Can anyone figure this out?

Question

Of 3 prisoners in a certain jail, one had normal vision, the second had only 1 eye, and the 3rd was totally blind. all were of at least average intelligence. the jailer told the prisoners that from 3 white hats and 2 red hats he would select 3 and put them on the prisoners heads. each was prevented from seeing what colour hat was placed on his own head. they were brought together, and the jailer offered freedom to the prisoner with normal vision if he could tell what colour what colour hat was on his head. the prisoner confessed that he couldnt tell. next the jailer offered freedom to the prisoiner with only 1 eye if he could tell what colour hat was on his head. the 2nd prisoner confessed that he couldnt tell. the jailer did not bother making the offer to the blind prisoner, but agreed to extend the same terms to him when he made the request. the blind prisoner then smiled broadly then said:

"i do not need to have my sight: from what my friends with eyes have said, i clearly see my hat _______ ?"

does anyone know the answer and if so give me your reasonings or arguments.

cheers

MountainHiker · Accepted Answer

Hi Daniel,

Your question got misinterpreted somewhere. It doesn't work if A had no vision (blind), B had one eye, and C was blind too.

You need A and B to have at least some vision. Then person C can answer the question.

Let's modify your question so that it can be answered.

Of 3 prisoners in a certain jail, one had partial vision, the second had only 1 eye, and the 3rd was totally blind. All were of at least average intelligence. the jailer told the prisoners that from 3 white hats and 2 red hats he would select 3 and put them on the prisoners heads. Each was prevented from seeing what colour hat was placed on his own head. They were brought together, and the jailer offered freedom to the prisoner with normal vision if he could tell what colour what colour hat was on his head. The prisoner confessed that he couldn't tell. Next the jailer offered freedom to the prisoiner with only 1 eye if he could tell what colour hat was on his head. The 2nd prisoner confessed that he couldnt tell. The jailer did not bother making the offer to the blind prisoner, but agreed to extend the same terms to him when he made the request. The blind prisoner then smiled broadly then said:

"I do not need to have my sight: from what my friends with eyes have said, I clearly see my hat _______ ?"

It is helpful to use capital letters at the beginning of sentences. Native English readers recognize the "shapes" of words and letters. So our minds are guided by proper punctuation.

I know the answer. But I will let others struggle with it.

Good question!

MountainHiker

Srini · Answer

Hi there,
The Blind Man must have said " My Hat is white in colour ". I will give my reasoning, do let me know if it is OK.

1. The Man with normal vision says i don't know. Clearly the two other men are not donning red hats simultaneously. If they both were wearing red hats, the normal vision guy would have said " I am wearing white ".

2. The Man with one eye clearly knows this. So, all he has to do is check out what the blind man is wearing. If the blind man is donning a red hat, then clearly this single-eyed guy would have said, " I am wearing white ". However, if the blind guy was wearing a white hat, then the options are numerous to guess.

3. Which means, the old man is not wearing a red hat. So he must have worn a white hat.

If i am wrong, let me know the flaw in my explanation.

Srini

MountainHiker · Answer

Srini,

Your logic is correct! You get a gold star!

(*) (that's supposed to be the emoticon gold star)

Have a great day!

MountainHiker

Anonymous · Answer

I did not get the correct answer and instead guessed.  I am what one would call an over thinker.  If the question would have stated that the prisoners could see what was on the other prisoner's head then I could have gone from there, but it does not.  I was going at it blind! hehe

Can anyone figure this out?

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