Brain Teasers
Mugs and Balls
The fair had arrived in town. "A prize for guessing the number of balls under the mugs," shouted one stall owner, as he placed four upturned mugs on the counter in front of him. Each concealed the same number of balls and on each mug was a statement about the number of balls underneath : One or four; Two or four; Two or three; One or two. Only one of the statements was correct. How many balls were under a mug and which statement is true?
Answer
Three balls under each mug and the third statement was true. The number three appears in only the third statement so that must be the correct one.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
i'm so confused, how do we know there were 3 balls??
In order for any of the statements to be true,
there needed to be one, two, three, or four balls
under each mug. One, two, or four would have resulted
in more than one statement being correct. So three
is the only possibility that results in only one statement
being correct.
there needed to be one, two, three, or four balls
under each mug. One, two, or four would have resulted
in more than one statement being correct. So three
is the only possibility that results in only one statement
being correct.
???
Good riddle. I understood it fine.
You might make it easier for others to follow by putting the "X or Y" statements in a list, maybe.
Cheers.
You might make it easier for others to follow by putting the "X or Y" statements in a list, maybe.
Cheers.
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