The Liar Puzzle - curiouser.co.uk

The Liar Puzzle
A curious woman arrives on the shore of Runcible Island. This island is unique in the it is inhabitted by two tribes: the vegetarian truth tellers, who always tell the truth, and the cannibals who always lie. She makes her way from the shore until she meets a native who is standing at a fork in the road. One way leads to the cannibal's village, the other to the vegetarian's. She does not know from which tribe the native comes. What one question can our curious explorer ask in order to establish which of the two roads leads to the vegetarian's village? Her question must be non-compound ie not containing "and", "but", "or" etc... ANSWER

The Liar Puzzle

A curious woman arrives on the shore of Runcible Island. This island is unique in the it is inhabitted by two tribes: the vegetarian truth tellers, who always tell the truth, and the cannibals who always lie. She makes her way from the shore until she meets a native who is standing at a fork in the road. One way leads to the cannibal's village, the other to the vegetarian's. She does not know from which tribe the native comes.

What one question can our curious explorer ask in order to establish which of the two roads leads to the vegetarian's village? Her question must be non-compound ie not containing "and", "but", "or" etc...

ANSWER

One solution is for the explorer to ask the native the following question: "Which of the two roads leads to your village?" The native should then point to the vegetarians' village (whether he is a vegtarian or not).

There is another, quite different solution. Can you work it out?

HINT

When the curious explorer stands in the middle of the fork in the road, there are three directions to choose from. She knows where one of them leads because it the road along which she has just travelled.

CONTINUE

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