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So I guess winking is considered “no communication”.
Then I thought they could say a color based on someone else’s guess. But the guess have to be simultaneous.
By the sound of who’s interested, I guess the clever answer isn’t out there, this is gonna take some math, huh?
This has a real NP-complete feel to it. Is that you’re favorite kind of logic puzzle?
Sounds like we need to buy some Phillies red and blue hats, drink some beer and give this game a shot.
So upon a couple more reads of the puzzle, I have an initial strategy idea (I figure the heart of the solution is in the initial strategy session before the coin flips).
*If any player sees that the other two hats are the same color, that player should guess the opposite color.
*If any player sees that the other two hats are different colors, that player should pass.
I’m not too sure about the math needed to get a resulting probability though. Maybe just play out all scenarios?
Paris, I don’t think there’s any more solution to be found aside from what’s told in the article. It just becomes a matter of mathematical proof.
But yeah, Matt, I’d love for the opportunity to use this problem (and knowledge of the solution) as a fun money-winning parlor trick.
John said:Paris, I don’t think there’s any more solution to be found aside from what’s told in the article. It just becomes a matter of mathematical proof.
I see, so it’s easy to figure out, but complex in the exploration of higher degrees of the problem.
Paris said:I see, so it’s easy to figure out, but complex in the exploration of higher degrees of the problem.
Well, maybe I misread the article, but isn’t the whole point to try to improve the likelihood of winning beyond 50%? I mean, they gave the solution that results in a 50% probability of ending up with money. That part seemed pretty easy.
Now come up with a proof that does better than that.
They gave another solution than results in much greater chances, depending on powers of two. But there hasn’t been a proof written for it — just experimentation.
via reddit, some classic puzzles: http://gurmeetsingh.wordpress.com/puzzles/
Sammy said:via reddit, some classic puzzles: http://gurmeetsingh.wordpress.com/puzzles/
I visited my buddy up in Nutley (for our usual Nutley Tuesday gathering). We usually play board/video games with the others, but we spent the first two hours working on these puzzles. They are awesome.
Two hours, eh? Did you come up with the exact answers given on the site, or did you come up with something equally plausible? I mean, one of the solutions I came up with was more swashbuckling than pragmatic… how open-ended are these questions, ya figure?
We put a lot of time into the “Blind Man with Cards” puzzle. Came up with plenty of different ideas but didn’t get it exactly right.
The next five came quicker. As a matter of fact, the Chocolate Pieces puzzle was in that Professor Layton game.