Title Builder Beta See instructions

Welcome to Title Builder Beta.

This small piece of kit is designed to make building your Quiz, Crossword or Puzzle question more effective. It should make finding your question easier for others and, the easier it is to find, the more likely someone is to answer it!

To build an easy to find question title simply select the paper and quiz, enter the quiz number if relevant and fill in the Publication Date. Once you’re happy click “Build Title” and the information should populate the Title field. Fill in the final required details of your question as you normally would, and click submit.

As this is a Beta we only have a limited number of papers and quizzes listed. If you think your favourite Quiz, Crossword or Puzzle should be listed here don’t hesitate to contact us.

Remember: You do not have to use the title builder - simply enter the title and question as you normally would and click submit!

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3 white and 2 black hats.

Vimto | 12:53 Thu 19th Feb 2009 | Quizzes & Puzzles

5 Answers

I recall a conundrum that was posed in one of Jonathon Alway's books about 3 men who were blinfolded and put in a room where there was a closed chest. In the chest were 3 white hats and 2 black hats. The men were each asked to go to the chest and take out a hat and put it on their heads; the chest was then closed, the men seated in a corner of the room and told to remove their blindfolds. They were each asked to name the colour of the hat they were wearing. None of them could. The first man then correctly named the colour of the hat he was wearing which I think was white but the reason he gave escapes me. Can anyone please help ?

East Anglian air ambulance

Conundrum of the men on the mountain.

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Harry-Wragg

2 are wearing black therefore they both see a black and a white and can't tell which colour they are wearing the other sees 2 blacks therefore he must be wearing white

Vimto

Question Author

No Harry, that's not the answer as the man would have answered "white" at the first time of asking as it would have been obvious. They were all very intelligent.

Harry-Wragg

Hi Vimto

Got it (I think)

2 are wearing white 1 is wearing black
black sees 2 whites - can't possibly answer
both whites see 1 black and 1 white
the man who answers correctly has worked out that if he was wearing black then the other man wearing white would immediately give an answer - ergo he must be wearing white - I think I'll go for a lie down now

Rollo

When they were first asked the question none of the three (A,B and C) could answer it.

Therefore none of the three could see two black hats.

Therefore either all three were wearing a white hat, or only two of them were wearing a white hat.

1. Having heard both B's and C's answer A could deduce that if only one of B and C was wearing a white hat then he too must be wearing a white hat.

2. If both B and C were wearing white hats then A could not have said which colour hat he was wearing. But he did say. Therefore only one of B and C was wearing a white hat. Therefore 1 above applied.

Vimto

Question Author

Yes, you've both got it. There would have to be 2 white and one black OR 3 whites; either way one could work out he was wearing white. Thank you.

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