUST HAVE AN ANSWER. None of that unanswerable BS.
Here's one my brother got me with:
"My name is ZI0J. Only a genius can guess my true name." Hint: Written in plain sight.
|
|
|
Post by swoop on Aug 17, 2013 15:50:36 GMT -4
I am going to throw a few guesses. 1) Zizeroj 2) Zinonjay 3) Zee Jay
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on Aug 17, 2013 17:36:31 GMT -4
...I'm gonna be a dumbass and say the obvious. Your real name is ZI0J?
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Aug 17, 2013 18:54:11 GMT -4
Post a brain teaser for us to solve. MUST HAVE AN ANSWER. None of that unanswerable BS. Here's one my brother got me with: "My name is ZI0J. Only a genius can guess my true name." Hint: Written in plain sight. John. You reverse the current name so you have J0IZ. Turn the Zero into the letter equivalent, then flip the I and the Z on their sides to make an H and an N.
|
|
Zero
Prime
All things are possible...
Posts: 3,921
|
Post by Zero on Aug 17, 2013 19:21:58 GMT -4
Freak'n genius. I can't believe you were able to figure it out. That was a completely original brain teaser. It's not one you can just look up.
When my bro first wrote it, the J was suppose to be a 4, so you had to use the same "tilt it" logic, but the font doesn't display an open 4.
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Aug 18, 2013 22:53:10 GMT -4
Alright, since I got the correctomundo answer, I shall respond with my own. A friend of my brother taught me this one.
---
There are 100 prisoners, about to be executed for whatever heinous crime that have committed. They are all blindfolded prior to receiving their coloured hats. A random number of prisoners is given a red hat, and the rest are given a blue hat. They are led into a large room and they are brought onto a stage one at a time. On the stage is a panel with two buttons: One red, and one blue. Once a prisoner goes onto the stage, their blindfold is removed, and in thirty seconds, must press the button that corresponds with their own hat- which they cannot see.
If they guess correctly, then they set free. If they do not guess correctly, they are sent to their deaths.
If they are allowed to collaborate prior to the event, how many prisoners can they possibly save?
Also, you can ask "Yes" or "No" questions if you want.
|
|
Zero
Prime
All things are possible...
Posts: 3,921
|
Post by Zero on Aug 19, 2013 22:38:26 GMT -4
In what way are they permitted to "collaborate"? With each other, or the authorities that be?
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Aug 20, 2013 0:01:24 GMT -4
With each other, yes.
Also, I kinda botched a small part of the teaser itself, so I will need to make a quick edit.
|
|
|
Post by swoop on Aug 30, 2013 22:16:38 GMT -4
I just realize something the puzzle answer was John, and Jakob solved it. The prisoners may be doing a jingle. I am stretching this joke too much am I? As for the current puzzle can I ask how many guards are there?
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Aug 30, 2013 23:31:43 GMT -4
I just realize something the puzzle answer was John, and Jakob solved it. The prisoners may be doing a jingle. I am stretching this joke too much am I? As for the current puzzle can I ask how many guards are there? If you're asking for if the prisoners can just scrap the hats and blindfolds and run, the answer is "No", as there are definitely enough guards to hold back the entire mob.
|
|
|
Post by Hunter on Aug 31, 2013 0:04:06 GMT -4
I think I know the answer, but first a few clarifications:
1. Is the prisoner on stage able to see the other prisoners' hats? 2. Is the prisoner on stage able to communicate with the other prisoners? 3. Is the prisoner on stage sent out of the room (whether to freedom or to death) before the next has his turn? 4. Are the other prisoners told which button the prisoner on stage pressed? 5. Are the other prisoners told whether the prisoner on stage guessed correctly?
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Sept 1, 2013 19:03:13 GMT -4
1. Is the prisoner on stage able to see the other prisoners' hats? Yes. 2. Is the prisoner on stage able to communicate with the other prisoners? No. They are only able to communicate prior to the event proper. 3. Is the prisoner on stage sent out of the room (whether to freedom or to death) before the next has his turn? Yes. 4. Are the other prisoners told which button the prisoner on stage pressed? No. 5. Are the other prisoners told whether the prisoner on stage guessed correctly? No.
|
|
Zero
Prime
All things are possible...
Posts: 3,921
|
Post by Zero on Sept 1, 2013 19:52:02 GMT -4
0%-50% with being blinded until they go on stage, and no communication whatsoever afterwords. But they are all in the same room.
Being blindfolded, they could organize a code to use on stage without verbal communication, something like foot tapping. 2 taps for red, 1 for blue.
If the first prisoner can look back at the next prisoner after his blindfold is removed, he can make the appropriate tapping action to tell the next prisoner which hat he is wearing. This goes on so on and so forth.
The only person without this advantage would be the first prisoner. All prisoners can be saved except for him. He has a 50/50 chance of survival.
My surest answer would have to be 99.
|
|
|
Post by Jakob on Sept 4, 2013 2:20:28 GMT -4
0%-50% with being blinded until they go on stage, and no communication whatsoever afterwords. But they are all in the same room. Being blindfolded, they could organize a code to use on stage without verbal communication, something like foot tapping. 2 taps for red, 1 for blue. If the first prisoner can look back at the next prisoner after his blindfold is removed, he can make the appropriate tapping action to tell the next prisoner which hat he is wearing. This goes on so on and so forth. The only person without this advantage would be the first prisoner. All prisoners can be saved except for him. He has a 50/50 chance of survival. My surest answer would have to be 99. Not exactly. When I say the prisoners are given the opportunity to plan out their road to freedom, I mean they can only communicate to each other during that point. During the event proper, they cannot communicate whatsoever. The key is in what plan they make prior to the event.
|
|
|
Post by Hunter on Sept 6, 2013 2:38:09 GMT -4
Under the constraints you've described, I'm not sure it's possible to guarantee that any prisoners can be saved. Depending on what they can find out about the probability distribution of the number of red hats vs. the number of blue hats, they might be able to maximize their odds of survival. But for any conceivable strategy, there exists a non-zero chance of drawing the worst-case scenario and everyone going home in a body bag. Wikipedia describes a similar problem, in which an infinite number of prisoners are made to play this cruel game. In that case it's possible to guarantee both an infinite number of survivors and, with some set-theoretic voodoo, only a finite number of executions. But crucially, that finite number is allowed to be arbitrarily large, which is bad news if there are only a finite number of prisoners to kill. Now maybe the trick is to take advantage of the thirty-second time limit to cheat the "no communication" rule, just as Zero wanted to cheat it with nonverbal communication. And in that case, yes, you can save all but one. But with absolutely no way to transmit information to subsequent prisoners, they're up a creek.
|
|