Logic Questions
- Thread starter KnowTheToe
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Dreaddisease
First Post
I think its my shirt. My shirt is definetly best suited on someone else.
seasong
First Post
Since the title is logic, here's a logic puzzle. I'm fond of it, but if I ever inflicted it on my players, they would out and out murder me and bury the body in a shallow, unmarked grave.
A small matriarchal queendom requires all women to pass an extensive and infernally difficult logic exam before they are considered adults, and thus able to marry. Thus, all women who are married are fiendish logicians, and can generally expect logically correct behavior of each other. The queenship is hereditary, however, and she alone does not have to pass the tests. All of this is common knowledge.
The queendom is rather small, and a gunshot would be heard by all citizens.
During a particularly troubled time, the queen became troubled by the constant rumors of infidelity by husbands. Everyone knew who was being unfaithful... except the wives. And custom dictated that a wife's faith in her husband should not be broken by her friends. Since all the women of the queendom were friends, there seemed to be no way to get around the custom.
Fortunately, the queen was wise and just. She gathered all women together, and decreed the following:
"There is at least one unfaithful husband in Mamajorca. All wives know which husbands are unfaithful, but have no knowledge about the fidelity of their own husband. You are forbidden to discuss your husband's faithfulness with any other woman. If you discover that your husband is unfaithful, you must shoot him at precisely midnight of the day you find that out."
Thirty-nine silent nights followed the queen's announcement. On the fortieth night, shots were heard.
How many unfaithful husbands were there, and how did the women know?
A small matriarchal queendom requires all women to pass an extensive and infernally difficult logic exam before they are considered adults, and thus able to marry. Thus, all women who are married are fiendish logicians, and can generally expect logically correct behavior of each other. The queenship is hereditary, however, and she alone does not have to pass the tests. All of this is common knowledge.
The queendom is rather small, and a gunshot would be heard by all citizens.
During a particularly troubled time, the queen became troubled by the constant rumors of infidelity by husbands. Everyone knew who was being unfaithful... except the wives. And custom dictated that a wife's faith in her husband should not be broken by her friends. Since all the women of the queendom were friends, there seemed to be no way to get around the custom.
Fortunately, the queen was wise and just. She gathered all women together, and decreed the following:
"There is at least one unfaithful husband in Mamajorca. All wives know which husbands are unfaithful, but have no knowledge about the fidelity of their own husband. You are forbidden to discuss your husband's faithfulness with any other woman. If you discover that your husband is unfaithful, you must shoot him at precisely midnight of the day you find that out."
Thirty-nine silent nights followed the queen's announcement. On the fortieth night, shots were heard.
How many unfaithful husbands were there, and how did the women know?
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