The Black Stone

Bumper · 10-29-2010

A landlord is threatening to evict a father and his beautiful young daughter, unless she agrees to marry him. There are a lot of witnesses and in a false gesture of sincerity, he offers her an opportunity to remain in the house without marrying him. He has a silk bag in which he says he has placed a white and a black stone from the footpath on which they're standing. If she picks the white stone from the bag, then she wins; if she picks the black, she loses. However, the young girl saw him place two black stones in the bag. She can't accuse him of cheating, because he would say that his good intentions were called into question and storm off without showing the bag. How does the clever girl win?

EDIT: You may have noticed this thread was closed as soon as it was created. That was not intended to limit your input or enjoyment in any way. On the contrary, your participation is most welcome. The action was taken to prevent eager Peeps from going into some search engine, finding the answer, and posting it, as happened on several occasions in the past. (Of course I harvest a lot of this material from other sources. You didn’t think I create it all myself, did you? I’m good, but I’m not that good!) Regrettably, that also means that folks who legitimately work out their own answers, and would like to post them, don’t get to display their prowess, but I’m afraid that can’t be helped. I’ll open the thread in a couple of days, when Peeps have had an opportunity to try their hand at a solution, and you can post away then. The official answer will come a bit after that. I appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope you enjoy the exercise.

Bumper · 11-03-2010

G'head....whadda' ya' got?

leedsb · 11-03-2010

Remove a stone from the bag and let it drop to the ground before anyone can see it so that no one knows what it was. This forces everyone to look at the other stone, which is black. Under the terms of the agreement, the stone removed must have been white. Girl wins.

Uno · 11-03-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by leedsb

Remove a stone from the bag and let it drop to the ground before anyone can see it so that no one knows what it was. This forces everyone to look at the other stone, which is black. Under the terms of the agreement, the stone removed must have been white. Girl wins.

Excellent Mr. Leeds.

Bumper · 11-07-2010

The Official Answer

She withdraws a stone and instantly drops it into those on the ground and is lost. To know what color it was they must look at the stones remaining in the bag.

10-29-2010	#1 (permalink)
Bumper Class Clown Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 14,212	The Black Stone A landlord is threatening to evict a father and his beautiful young daughter, unless she agrees to marry him. There are a lot of witnesses and in a false gesture of sincerity, he offers her an opportunity to remain in the house without marrying him. He has a silk bag in which he says he has placed a white and a black stone from the footpath on which they're standing. If she picks the white stone from the bag, then she wins; if she picks the black, she loses. However, the young girl saw him place two black stones in the bag. She can't accuse him of cheating, because he would say that his good intentions were called into question and storm off without showing the bag. How does the clever girl win? EDIT: You may have noticed this thread was closed as soon as it was created. That was not intended to limit your input or enjoyment in any way. On the contrary, your participation is most welcome. The action was taken to prevent eager Peeps from going into some search engine, finding the answer, and posting it, as happened on several occasions in the past. (Of course I harvest a lot of this material from other sources. You didn’t think I create it all myself, did you? I’m good, but I’m not that good!) Regrettably, that also means that folks who legitimately work out their own answers, and would like to post them, don’t get to display their prowess, but I’m afraid that can’t be helped. I’ll open the thread in a couple of days, when Peeps have had an opportunity to try their hand at a solution, and you can post away then. The official answer will come a bit after that. I appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope you enjoy the exercise.

11-03-2010	#2 (permalink)
Bumper Class Clown Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 14,212	G'head....whadda' ya' got?

11-03-2010	#3 (permalink)
leedsb Pseudo-Brit Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Brrrrmont Posts: 2,370	Remove a stone from the bag and let it drop to the ground before anyone can see it so that no one knows what it was. This forces everyone to look at the other stone, which is black. Under the terms of the agreement, the stone removed must have been white. Girl wins.

11-07-2010	#5 (permalink)
Bumper Class Clown Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 14,212	The Official Answer She withdraws a stone and instantly drops it into those on the ground and is lost. To know what color it was they must look at the stones remaining in the bag.

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