Braingle: 'Liars, Liars...?' Brain Teaser

Liars, Liars...?

Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.

Puzzle ID:	#28787
Fun:	(2.89)
Difficulty:	(1.61)
Category:	Logic
Submitted By:	teen_wiz

In the land of Brainopia, there are three races of people: Mikkos, who tell the truth all the time, Kikkos, who always tell lies, and Zikkos, who tell alternate false and true statements, in which the order is not known (i.e. true, false, true or false, true, false). When interviewing three Brainopians, a foreigner received the following statements:

Person 1:
I am a Mikko.

Person 2:
I am a Kikko.

Person 3:
a. They are both lying.
b. I am a Zikko.

Can you help the very confused foreigner determine who is who, assuming each person represents a different race?

Hint

Pay close attention to Person 3's statements.
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Comments

sweetmama Feb 24, 2006	Woo, hoo. Me first, me first. That was a great teaser, and I am happy to report that I got this one. Good job
paul726 Feb 24, 2006	I got it too, but it took a bit of work. Very well done!
(user deleted) Feb 24, 2006	This was a fun teaser, and I enjoyed it! Even though I was able to get it without the hint, I do think, however, that the hint should be changed. It seems to me that it is person 2's comment that is the give away, not 3. .
bagogirl Feb 24, 2006	yay! i got it!!! that was a VERY good teaser!!!
Therulerofthem Feb 24, 2006	At first I thought number thee had to be the alternater, but I figured out that it made no sense that way. I decided to just assume someone else said ther two statments and got it right from there.
SoccerChick16 Feb 25, 2006	HOlY COW that took me like 20 miutes to figure it out it was awsome
einahpets65 Feb 26, 2006	i almost got it
Lui312 Feb 26, 2006	It was okay I suppose...
(user deleted) Mar 02, 2006	Thought it was very easy, almost to easy.
teen_wiz Mar 03, 2006	Thanks everyone! is overwhelmed by positive feedback
soccerstar_1515 Mar 13, 2006	what????????
princess_kayti1 Mar 14, 2006	I almost got it!
OldChinaHand Mar 16, 2006	A good rework of an oldie.
teen_wiz Mar 17, 2006	Thanks guys!
amygurl101 Mar 19, 2006	i like this one but it was kinda easy
Sherilyn Mar 24, 2006	It was okay. How did person 2 be a ZIkko anyway?
Sherilyn Mar 24, 2006	Ohhh. now I know. DOn't tell me anything.
abw7292 Apr 25, 2006	STUPID!! STUPID!! STUPID!! -Hermione
calmsavior Apr 26, 2006	here is the reason 4 all u confused peoples: If person 2 said he was a kikko, if he in fact WAS a Kikko, then he would be telling the truth, which is against his race. If he were a Mikko, this statement would obviously be false. Therefore he is a Zikko. This means that person 3 is lying about being a Zikko, which means (s)he is a Kikko. That leaves person 1 as being a Mikko.
Club33 Sep 08, 2006	Cute!! I liked it!!
Swordoffury1392 Dec 05, 2006	Great teaser! And I got it!
tintiniscool Dec 10, 2006	Yeeyah! I got it! Great Teaser!
scallio Jan 10, 2007	Well I sure got it and I loved it! Awesome teaser! And I should point out that I am not a Kikko or Zikko-- want to be sure you have no doubt that what I said is true!
teen_wiz Jan 10, 2007	LOL... Thanks everyone!
camper11 Jan 31, 2007	Yay!! i got it! Great teaser by the way!
gaylewolf Nov 25, 2009	I got it, too! I like that type of puzzle. Happy Thanksgiving every body!
J-Mac Nov 25, 2009	Only valid if stated that there is only one of each race. Doesn't state that. Could have been two Kikkos and one Mikko.....
vinkustheory Nov 25, 2009	J-Mac, the statement "assuming each person represents a different race" means that there is only one of each.
emu77alu02 Nov 25, 2009	It was fun, but maybe a bit too easy!
KarateGirl098 Nov 25, 2009	Yay! Got it! Great teaser!
pottercrazy Nov 25, 2009	it would be nice to have an explination after the answer for people who couldn't understand it
piggy4242 Nov 25, 2009	easy but fun
patiencewithaP Nov 25, 2009	Fun and easy! Thanks!
braingle100 Nov 25, 2009	That was confusing, but I got it in the end.
davidrools Nov 25, 2009	THIS TEASER WAS LAME AND DUMB! -a Kikko
UptheHill Nov 25, 2009	I'll second that one...
dalfamnest Nov 27, 2009	Davidrools, some people might call your comment offensive - not a very perceptive response to an excellent teaser! Trying to hide behind the Kikko label is a thin disguise!
kittygirl19 Jan 30, 2011	Who is Mikkokio?
kittygirl19 Jan 30, 2011	Who is Mikkokio?
Babe Nov 25, 2012	That was so easy and obvious it was not even fun!
lukasiwicz Nov 25, 2012	Uh, no, y'all. Person 3 could also be a Zikko. His first statement, that both Persons 1 and 2 are lying, is false if only one of them is lying or if both of them are telling the truth, and in fact, Person 1 is telling the truth, and Person 2 is lying. Which means that Person 3's second statement, if he is a Zikko, must be true. to wit, he is a Zikko, whose first statement is false, and whose second statement is true. If Person 3 is in fact a Kikko, then both of his statements must be false, and this condition is met if he says he is a Zikko. As for Person 2, he is another Zikko; it just so happens that his first and only utterance is a lie instead of the truth. So it seems that the identity of Person 3 cannot actually be determined: he could be either a Kikko, both of whose utterances are false, or a Zikko, the first of whose utterances is false, and the second of whose utterances is true. He could not, however, be a Zikko, the first of whose utterances is true and the second of whose utterances is false, because if the first utterance is true, then Person 2, as a Kikko, a habitual liar, could not identify himself as such, for to do so would be to tell the truth.
cutebug Nov 25, 2012	Great for the little ones. Very easy for the grownups.
jeRussell Nov 25, 2012	If person 1 is an 'L/T'(In that order), person 2 a 'T' and person 3 an 'L' then person 2 must be a Kikko. Person 3's first statement is a lie-because person 2 is telling the truth.(Subtle but 'they are both lying' is then a lie.) His second statement is a lie, therefore he is not a Zikko. Hence he must be a Mikko since Kikko is taken. Person 1 is lying-He can not be a Mikko or Kikko, hence he is a Zikko.
spikethru4 Nov 25, 2012	Person 2 cannot be a Kikko; if he were, he would not say that he were because Kikkos only lie. If he were a Mikko, he would not say that he weren't, because Mikkos can't lie. Therefore person 2 is a Zikko. Therefore person 3 is lying about being a Zikko, so he must be a Kikko, which leaves person 1 as the Mikko.