One time ago, three people were captured by a wizard, and they were about to be turned into frogs. The three people begged for their lives, and the wizard decides to give them a chance if they can answer this riddle. Each of the three people is to stand on flight of stairs. The first guy stands on top of the flight of stairs, followed by B (B in the middle), and then C (C is at the base), in this order. -|A -| -|B -| -|C -| A can see B and C, and B can only see C, but can't see A, and C can see none. They were then blindfolded, and on each of their head, the wizard put a coloured cap, the colour of the cap can only either be black or white. The wizard has 2 black caps and 2 white caps. Since there are only three people, there will be either 2 black 1 white, or 2 white and 1 black, either way the 3 men don't know, all that they know is that there will be either black or white cap on their head, and that there will be either 2 white or 2 black cap on the 3 of them, which one they don't know. So the wizard want them to tell him what coloured hat is on their head within the next 5 seconds after he removed the blindfold. Any one who could answer correctly would save the life of all 3 men. Then, the wizard removed the blindfold...... After 4 seconds, the one in the middle {B} answer the question, and it was correct, how did he do it? Hint: Whatever the answer is doesn't matter, even if it is white or black, the most important thing is how he got the answer.
Uhmmmm.....my wife always tells me I shouldn't be so literal, but my answer is: all "B" has to do is take his hat off and look at it to say what color it is seeing as the wizard is only asking each man to sound off the color of his own hat. Of course, if that answer is incorrect, you might want to re-word your riddle.
I would assume that A attempted to answer first and said he didnt know since he saw that both B and C were each wearing a different colored hat (A wouldnt know because if B was wearing a white hat and C was wearing a black hat, that meant that A could be wearing either a white OR a black hat). So that would mean that B would then realize that he was wearing a different colored hat than C. Thus, B was able to get it right since he knew what color hat C was wearing since he was in front of him.
Ok, I feel the need to add something here These three men are not allowed to talk to each other. None of them can see their own caps. There is no mirror. They are not allowed to take their own caps. Remember the order: A can see B and C, B can only see C, and C can see none. Hint: What did the man on top see {A}??
I would guess that if A looked down and saw 2 caps of the same color, he'd have guessed he had the other color and been right. So, when he looked down, he actually saw one white and one black. He had a 50% chance of being right but guessed wrong. B heard A's guess one color wrongly, which would indicate to him that his hat was a different color from C's hat (because A could not have guessed wrong if B's hat was the same color as C's, unless he was an idiot). So, he looks at the color of C's hat and knows his own hat is the other color.
Pretty good riddle. The recruiter for Intel asked me this in an interview (for an internship, actual job interviews are more technical I'm told). I, of course, got it right.
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If the three men only knew how dangerous it is to stand on the stairs: www.jonathonrobinson.com/3.0/web/webtsos.html
