Hats on a death row!! One of my favorites puzzles!

[roolstar]

If you don't already know this one, I'm sure you will find it very interesting and fun to solve! And if you do find the answer (or already know it) please put it under a spoiler tab so that you don't take the fun from the rest of the intelligent people in this forum....

Here we go....

You are one of 20 prisoners on death row with the execution date set for tomorrow.

Your king is a ruthless man who likes to toy with his people's miseries. He comes to your cell today and tells you:

“I’m gonna give you prisoners a chance to go free tomorrow. You will all stand in a row (queue) before the executioner and we will put a hat on your head, either a red or a black one. Of course you will not be able to see the color of your own hat; you will only be able to see the prisoners in front of you with their hats on; you will not be allowed to look back or communicate together in any way (talking, touching.....)

(The prisoner in the back will be able to see the 19 prisoners in front of him

The one in front of him will be able to see 18…)

Starting with the last person in the row, the one who can see everybody in front of him, he will be asked a simple question: WHAT IS THE COLOR OF YOUR HAT?

He will be only allowed to answer “BLACK” or “RED”. If he says anything else you will ALL be executed immediately.

If he guesses the right color of the hat on his head he is set free, otherwise he is put to death. And we move on to the one in front of him and ask him the same question and so on…

Well, good luck tomorrow, HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

Now since you all can communicate freely during the night, can you find a way to guarantee the freedom of some prisoners tomorrow? How many?

Remark of Site Admin:

Note that solution for this puzzle is already given in the following post by bonanova.

[Rachman]

Revolt. The king is totally corrupt.  The concept of justice is perverted.  He doesn't deserve to be king.  When everyone is lined up, everybody jump the guards and fight your way out.  It is better too die on your feet than live on your knees.

[Hannah]

On 1/1/2008 at 4:26 PM, Guest said:

Your hint about 2 possibilities made it suddenly clear. Try this:

Hidden Content

This will only work if there were exactly 10 of each colour.

[Bhavika]

The last in the row who can see all 19 will say “black or red” as the answer

[roslyn]

The last one in the queue knows how many there are of each colour. Therefore on the following day, by counting the colours in front of him, he can deduce his own. Ditto for the next in line....oh all 20 are guaranteed, provided the ones nearer the front can hear the responses and have good memories.

 

[ANG]

I think there are 19 red and 1 black hat. Last one is having Black, as given in question, all of the rest have Red