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Colour Problem

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Dee-M-See | 00:03 Fri 14th Mar 2008 | Quizzes & Puzzles
11 Answers
If I had 25 Hankies divided equally into 5 colours and neatly stacked in a drawer
If I was then blinfolded how many Hankies would I have to take out to be sure of having one of each colour
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17
21? But then I am no good at this sort of puzzle!
If you're picking them at random, then the only way to be absolutely sure you have one of each colour would be to take 21 - if you take out 20 hankies you could in theory get all 5 hankies of 4 colours and none of the 5th colour.

At least it made sense to me - I'm sure somebody has a cleverer answer ...

i.e. if they are already stacked neatly in piles of colour, then you should be able to just take one from each pile :-)


Yes, of course - 21.
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I have since been told the correct answer is 21
But thank you for your answers
Surely, if you drew out 20 you might get, say 5 blue, 5 yellow, 5 red, and 5 green, but no brown, because the 5 brown would still be in the drawer? Dimmer and dimmer!
What I dont like about the question is the "neatly stacked in a drawer". If they were all higgledy piggledy the answer would be the same.......
Interestingly, to guarantee 5 of one colour the answer would still the same, ie 21. This is based on the same possibility, 4A 4B 4C 4D 4E = 20, with the next hanky guaranteeing a set of 5.

. . . . I have just turned into a pumpkin! night night, ja
4
if they were divided equally (stacks of 5) subtracting the one already wearing you would simply go along the line taking one away from each pile of 5

Or is that answer too simple??
Now I am doubting the simplicity of it
nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
blessedwith3 - I LOVE your lateral thinking - thinking outside the box! Shows creativity and intelligence :o) Nice one!

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