Yet another riddle...

[Flawless115]

There are three men in prison. Two are sighted and one is blind. The warden approaches them one day and says "I have a proposition for the three of you. I have here five hats (two black and three white). I'm going to put a hat on each one of you. You won't be able to see what hat you're wearing, only the hats on the other two men. If you can DEDUCE what hat YOU are wearing correctly, I'll set you free."

 

He places three of the five hats on the three men (without permitting them to see what hat they each receive).

 

The warden asks the first man, who is sighted, what color hat he has on. The man looks at the hats on the other two and says "I can't tell."

 

The warden asks the second man, who is also sighted, what color hat he has on. He looks at the hats on the other two men and says "I can't tell either."

 

The warden turns to the third man, the blind man, and asks him the same question. The thid man says "Well, I'm blind, but I know what color my hat is."

 

The third man tells the warden his answer, guesses correctly, and is set free.

 

What color was the third man's hat and how could he tell?

[Movie Junkie]

The third man was wearing a black hat.

 

The first man had to have seen either a black and a white hat or two black hats because that would have been the only way he could not tell what color his hat was. If he had seen two white hats he would have known his hat was black since there were only two white hats.

 

This is also true for the second man.

[Flawless115]

The third man was wearing a black hat.

He was actually wearing a white hat.

 

I think you mixed the logic up a bit. Otherwise, you would have gotten it correct.

 

The first man had to have seen either a black and a white hat or two black hats because that would have been the only way he could not tell what color his hat was. If he had seen two white hats he would have known his hat was black since there were only two white hats.

 

This is also true for the second man.

The first man would have had to have seen either a black and a white hat or two white hats. If he saw two black hats, he would have known he had a white one on since the black hats would have been exhausted.

 

The second man couldn't tell what hat he had on either so that means the third man had to have on a white hat. If the third man had on a black hat, the second man would have automatically known he had a white had (since the "two black hat" combination would have given it away for the first man).

Edited March 24, 2006 by Flawless115

[Movie Junkie]

The third man was wearing a black hat.

He was actually wearing a white hat.

 

I think you mixed the logic up a bit. Otherwise, you would have gotten it correct.

I didn't mix up the logic, I mixed up the hats. I thought I read 3 black and 2 white and not the other way around. Oh well.

[Flawless115]

That's what I meant to say. I phrased it incorrectly.