After a few weeks of profiling the latest in AI and science, I thought for this week’s Nerd News I would throw you a bit of a maths brainbuster and the chance to win one of my books.
Knights and Knaves is a famous category of logic problems in mathematics. In this fictitious kingdom, Knights (being of the highest honour) will always tell the truth while Knaves (being … um … knavish) will always lie.
A whole host of logic problems have been created over time which essentially involve a traveler asking a question and you (the solver) trying to work out the facts of any statements to deduce whether you are dealing with a Knight or Knave.
Solve this riddle for a prize!
Once a traveler to the island of Knights and Knaves found two people resting under a tree. The traveler asked one of them — “Is either of you a knight?”.
One of them replied and the traveler immediately knew the answer. Is the responder a Knight or a Knave? And what of his companion?
At first, most knight and knave questions seem impossible to answer. There are too many options or ambiguities. But try and work your way through this.
Hint
There are 3 possible combinations that the two people resting under the tree could be. Consider each of them.
And the fact that the traveler then immediately knew the answer to the question is another clue that is vital to the solution.
Submit your answer
Send me your answer here by Sunday 17 November 2024 5pm AEDT.
Two randomly selected wizards with the correct answer who can show their logic will win a signed copy of one of my maths books.
And next week I’ll set you straight with an answer to this classic conundrum.
That’s all from me for now. If you'd like more geeky fun, please check out my other newsletters below, or connect with me on LinkedIn and/or X.
Yours in nerdiness,
Adam
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