17 July 2011

A "Car Talk" puzzler

Three men, Mr. White, Mr. Brown and Mr. Green, were in the habit of meeting in a local doughnut shop every morning for coffee and doughnuts.

One morning as they were sitting at their usual table, Mr. White remarked, "Hey, will you look at that. We're each wearing a colored baseball cap today." One white cap, one brown cap, and one green cap. But interestingly, no one was wearing a cap of the color that matches his name.

At this, the guy wearing the green cap says, "Oh you stup', that doesn't mean anything, it's just coincidence. Shut up and eat your doughnut."

The question is: What color cap is each man wearing?

At first it doesn't seem like it, but you have all the information you need to solve the puzzler - but if you can't figure it out, the answer is at Car Talk.

7 comments:

  1. Agreed, Robert Cooper. It's the easiest logic problem I've ever seen.

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  2. Even I got that one right away. Thanks for posting it though - when the harpers bazaar puzzle was posted, I felt incredibly stupid.. ;)

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  3. ... but what if Mr. White is talking to himself?

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  4. Very easy, unless Mr White has split personality disorder. Or is color blind.

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  5. As written, it's not at all clear that "no one was wearing a cap of the color that matches his name" is information spoken by Mr. White. If he says that, the answer is easy. If it's just given information, then it's impossible.

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  6. Abbie, I don't think it matters who says that statement (as long as its true). The important thing is that "Mr. White" and "the guy wearing the green cap" are two different people.

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