The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest Friend

Re:The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest F... by thechao on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @08:57AM (#17549348)

I don't care to figure out if this complicates any solution schema, but your Lemma 1 is wrong. If I can see 8 statues, then my friend can see anywhere from 12 to 20 statues --- at no point does the riddle say that we see 18 or 20 unique statues.

It's the imprecision in these sorts of riddles when told, but which expect extraordinary precision in the solver, that generally turns me off from the problem.

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Re:The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest F... by mfoy_ on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @11:10AM (#17550198)

The problem is confusing. You are looking out on different sides of the graveyard, so you know there is no overlap in statues, and the caretaker informs you that the total number of statues is either 18 or 20. So you know your friend can only see either 6 or 8.

I agree it's not super well-phrased though.

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Re:The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest F... by another_one_off on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @09:24AM (#17549540)

"Out of your friend’s window, which overlooks the opposite side of the graveyard, she can see eight."

The unique is (poorly) implied, imo.

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Re:The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest F... by thechao on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @06:21PM (#17553997)

Just to play the devil’s advocate: I imagined looking at the left side, and my friend was looking at the opposite side, ie, the right side.

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Re:The Logic Puzzle You Can Only Solve with Your Brightest F... by topmonk on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @09:52AM (#17549720)

If my Lemma 1 is wrong, then the solution proposed by the article is also incorrect, because it also assumes this.

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