Shown above are four men buried up to their necks in the ground.

They cannot move,

so they can only look forward. Between A and B is a brick wall which cannot be seen
through.
They all know that between them they are wearing four hats--two black and two white--
but they do not know what color they are wearing. Each of them know where the other
three men are buried.
In order to avoid being shot, one of them must call out to the executioner the color of
their hat. If they get it wrong, everyone will be shot. They are not allowed to talk to each
other and have 10 minutes to fathom it out.
After one minute, one of them calls out.
Question: Which one of them calls out? Why is he 100% certain of the color of his hat?
This is not a trick question. There are no outside influences nor other ways of
communicating. They cannot move and are buried in a straight line; A & B can only see
their respective sides of the wall, C can see B, and D can see B & C.
Answer

C calls out that he is wearing a black hat. Why is he 100% certain of the color of his hat?

After a while, C comes to the realization that he must answer.

This is because D can't answer, and neither can A or B.

D can see C and B, but can't determine his own hat color. B can't see anyone and also can't determine
his own hat color. A is in the same situation as B, where he can't see anyone and can't determine his
own hat color.

Since A, B, and D are silent, that leaves C. C knows he is wearing a black hat because if D saw that both B
and C were wearing white hats, then he would have answered. But since D is silent, C knows that he
must be wearing a black hat as he can see that B is wearing a white hat.

There were three prisoners in certain jail, one of whom had normal sight, one of whom had only one
eye, and the third of whom was completely blind. The jailer liked to play tricks on his prisoners, so one
day he brought them all three out and had them stand in a line. He then showed them five hats, three
white and two red, which he hid in a bag. From these five hats, he selected three and put one on each of
the prisoners’ heads. None of the men could see what color hat he himself wore. The jailor offered
freedom to the sighted man, if he could tell him what color his hat was (and to prevent guessing, he
threatened execution for a wrong answer). The sighted man could not tell what color hat he wore, and
declined to answer. The jailor next offered the same terms to the one-eyed man, who also could not tell
what color hat he wore, and also declined to answer. At this point the jailor thought his game was done,
but was delighted when the blind prisoner spoke up and asked if he didn’t get a turn? Laughing, the
jailer offered the blind man the same terms as the others. The blind prisoner smiled and replied,
I do not need my sight;

From what my friends have said,

I clearly see my hat is _____!

And so he won his freedom. How did the blind prisoner know what color his hat was? And what color
was it?

_________________________________________________________________

ANSWER: The blind prisoner’s hat is WHITE.

PROOF: There are seven possible permutations of hats:

1 W R R

2 R W R

3 W W R

4 W R W

5 R W W

6 R R W

7 W W W

(1) If the permutation 1 were correct, then the 1st prisoner would see two RED hats and know his hat
was WHITE. But the 1st prisoner doesn’t know what color his hat is, so permutation 1 is ruled out.

(2) The 2nd prisoner looks at the 3rd prisoner. If he sees a RED hat on the 3rd prisoner, then he will
know that his hat must be WHITE. That is, if the 3rd prisoner has a RED hat, the 2nd prisoner would
know that either permutation 2 or permutation 3 is correct, and either way, his hat must be WHITE. The
only permutation where the 3rd prisoner could have a RED hat and the 2nd prisoner NOT have a WHITE
hat is permutation 1, which is already ruled out already in (1). So if the 2nd prisoner sees a RED had on
the 3rd prisoner, we would know his hat is WHITE. But he does not know what color his hat is.
Therefore, he does not see a RED hat on the 3rd prisoner. Therefore, the 3rd prisoner’s hat must be
WHITE.

(3) To sum up, the 1st prisoner’s ignorance rules out permutation 1. The 2nd prisoner’s ignorance rules
out permutation 2 and permutation 3. Since permutations 1-3 are ruled out, the correct answer must
be 4, 5, 6 or 7. And it doesn’t matter which one is correct, because in all of these, the 3rd prisoner’s hat
is WHITE, which is all he needs to know.

10. Problem

In a faraway kingdom, there is a mysterious herb. The poisons brewed with this herb break down in the
body for a number of minutes, and then they cause sudden death. But there is a catch: If you drink a
stronger poison brewed with the same herb while the first poison is still breaking down in your system,
then it will neutralize the weaker poison and act as an antidote, saving your life.

The king in this land wants to posses the strongest poison in the realm, so that he may save his own life
should anyone try to poison him. He summons his pharmacist and his treasurer.

"Each of you will brew me the strongest poison you can," he commands. "Next week, you will each drink
the others' poison, and then your own. Whoever brews the stronger poison will live, and the other will
die."

The two immediately set to work, but it doesn't take the treasurer long to realize that he cannot
possibly brew a stronger poison than the pharmacist. It's just not his area of expertise. And so he devises
a plan to survive.

The pharmacist, meanwhile, is almost done with his poison, a strong brew that is about as potent as
possible. But the day before the potion-drinking showdown, he comes to an important realization: The
treasurer must know the pharmacist's brew will be stronger, and if he wants to live, he must be thinking
up an alternative plan. After some thought, the pharmacist realizes what the treasurer must be
planning, and he devises a counter ruse.
The next day, the pharmacist and the treasurer appear before the king. They each drink the others'
potion, and then their own. The treasurer dies, the pharmacist lives, and the king doesn't get what he
wants.

What happened?

Hint

It will help to reread the first paragraph of the problem. Then, the key to solving the whole riddle is first
figuring out this question: What was the treasurer's initial plan?

Solution

The treasurer, realizing he could never make a more potent poison than the pharmacist, figures out a
way to set himself up for success. He drinks a weak poison just before appearing in front of the king, and
he brings plain water as his own "poison." This way, when he drinks the pharmacist's poison, it will
neutralize the poison he drank earlier, and when he follows that up by drinking his own, he'll only be
drinking water. As for the pharmacist, he will drink water, and then his own poison, leading to his death.

But the clever pharmacist correctly surmises the treasurer's trick. To counter this plot, the pharmacist
also brings water as his poison. Both the treasurer and pharmacist then drink water twice. However, the
weak poison the treasurer drank earlier ends up doing him in, and he falls dead to the floor.

Neither actually brews a poison, and so the king does not get what he wants—a strong poison to guard
against any attempts to assassinate him with a weaker poison.

The moral of the story is always carry a vial of strong poison on your person. And come back next week
for another riddle!