Scratch Your Noodle And Solve This Hat-Happy Puzzle
We know you love to be puzzled every so often.
But maybe after so many weeks of holiday, your mind has turned to ultra-relaxed mush. That’s why we’re pulling out this brain teaser from the archives, to return your brain to school mode and get you thinking outside the box (in this instance, quite literally). This one comes courtesy of MountainMadman and goes by the title ‘The Hardest Logic Problem In Existence’ (no pressure). Here’s the set up: Four students are lined up in a room, as pictured above. Here’s what they know: There are four boys in total. Two of the boys are wearing white hats. Two of the boys are wearing black hats. They know where they are standing in relation to the others. What they don’t know is the colour of the hat on their own head. The fellas can’t turn around or speak to one another, nor can they inspect their own hat. They can only look ahead. Oh, and the lucky gent marked with an A is standing behind a brick wall. A teacher tells the foursome to speak up if they know the colour of their own hat. After a slight pause, one of the students answers correctly, and with certainty. Was it A, B, C or D? And how did he get it right? Share your working in the comments section below! Update: Give up? Okay fine. Get the answer here!Topics
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[confusion]
D
c
the answer is C A and B can't know because they can't see any of the other students, D might be able to answer if both of the students in front of him had the same hat, but in this case they don't. So if D doesn't answer (which is that slight pause) then C can know for certain that his hat is the opposite color of the one in front of him
I am gonna say D
C will
At first, they'll all be silent, because no-one will be able to see enough to make a straight judgement. D will see a black and a white hat, so cannot make a decision. C will (hopefully) realise this and, knowing that in front of him is white, and D hasn't spoken up (because he sees a white and a black), must then realise he's wearing black.
C
C
A - there's a mirror on the brick wall. :)
B can't see anyone's. C can only see B therefore leaving him to choose between black or white. D has more chance of guessing but also can only choose black of white as noons can see A at all. There's no mirror on the right sight or they'd all speak up. So it's only on the left :).
Once A speaks, D will, C and B will sequentially. ;)
whaaaaat