Devedander

Very nice! I was impressed by this guy

Well rather than beat this horse (since you obviously get the idea of the solution) the generally accepted answer is they decide that if the last guy in line sees and odd number of black hats, he calls black, and if he sees an even number he calls white. Everyone working their way up can then deduce what their own hat is depending on whether you see an odd or even number of black hats and how many hats were called behind you of what color. This works for any number of pirates Well done! Pug for somehow seeing the solution in minutes (this one took me literally hours) and edd for sticking through and getting it!

@Retep my apologies then. Someone sent me almost exactly the same PM a few months ago and I could have sworn it was you (I actually remember thinking the SN looks familiar from another site, then realizing Peter backwards is probably a very common SN). But if it wasn't you certainly didn't desserve the sterness of my post. However you now see how I feel on the subject, PM or not. @TTK One of the things I have learned about you is that you are the ultimate troll and troll bate rolled up in one... you will simultaneously make no sense, throw out vicious and needless personal attacks and whine aboout how your toes feel stepped on while in the same breath berrating someone for doing just that... regardless of if they even do. Sorry, I gave Pug his thread back, if you want more of a response from me than that you are gonna have to troll somewhere more appopriate for me to respond.

Have you ever handed your credit card to a waiter, who you have never seen before, never talked to before, don't even know their name, at a restaraunt and had him walk out of site for a few minutes?

wooo I know how to draw fire as well as pug! @TTK I expected no less (or should I say no more?) @TT I am sorry you see it that way... as I have said before I call it like I see it, I don't try to stick it to Neil in what I feel is at all any unreasonable way - in fact, I think you will see that I have brought him up at all are the recent times that the possibility of collaboration with pug was brought up both in the lies thread and here. Both times I don't even think I was negative (I actually don't I was the one who brought up the possibility of a connection in any case - just responded to it), I simply said that I can see other points of view. Now if that's an unpopular view, or you feel it's wrong or something, sorry... but at least wait until I actually claim support of a viewpoint before jabbing me about it. For instance if someone says they think your sister is cheating on her husband, and you say no friggin way, I may not think she is, but if I have seen her hanging around some guy an awful lot, I won't be hesitant to say "well I can see why someone might think that". I have to wonder TT, does the fact that you know I don't like TTK make you try to see me behaving in ways I am not? Do YOU have something against ME? I am not accusing you, just trying to figure it out, because as far as I can recall we haven't really had any altercations and the only reaosn I can see for you leveling your sites on me is that you are in defensive (or offensive) mode. Or maybe you are just reading things into a situation much like you seem to think I am? @Pho, thanks for the briefing. As I said I don't know everything and I was only saying two things: 1 from what I know and can see, I can see how someone might suspect collaboration 2 I personally feel klink didn't like pug - you will note pug brought up the connection to TTK, not me. I simply responded to it. Please note that what I said amounts to basically what you said: I don't know or am even suggesting he does, i just know that it had crossed my mind. vs I can see how someone might (especially if they have some history that is not in my knowledge) see a conspiracy between pug and ttk. The funny thing is I absolutely don't think pug and TTK had any kind of plan or anything... I think it did happen to work out well for TTK (well for everyone but Josh and Andrew as it were) but I think I even PMed Pug a while back saying specifically that I don't feel that way. And I honestly don't. The absolute closest I might personally suspect is a case of common enemies/dislikes and that's not really something you accuse someone of, just something you may see the results of. To be honest I know a lot of people like TTK for some reason that I don't see, and that's fine, I don't claim to be the end all of deciding who is a likeable person. I won't pretend "synthetic saphire" doesn't bother me just because some dealers have a lot of supporters and I won't pretend I think TTK is a nice guy just because he skypes some people and has friends. But it's kind of questionable (no fingers directly pointed at anyone per se) how there seems to be some TTK idolism that makes people defend him even when he doesn't need it... it's almost like the way people jump to defend Josh even when he doesn't need it... odd irony that. @Retep I believe you PMed me a long time ago asking the same thing, why don't I donate? I believe I messaged you back that I think it's tasteless for someone who is not an admin to be asking that sort of thing in such a way. When the priest hands me the donation basket it's one thing, when an antendee chases me down in teh parking lot it's quite another. I thought we came to an agreement civilly that indeed I am capable of making my decisions where and how to distribute my money and that since you didn't mean any harm by it we could both be men and let it simply slide away. You recently PMed me what I think is the exact same (canned?) PM you sent me originally. Bad form but I let it slide as just you doing some sort of routine(BTW are an official collections agent for the forum or something?), not directly violating our discussion before about how I didn't appreciate it and you didn't mean to do anything offensive. Now you decide to pass that up and bring it up publically, I can only assume with hopes to shame me into some sort of guilty donation... Not even considering our previous messages I think that's extremely distasteful. Considering them it's downright rude. If I have mistaken you for someone else (I have cleaned out PMs since) I apologize but I doubt it as your wording is almost spot on from the first PM I recieved a while ago. And for the record, I have indeed been a supporting member at some point since my joining. So... Pug, sorry to jack your thread drawing fire to myself. To those who like TTK and feel he needs defending, didn't mean to get you up in arms and not even sure why you would bother, TTK is obviously capable of standing up for himself. To those who aren't up in arms to defend TTK but are aiming to remind me I don't know everything there is to know, thanks. I know that. I have tried to make it clear that I don't claim to know everything and that I think it's about all you can do to preface what you say with that remark where you feel it's pertinant. To TTK I have silently been impressed by the fact that you seem to have shown some reserve and not come after me unecessarily. I don't know if you have actually been showing restraint or if you just didn't get around to it, but either way I simultaneously give you credit for doing so but am almost relieved to see your true form comming out again as I was almost starting to doubt my own reading of your personality. Anyhow... I give pug his thread back and hope you all can see what I truly meant to say (literally what I said, nothing to read into it, no uncessary spiting, no jumping in to thread crap).

I am not trying to draw bowes or accuse... I did feel that klink was rubbed the wrong way by that white lies thread for whatever reason... as for what he attributed to neil I was just saying that if so, I can see where it might come from. Not agreeing or supporting, just saying I could see, especially considering klinks "odd" logic at times...

Yeah but you know I have an axe to grind with TTK... not knowing your history with him and not being the type to jump to conclusions like that is all that kept me from thinking the same thing. If klink knows something about you guys I don't (or thinks he does) and also doesn't particularly like TTK I can see where he might jump to that conclusion...

OK guys, I made a mistake, I am sorry. I think you do have the right solutions for the way it was originally worded. However it has been altered to what it should be, it's not 1 a day, it's any number at any time as long as they are 1 minute apart and no one can know if they were first in the room or not. Sorry guys... bah!!! Tired... off to my other job now so won't be able to comment for a bit. Hope you get to try it some while I am gone. BTW this should make it more pertinant that you don't know the starting orientation of the switches.

Search username: Pugwash No topics or posts met your search criteria. but oddly I still see your posts...

Well, not taking sides here, but you gotta admit TTK did seem to come out on top from that whole ordeal... I mean just when complaints about him were starting to boil up (apparently he was sick again I think) this comes up, completely overshadows disgruntled feelings about him, he gets to tout where he shines and do his jig... I am not saying that I necessarily think you were in cahoots, but I can see how someone might if they were so inclined. It's interesting especially with this whole b9a thing now... he and ttk haven't butted heads but I could easily see this turning into a weird vicious triangle... To be clear I don't think you getting edited and banned is right or anything, just saying what I see as a possibillity.

Maybe you were banned for swearing? Either way I thought he didn't like you anyway... after that whole lies thing I think you were on his shitlist.

I thought that was just how he does things (edit posts, not ban necessarily)? Kind of like saying "synthetic saphire" for mineral glass.. just one of those things you know about...

Unless I am missing something, eddheads solution for even number of pirates requires using the first guys guess to tell which group is odd (white or black), but if there are an odd number of pirates, the first guys guess tells whether the groups are both even or both odd. So the solution for X Pirates must be able to account for both scenarious with the same rule set (ie first guys "white" or "black" tells all the other pirates what they need to know regardless of how many pirates there are total).

While you guy are both obviously on the right track, here is one thing to conside... you can't be sure of the starting positions of the switches... if you are counting orientations this might screw stuff up. Also don't forget the ninjas choose pirates at random, so two pirates could be going back to back 100 times in a row each while no other pirates have gone to the room yet. BTW if you are arriving at a maggic 99 I am pretty sure there is a small flaw in the plan...

Yup... boy I am gonna have to work electron spin pairing into a problem to give you a real challenege! Now everyone else, Pug got it that fast, anyone else gonna give this one a try?

Do you have to change the rule that says the pirate must flip one switch and only one switch while in the room?

Actually while very close, eddheads solution depends on there being an odd number of pirate in front of the last guy.

I am a ninja... I am not worried

Very good!!! Now here's the real kicker... I actually posted the problem altered from it's original state... the original question did not state the number of pirates... So at this point it should be easy, but can you adjust your answer to work with 101 pirates (ie the last guy could look at head and indeed see 50 white and 50 black hates)? How about any number of pirates?

I am getting these from a brain that is so fascinated by logic puzzles it sucks them up like a whino at a vodka truck crash but for the life of me can't remember my gf's birthday! Are you answering these becuase you really figure it out or because you saw them before? (I know some of the ones you answered in minutes took me hours!)

Confirmed that pug does know the answer, but is playing nice as he was ripping through my previous logic puzzles like a ninja through something easy to rip through As of yet no one else has provided a fully correct answer althought it's definitely getting close.

Do you suppose they have real ninjas in movies? They are actors, actors are not illusive masters of invisibilty, they just play one on the big screen. If you ever saw a real ninja you would notice that only in very rare instances (for instance scoping out a total hottie) are their eyes open. But then if you ever saw a real ninja you would be dead. BTW I do not think they teach eyeball reflection technique at Harvard. And even should the ninja guard choose to open his eyes (say to scope out a hottie) he might not be looking at said pirate during the answer phase, screwing him and all the other pirates (assuming it was the second pirate to get it wrong). I see you pug I haven't seen any input on the other pirate post yet... are you just holding your tongue?

Ninjas dude... Ninjas... masters of invisibility... they keep their eyes closed lest they reflect light and give away their position like a sniper with his scope. There would be no reflection option. Even with their eyes closed their hearing and finely tuned senses is enough to strike fear in the heart of the most hardened pirate.

Sorry jdkno I edited that, see above.

I am not sure about that... because second guy knows there are more black than white ahead of him, he sees 52 black hats and 46 white hats. If his hat is black, then the last guy saw more black hats than white hats. If his hat is white, the last guy still saw more black hats than white hats. I don't think that works out becuase either way the last guy still says "black" (or whatever they agreed means more black than white hats) but it doesn't garuantee guy 2 knows his hat color.... Example (assume that all the pirates represented by dots are wearing black hats): BWBBB...BBBWW BBBBB...BBBWW Here both ways last guy sees more black than white. He says Black. Second guy sees more black than white also... he has no idea which way to go.