Jail Overcrowding

Meridian Blades

Moderator - Knife Maker
A jail was over capacity, and so the warden decided that he would give them a test to see if some might be freed, and relieve the overcrowding.

Bringing the three prisoners into his office, the warden announced that the bag in his hand had three black hats and two red hats in it. The prisoners are to be lined up in single file and the warden is to walk behind the prisoners and take a hat out of the bag and put it on each prisoner, until all three had hats on them.

When they are lined up, each prisoner can only see the prisoner(s) in front of them and the colour of their hat(s) - they cannot see their own hat and they are not allowed to turn around to look behind them

If any of them could tell the warden the colour of the hat on his own head, all 3 prisoners would immediately be released. If he guessed, and guessed incorrectly, all 3 prisoners would be executed immediately. All three agreed to the terms.

All 3 prisoners are perfect logicians - and they all know this.

Starting from the back of the line:
Prisoner #1 then looks at the other two prisoners' hats and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #2 looks at the hat in front of him and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #3 is blind. He says "I know."

How does he know? Explain.
 
WARNING : Sorry guys. Don't read this while spending a night with the captain (morgan), or you might end up putting on hats and weird stuff may happen ......

:p

Larry
 
Last edited:
Blind man has Red .

The first prisoner is wearing a black hat. He sees the second prisoner wearing black also and the third wearing red, so he doesn't know what he's wearing; it could be either black or red for all he knows. Not wanting to answer wrong, he decides to pass

The second prisoner is also wearing black. He sees the prisoner in front of him wearing black and the prisoner behind him wearing red. His could also be any color, so he also passes.

The last prisoner guesses he's wearing a red hat based on the fact that the two before him have no clue what they're wearing, only that the other "two" have different colored hats. He uses this logic to figure out that he must be wearing a red hat.
 
The next sentence is completely true.
The last sentence was completely false.

Think that through until your brain explodes.

lol
 
Blind man has Red.

Wrong! He has a black hat.

The first prisoner is wearing a black hat. He sees the second prisoner wearing black also and the third wearing red, so he doesn't know what he's wearing; it could be either black or red for all he knows. Not wanting to answer wrong, he decides to pass.

This is wrong. The first prisoner could be wearing either color. It doesn't matter.

The second prisoner is also wearing black. He sees the prisoner in front of him wearing black and the prisoner behind him wearing red. His could also be any color, so he also passes.

The second prisoner can't see the prisoner behind him:
When they are lined up, each prisoner can only see the prisoner(s) in front of them and the colour of their hat(s) - they cannot see their own hat and they are not allowed to turn around to look behind them

The second prisoner could also be wearing either color hat. It doesn't matter.




Correct Answer:

The first man saw either a) two black hats or b) a red and a black hat in front of him. If he had seen two red hats, he would have know what color he was wearing.

The second man saw a black hat. If he had seen a red hat, he would have known that he was wearing a black hat. However, since he saw a black hat in front of him, he knew that he could be wearing either color.

The third man realized the two scenarios above and realized that he was wearing a black hat.
 
... However, since he saw a black hat in front of him, he knew that he could be wearing either color.

The third man realized the two scenarios above and realized that he was wearing a black hat.[/I]


that is the piece I was missing. I knew the second tied back to the first but didn't put it together...
 
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