There is a king and there are his n prisoners. The king has a dungeon in his castle that is shaped like a circle, and has n cell doors around the perimeter, each leading to a separate, utterly sound proof room. When within the cells, the prisoners have absolutely no means of communicating with each other.
The king sits in his central room and the n prisoners are all locked in their sound proof cells. In the king's central chamber is a table with a single chalice sitting atop it. Now, the king opens up
I had a conversation with Brian0918 on AIM this morning, in which he revealed he's really trolling when I pointed out to him there is no solution (see my other posts) on this topic. Here's a little tidbit: ". i usually just post the problem to get people into big disputes, which so far has worked 2 out of 2 times". If you want the full conversation, email me at sbartaNOSPAM_at_MAPSONgmail.com.
It's better for you, LeonGeeste, to assume that there is no solution so that you can get on with your life, whatever that entails. Feel free to continue spinning to your desire. I'm sure it's entertaining for all of us.
I had a conversation with Brian0918 on AIM this morning, in which he revealed he's really trolling when I pointed out to him there is no solution
I have no idea who you spoke to on AIM or what they said, but YAW. (You are wrong.)
The puzzle is indeed solvable, presuming that the prisoners know the value of k. (Other people have discussed that that point should be implied, but was not explicitly stated in the post.)
"Signals" can be sent by turning the chalice one way, and erased by turning it the other way.
The king will call the prisoners in any order he pleases, and he can call and recall each prisoner as many times as he wants, as many times in a row as he wants.
So what would stop the King from alternating between the counter and one single other prisioner 2*n*k+n-k times?
Unless I'm missing something, your solution doesn't seem to work.
The king will call the prisoners in any order he pleases, and he can call and recall each prisoner as many times as he wants, as many times in a row as he wants. The only rule the king has to obey is that eventually he has to call every prisoner in an arbitrary number of times. So maybe he will call the first prisoner in a million times before ever calling in the second prisoner twice, we just don't know. But eventually we may be certain that each prisoner w
Maybe I'm reading the intent, but the language on that seems fine to me. It is an ongoing process that only ends when one of the prisoners attempts to claim freedom. The king is never permitted to stop calling prisoners.
But the only requirement is that the king keeps on calling prisoners, and that he call each prisoner at least c times. So he can call the first prisoner c times, then the second prisoner c times, etc. Then when he has called everyone c times, then he just keeps calling the same person over and over. In this way, the king fulfills the requirements, but they never get free.
Same thing with if the king calls the counter c times at the very beginning, and then he can call the other prisoners as many times as
If and and only if c is a number fixed in advance. The wording seemed sufficent to me that the arbitrary recalls was of the ongoing process not a prefixed number, and I'd say more clear than the point that the prisoners do know k in advance. The king can finitely delay release as long as he likes, but if "arbitrary recalls" is not a prefixed number then the rules forclose infinitely denying release. If a sequence is finitely valid for *all* arbitrary c then mathematically the required back and forth communic
No, I think that the last sentence of that paragraph in the problem makes it clear that c is fixed in advance: "But eventually we may be certain that each prisoner will be called in ten times, or twenty times, or any number you choose."
The king can make the required c arbitrarily large compared to k, but he cannot delay c to infinity.
Did you read what I wrote before? The king isn't trying to delay c to infinity. In fact, it's in the king's interest for c to be small. The king's strategy is to get c o
unless I made a mistake or misunderstood the question. My solution is based on the condition listed "eventually we may be certain that each prisoner will be called in ten times, or twenty times, or any number you choose."
I define the cup when right-side-up called "full", when it is upsidedown called "empty". Turning the cup from "empty" to "full" I call "filling the cup", the other way I call "drinking the cup". These naming is to make the solution easier to understand.
One of the prisoner will be the "prod
FORTUNE'S FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL: #44
Zebras are colored with dark stripes on a light background.
The King and the Chalice (only for Experts!) (Score:3, Interesting)
The king sits in his central room and the n prisoners are all locked in their sound proof cells. In the king's central chamber is a table with a single chalice sitting atop it. Now, the king opens up
MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:4, Informative)
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:1)
MOD Brian0918 UP (Score:2)
It's actually a pretty good exercise in lateral thinking.
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
I have no idea who you spoke to on AIM or what they said, but YAW. (You are wrong.)
The puzzle is indeed solvable, presuming that the prisoners know the value of k. (Other people have discussed that that point should be implied, but was not explicitly stated in the post.)
"Signals" can be sent by turning the chalice one way, and erased by turning it the other way.
You
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:1)
So what would stop the King from alternating between the counter and one single other prisioner 2*n*k+n-k times?
Unless I'm missing something, your solution doesn't seem to work.
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
You missed "Each prisoner is told to send
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Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
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Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
Same thing with if the king calls the counter c times at the very beginning, and then he can call the other prisoners as many times as
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
The king can finitely delay release as long as he likes, but if "arbitrary recalls" is not a prefixed number then the rules forclose infinitely denying release. If a sequence is finitely valid for *all* arbitrary c then mathematically the required back and forth communic
Re:MOD PARENT TROLL (Score:2)
Did you read what I wrote before? The king isn't trying to delay c to infinity. In fact, it's in the king's interest for c to be small. The king's strategy is to get c o
There is a solution (Score:1)
My solution is based on the condition listed "eventually we may be certain that each prisoner will be called in ten times, or twenty times, or any number you choose."
I define the cup when right-side-up called "full", when it is upsidedown called "empty". Turning the cup from "empty" to "full" I call "filling the cup", the other way I call "drinking the cup". These naming is to make the solution easier to understand.
One of the prisoner will be the "prod