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Topic: EVIL MAYOR (Read 9049 times) |
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Jeremiah Smith
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"In a certain town lived a miller, his daughter, and the evil mayor. The miller was in debt to the mayor, and the mayor had his eye on the miller’s daughter. The mayor made a proposition: he would place a black stone and a white stone in a bag, and the miller’s daughter would pick one out in front of the whole village. If she drew the white stone, the mayor would forgive the miller’s debt. If she drew the black stone, the mayor would marry the miller’s daughter and take the mill. The miller had no choice but to agree. The miller’s daughter has no reason to trust the mayor, and believes that he will place two black stones in the bag. How can she get out of marrying the mayor and save the mill?"
The daughter pulls a stone out, and chucks it aside, never to be found. Or eats it, or something. Just so no one can see it afterwards. Then when everyone asks "What stone did you pull out?", they check the remaining stone, which would be black, if they're both black. Thus, unless the mayor wants to end up looking like a dirtbag, he would have to say that she must've pulled the white one. (This puzzle is easier with slips of paper instead of stones...she tears up the losing paper into little bits.)
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Chris
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She could take both out. If they are both black, then the town will know the mayor to be a cheater. If they are actually different, she can say she made a mistake and try again.
I don't see how either of our solutions would guarantee a win, though, since the mayor may well be honest.
I guess she could palm a white stone, put that hand into the bag, and pull out the white stone.
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Jeremiah Smith
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #2 on: Aug 29th, 2002, 1:28pm » |
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If the mayor is honest, then it would at least be a fair decision if she lost.
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bill clinton
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i've seen this for a game of three card monty. you all know the game, 1 queen 2 other cards, show all three face up, flip over and mix. Follow the queen, and pick her out. Normally the guy mixing is a fraud, and will do a fast card switch on you. You put your finger on one card and say "this is the queen" but don't let him touch it. Then you flip over the other two, which aren't the queen, and never reveal your choice card.
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Tarazik
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Yeah, I was gonna say pull out the stone, and throw it at the mayor's head, to kill him....but those are all better answers.
Plus, how do you eat a stone? Haha, I imagined these massive bricks, and that would be really hard to hide....
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Jeremiah Smith
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #5 on: Dec 1st, 2002, 4:37pm » |
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Typically in this sort of thing, they just use pebbles. 
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udippel
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #6 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 1:37am » |
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Did we have the 'official' solution, yet?
I wouldn't know how to guarantee the win if she doesn't know if the mayor is honest. But if we assume he's rather not, she'd propose that, yes, she'll take one of the two but don't show it, then the mayor will take out the second and show it. Then everybody will know the colour of hers. With an honest mayor her chances will still be 0.5, with her chances rising to 1 with a probability of 1 for a dishonest mayor.
Uwe
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Jeremiah Smith
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #7 on: Jan 20th, 2003, 3:59pm » |
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The problem is not necessarily to guarantee a win. The problem is to ensure that the result is a fair one.
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mE
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What if she saw the mayor put the stones in the container
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[kk]
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maybe before she draw the stone she can suggest dat if she pulls out the black stone, the mayor would forgive her father’s debt.
If she drew the white stone, the mayor would marry her and take the mill.
if the mayor is honest.. she would still have a 0.5 chance of picking the black stone.
if he is dishonest den it will be a win-win situation for her.
dat will make the whole event a fair one.
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qball
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All she has to do is tell the mayor to switch the meanings of the colors at the time of drawing. thus if she pulls black, all is well, white is bad. if he is dishonest she is sure to have a favorable outcome, otherwise it is at least a fair outcome.
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Jason
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All she has to say is that she chooses one jar. BUT she tells the mayor to pull out the marble thats in the other jar that she did not pick. If it is black then the other one MUST be white ( unless he cheated ). Its fair even if he did not cheat.
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TenaliRaman
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I am no special. I am only passionately curious.
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #12 on: Jun 25th, 2003, 2:12pm » |
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i think the daughter would ask the mayor to put two more stones in the bag (a black and a white).
1.if the mayor was honest,this wouldn't affect any chances.
2.if the mayor was dishonest,then atleast the daughter would have 25% chance.
there maybe a better way than this but i find it hard to "get a condition" that the mayor thinks that he is OK with.
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Self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle - Antoine de Saint Exupery
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rceballos98
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #13 on: May 14th, 2012, 9:43pm » |
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Right before she draws the stone she proposes that if she gets a black stone she'll keep the mill and if she gets a white stone she'll marry the mayor (she can even say its because white is color of marriage or something like that to justify her change in a why that won't reveal her mistrust) because the odds are supposed to be 50/50 the mayor can't refuse with any logical excuse and since she's sure he cheated then she'll certainly win 
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keithgilabert
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Keith Gilabert, "Life is but a dream."
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Keith Gilabert, "EVIL MAYOR?"
« Reply #14 on: May 27th, 2012, 1:13pm » |
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Does this have biblical implications??
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kapish58
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #15 on: May 27th, 2014, 9:33am » |
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i think the girl could ask for the bag which she doesnt choose and it will be fair .
for example if mayor kept the game fair and the girl chooses any bag the other would contain just opposite color of it
and if the mayor has cheated he would keep both black stones and the girl would ask to show only the other bag which will obviously be a black stone and everyone else will think that other bag contained white stone and the game will be fair nw ..this way girl can live happily without getting screwed by mayor 
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UgoLocal02
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Re: EVIL MAYOR
« Reply #16 on: Jun 11th, 2014, 11:10pm » |
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I think she should pick both stones and say i took both by mistake to check if the mayor is honest or not. if he is honest she will choose a single stone and let destiny decide her fate. if he is dishonest everyone in village will know it and she and her fathers mill will be safe.
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