81 replies to this topic

[DebbieKoolBabez]

The person at the back would be able to say what color their headband was because if they knew how many headbands theer were then if they saw 2 red headbands then they would know that the color of theirs was white but if thay saw only 1 red in front but 2 whites and 1 red in front then you couldn't be quite sure what color anyones was.

[Jarod997]

Couldn't the last person in the queue also be able to guess this correctly? Assuming the 3 men knew the amount of white and red bands (3 and 2) the last man could see that the first two men both have red bands. The 3rd man knowing there are only 2 red bands could then realize that he must have a white band and state that thus setting them free.

Yes, you are correct. There are two possible outcomes. Either the third man sees two red headbands and says his is white, or the third and second are silent and the first guesses his is white.

Excellent puzzle.

[Hopelessly Hopeful]

im not sure if im right but im guessing that the head band was white, because 2 men were white and theres blended in and the other one was a different skinned color besides white, thats why they could see his... like i said, not sure

[rockinsteady]

It was dark inside the teepee so none of the prisoners saw any of the headbands. All three were white. ??

[altocumulus]

No way! This answer is BOGUS! The question only states that one of them spoke up, it doesn't say the first one spoke up. It solves the puzzle equaly well to have per1 and per2 wearing white, and per3 saying he has red because he can see the two whites. And the idea that someone might pause to double check in his head how many of each color headbands there were before speaking up when his life is on the line I think is perfectly reasonable.

..but if you had paused to double check how many of each colour headbands there were, you would have found that there were a possible three whites, so if per3 saw 2 whites in front of him he would not know if he had a red or a white. That's why he didn't speak.

[joejoe10155]

a pretty easy way would be if it was red it would absorb heat and be warmer
white reflect heat and be cooler

[Terran]

like senti_2k2 said....what if third sees 2 white headbands?

If the third sees only 2 white then he is unsure what color his headband is... but the first still knows 2 red were not seen by the third

Going by the second prisinors silence he still safely assumes he has a white himself.

[madgokul]

there r 7 cases
www 1st person
rrw 3rd
rww 2
wrw 1
rwr 2
wrr 1
wwr 1


3rd should say immediately
2nd should wait and say for a min
1st should wait for a while and should say

[beckey]

The third person will be able to make out if he has for certain a white headband. if he remains quiet it means that the people before him have either two white or a white and a red headband. If he remains quit the second person will consider this and answer acording to what he sees. either he sees a red band and he knows he is white eihert he sees a white band and he cannot respond to the question since he can have either red or white
. the silence will even be lopnger so after a day or so the 1st person will realise that neither of the man can determine the colour of their headband so he know his is white because if it were red the second person would have been able to say white and the third could hhave been quite or the second person was quiet and the third person responded.

the only fact they have to know is that there are 3 white bands and 2 reds

[my massive brain is sexy]

Spoiler for i think i got it

the third guy said his head band was white, this is because there r only 2 red, so the 2 infront of him must be red, so by process of elemination he was able to conclude that his was white since that was the only color left