NationStates Jolt Archive

This is a puzzle that one of my lecturers at Uni gave me to test lateral thinking. I'm bored, so I thought I'd try to remember it and see how you guys go with it:

A couple of hundred years ago, a man sought to borrow a large sum of money from a nobleman to invest in some product being imported. The nobleman agreed to lend him the money. However, the investment yielded no return and the money was lost.

Some time later, the nobleman sought to collect his money from the man. When the man couldn't pay, the nobleman threatened to have him imprisoned. The man's daughter, who was seventeen and quite stunningly beautiful, begged the nobleman to reconsider. The nobleman decided to give the man a choice:

a. Allow the nobleman to place a black pebble and a white pebble in a bag. The man's daughter would remove one pebble. If she drew the black one, the debt would be forgiven. If she removed the white one, she would have to marry the nobleman;

b. The man would be imprisoned.

Distraught and seeing no alternative, the man chose the former. His daughter watched carefully as the nobleman picked up two white pebbles and placed them in the bag.

A year later, the daughter married the local baker, and her father was debt free. How did she get out of marrying the nobleman?

I'll give you the answer tomorrow night (assuming nobody works it out).

Don't know if it's right, but:

She draws a pebble, doesn't show it, and asks the nobleman to reveal the one left in the bag. Since it's white, it would imply her drawing a black one.

by pulling one and using the remaining white one in the bad to insist that the one she pulled must therefor have been not-white.

Edit: OK, so Cromotar and I agree on the answer.

She actually does marry the nobleman & the debt is forgiven. She then kills him & marries her true love, the baker, a year later.

Or maybe....

Spoiler

The nobleman was the baker

All right, I got one for you, and one of you jokers will probably get it right away.

A man lies dead, and furthermore, he's been shot. Surrounding him are 53 Bicycles. What happened?

She marries him, but being a devotee of a secret Tantric sect, she makes their wedding night so full of pleasure that the nobleman's heart bursts and he dies. :p

All right, I got one for you, and one of you jokers will probably get it right away.

A man lies dead, and furthermore, he's been shot. Surrounding him are 53 Bicycles. What happened?

He was another American leading in the Tour de France?

Well, she did draw a white one, if she did decide to draw at all (see below), so I assume she refused to show it and asked the abuser to show the one remaining in the bag. If the noble (noble?) extracted a white one (the only possibility), then the only possible answer for him was either to recognize he was cheating, or to gave her the benefit of the doubt that she was holding a black one. I guess he went for the latter and everything was OK.

OR....

She could also whispered to his ear that she knew he was cheating, and force him to put two black ones in the bag or face lynching for being such a donkey. After all, the conditions of the deal were that he had to place ONE black and ONE white in the bag. The deal would be nullified if he didn't respect the conditions of it, and she could call for the pardon of the debt as reparation for the intent of cheating in such a dishonorable way.

All right, I got one for you, and one of you jokers will probably get it right away.

A man lies dead, and furthermore, he's been shot. Surrounding him are 53 Bicycles. What happened?

Shot with a syringe, I guess, with steroids. He was a doped sportman and dies of an overdose as he ran the competition.

Shot with a syringe, I guess, with steroids. He was a doped sportman and dies of an overdose as he ran the competition.

Wow, I did not see that coming. First, I should explain that I was telling this one before the steroids scandals, and it has nothing to do with steroids. he was shot with an ordinary gun.

Wow, I did not see that coming. First, I should explain that I was telling this one before the steroids scandals, and it has nothing to do with steroids. he was shot with an ordinary gun.

Was just an thesis, let's see. Bike thief?

Was just an thesis, let's see. Bike thief?

Nope.

as to the bicycle question:

Bicycles are a brand of playing card. Playing cards are typically 52 to a deck, in this case there are 53. Therefore I assume he was trying to cheat with say, an extra ace or something, was discovered, and shot. He lies dead at the table, surrounded by the 52 playing cards of bicycle brand, and one extra that he was cheating with.

Arthais got it.

here's one for you. On a wall you see a door, and three light switches. You are told that behind the door is a room with 3 lamps on a table. Each switch controls one and only one lamp. The switches are not labeled, and there is no way to apparently tell which switch powers which lamp.

You are then told that you have to determine which switch powers which lamp. Each enough? The complication is that you may turn the switches on or off as much as you like, but the door will remain closed and you can not see the lamps behind it. Once you open the door to observe the lamps, the switches will lock in whatever position you left them in, and will not be able to be used again. You can touch, move and manipulate the lamps as much as you wish.

So, given one shot, and three switches, how do you tell which one is which?

The daughter pulls out a pebble but throws it away before anyone can see it. Then, to see what color it was, they look in the bag. A white pebble is left, which means the pebble pulled out of the bag must have been black, unless the nobleman lied. He is probably not willing to admit this, although he could and there would not be much the man or his daughter could do about it.

So, given one shot, and three switches, how do you tell which one is which?

This assumes all lights start at 'off'. If that isn't true, the answer is indeterminate.

Flip the right switch on, and leave it on for about 5 minutes. Then flip it off and turn the middle one one on. Open the door and feel the lamp. The right switch controls the warm lamp, the middle switch controls the lamp that is on, and the left switch controls the remaining light.

This is a puzzle that one of my lecturers at Uni gave me to test lateral thinking. I'm bored, so I thought I'd try to remember it and see how you guys go with it:

A couple of hundred years ago, a man sought to borrow a large sum of money from a nobleman to invest in some product being imported. The nobleman agreed to lend him the money. However, the investment yielded no return and the money was lost.

Some time later, the nobleman sought to collect his money from the man. When the man couldn't pay, the nobleman threatened to have him imprisoned. The man's daughter, who was seventeen and quite stunningly beautiful, begged the nobleman to reconsider. The nobleman decided to give the man a choice:

a. Allow the nobleman to place a black pebble and a white pebble in a bag. The man's daughter would remove one pebble. If she drew the black one, the debt would be forgiven. If she removed the white one, she would have to marry the nobleman;

b. The man would be imprisoned.

Distraught and seeing no alternative, the man chose the former. His daughter watched carefully as the nobleman picked up two white pebbles and placed them in the bag.

A year later, the daughter married the local baker, and her father was debt free. How did she get out of marrying the nobleman?

I'll give you the answer tomorrow night (assuming nobody works it out).

The nobleman bought the farm, the girl got his inheritance cash, and split it with her pop.

All right, I got one for you, and one of you jokers will probably get it right away.

A man lies dead, and furthermore, he's been shot. Surrounding him are 53 Bicycles. What happened?

Here is the answer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tFt9Dp2nGYk

(Yes, I know, I'm a horrible person.)

Another one... Here are nine dots:

. . .
. . .
. . .

How do you connect them with four lines, if you're not allowed to lift the pen?

The daughter pulls out a pebble but throws it away before anyone can see it. Then, to see what color it was, they look in the bag. A white pebble is left, which means the pebble pulled out of the bag must have been black, unless the nobleman lied.

Congratulations. You got it.

You don't know what was already in the bag. There might have been a black one there. :p

Here is the answer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tFt9Dp2nGYk

(Yes, I know, I'm a horrible person.)

Another one... Here are nine dots:

. . .
. . .
. . .

How do you connect them with four lines, if you're not allowed to lift the pen?



number the dots 1-9

1-2-3
4-5-6
7-8-9

start at 3, draw to 7
draw to a point just past 9, until the next line is lined up right
go through 6 and 2, ending just above the 1
go through 1 and 4
^
|.\
1..2..3
|.....X
4..5..6
../.......\
7--8--9-\