Bogarts Riddle Thread (goto 1st post for details)

[Bogart]

Frequently, I will post riddles in this thread.
Eventually they are so tricky, that they will knock off your head.

Neither google nor metacrawler will help you find,
the answers of the kind that I came up with my own mind.

Now twist your brain but still mind your manners,
if you want to be the proud owner of this banner:

1 solved riddle -> <-- 1 solved riddle
3 solved riddles -> <-- 3 solved riddles

Most Recent Riddle

Originally Posted by Bogart

Three levers of Molingaard


You sneak around corners, hide behind curtains, and silence clueless quards on your way to the Molingaard King's treasure chamber. Being the master thief you are, prepared for possibly everything you may encounter in this murky night, you suddenly face the entrance to the treasure chamber: Two doors preserve jewelery and gold of tremendous values, too heavy to be carried by one man. Fortunatelly the King's crown jewels (*cough* no pun intended) are safeguarded in there aswell, being your true goal of desire. Both doors are locked, but at your left you spot three levers, which obviously are meant to operate the locking mechanisms.



Your journey would have come to an inevitable halt at this point, if you hadn't dressed up as a mistress and had a drink with the Kings closest advisor last night (drunk men tend to brag about everything they may seem fit in order to drag off a woman). The advisor told you the following:

There are four wooden beam locks inside the treasure chamber, percievable from the twelve metal fittings seen outside. When operated, a beam swings from one door to the other, locking only one at a time. However, any door is never left open and allways guarded by at least one wooden beam.



After countless drinks and pick-up lines, the advisor is so drunk that he even told you how the locking mechanisms work as you promise to sooth his aching heart in the following night (and we don't want to know wheather you kept your promise). Mumbeling and stumbeling through the cold and empty streets he tells you the following:

Lever A randomly activates
Lock 1 or 2 or 3 or 4

Lever B randomly activates
(1 and 2) or (2 and 3) or
(3 and 4) or (4 and 1)

Lever C randomly activates
(1 and 3) or (2 and 4)

You soon realize, that the information you gathered is not a great help at all! Moreover you cannot see where the wooden locks are positioned (left or right door), from outside the treasure chamber. Dawn is sneaking in, so time is precious.

> Find the shortest combination of operations needed to open one door, regardless of the initial lock positioning. <

As this riddle is likely to be classified as an unsolved mystery in not so near future, I will give out a special consolation prize for the first solution, if it happens to be longer than the one I have figured out.

Winners so far
Formation (The blind hatters riddle)
SNIPER (The noob drops)
Flash Demon (The talking stone of silly questions)
FlamesOfTheDragon (Five gnomes)
aznballa_33 (Unknown Entity I)
SNIPER (Unknown Entity II)
Phoenix (Unknown Entity III)
Agamo (Unknown Entity IV)
vietnamese_boy (The Citicens of Produnumhulully)
kingedward123 (The Full Match-Up)
kingedward123 (20 Questions)
Agamo (A Sentence With Numbers)
vintage (Busy Businessmen)

Rules: Forum posting rules, ofcourse. The first person to post the correct solution will receive +rep from me and the permission to wear the above banner. This person will also be added to the list of winners seen in this post. Hence there can only be one winner per riddle. Descriptive solutions are necessary for winning, say you should post why yours is the one and only correct solution. Rules are to be updated if necessary.

[Bogart]

**** UNSOLVED MYSTERIES ****
Riddles of this category are brain-busters, yet noone has solved them. In order to keep the thread alive rather than waiting forever for a solution, I have decided to lay these riddles aside. These riddles are however still part of the game, solving these will grant the mastermind that cracked one a special price in form of a yet unrevealed userbar. For any help or tips upon the riddle, follow the quotes link to where in this thread it was presented the first time. There you will find the proposals of other users and maybe some aid from my side. Good luck!

Freaky foreheads

Originally Posted by Bogart

Two math-freaks (X and Y) with unfailable logic sit face to face, each staring at the others forehead. A blind hatter has written an number on each freaks forehead and told them to find out what number is on their own forehead. The blind hatter explains the quest:
"You may only look at the other persons forehead, and you are not allowed to look at you own forehead in any way. You task is to find out which number is written on your own forehead. The only thing you are allowed to do is to ask the other person the following question:
'Do you know what your number is?'
That person may only answer the question with either 'yes', or 'no'! One thing I can tell you is, that the sum of you numbers is either 24 or 27. Now as you both have understood the rules, I am curious how many times you must ask each other before you will know..."

The blind hatter wrote "12" on both foreheads. The two freaks stare at each other for a short duration, then one starts to ask:

Q/X: "Do you know what your number is?" - A/Y: "no!"
Q/Y: "Do you know what your number is?" - A/X: "no!"
Q/X: "Do you know what your number is?" - A/Y: "no!"
...
...


How many times did the freaks ask the question?
how many 'no!'s were necessary till one answered with 'yes!' and got the correct number?
Is it at all possible to solve this riddle?

**** SOLVED RIDDLES ****

The blind hatters riddle

Originally Posted by Bogart

A blind and old hatter (hatmaker) once came up with a riddle for his fellow friends, the barber and the bootmaker. He told them that he could tell which color the hat he would wear had. The riddle goes as follows:
First they all meet at the hatters store. Inside the workshop there is no lightsource and the windows are blackened, so noone being in there sees anything (at all). In the service area there lie five hats, which the hatter shows his friends (herer there is light, the friends see everything clearly). Two of the hats are red, three are blue. The hatter now describes the task for everyone:
"Ill place them in the workshop just to the left of the door, so that noone can see them. Then I take one of the hats, of where I do not know the color, put it on my head and return to you. Then it is one yours turn to enter the workshop, take a hat, which you do neither see, put it on and return to the service area. The second one does the same."
The barber asks the hatter:
"If I go in after you, may I then look at the hat as soon as I get back out?"
The hatter answers:
"Heck no! Ofcourse not. The only hat you are allowed to see is the one above my head."
The bootmaker asks the hatter:
"So if I go in last and come back out with a hat on my head, which hats may I then look at?"
The hatter answers:
"Well mine and the barbers. Yours you may ofcourse not look at!"
The barber asks again:
"May I then look at the bootmakers hat?"
The hatter answers:
"No, no, no! You may only look at my hat. I told you that before, didn't I?"
The bootmaker asks:
"And what is the riddle all about?"
The hatter answers:
"I will show you as soon as everyone got their hats."
Everybody seems to understand the rules, so the hatter takes the five hats into the workshop, takes an arbitrary one and puts it upon his head. Then he walks back out and waits for the others to do the same.
The barber walks into the workshop, fumbles a little till he finds the pile of four hats just to the left of the door and picks puts one upon his head and returns.
The bootmaker now does as the barber did.
At this point, the three friends stand in the hatters service area, all standing in one line facing away from the workshop door. The hatter in front, behind him the barber, and the bootmaker in the back.
The hatter now asks the bootmaker:
"What is the color of your hat?"
The bootmaker asks amazed:
"Werent you supposed to answer that question?"
The hatter says:
"Yes ofcourse, but I am blind for God's sake! Now answer my question!"
The bootmaker loos at the two hats he is seeing (the hatters and the barbers). He ponders a while, then he says:
"I am sorry, but I have no clue what color my hat has."
The hatter says:
"No worry, now its the barbers turn: What is the color of your hat?"
The barber, looks at the hatters hat, scratches his head for a while and then says:
"I cant tell either. I have no clue what color my hat has."
Now the hatter turns around, smiles and says:
"Hahaa, you both have no clue what colors your hats are. But I, of all the blind man, know what color my hat has! It is ______________" (blanked out to be solved by any LF member brains enough to solve this riddle)
Both the barber and the bootmaker are flabbergasted by the result. The hatter came up with the correct color! Without being able to see it at all, without having anyone else telling him what color it is, and without knowing it in advance.
There is NO "simple trick" as a mirror, film camera or anything else helping the barber or the bootmaker to see their own hat (also their answers were given correctly as stated: They didnt know what color their hat had). Also neither the barber nor the bootmaker gave any other information to the hatter than the answers they gave (moreover it would be dumb helping a friend out when he tries to brag infront of them).
Now there are two open questions from my side:
1) Wherefrom did the hatter know the color of his hat?
2) What was the color of his hat?

The noob drops

Originally Posted by Bogart

Recently At The "tao Congress Of Drop Showoff", 100 noobs Gathered In A Losers Corner To Record Their Achievements. They Wrote A List Containing The Drops Each Noob Had. The List Turned Out As Follows:
73 Owned A Mud Golem,
28 Owned A Beast Rider,
21 Owned A Frost Golem,
12 Owned A Mud Golem And A Beast Rider,
9 Owned A Beast Rider And A Frost Golem,
8 Owned A Mud Golem And A Frost Golem, And
3 Of The Noobs Each Owned A Mud Golem, A Beast Rider And A Frost Golem.
Later Somebody Found Out, That There Had Obviously Been Noobs In The Losers Corner With no Drop At All!
how Many Noobs Had no Drops?
There Is Enough Help In The List Above To Find The Correct Answer!
Good Luck!

The talking stone of silly questions

Originally Posted by Bogart

One day, as the wise old man and his apprentice are out for a walk, they pass the sacred 'talking stone of silly questions'. The wise old man jumps up and shouts: "Aaahahahaaa, I finally got the riddle you need to answer in order to fulfill the rite of your initiation! Muahahhaaaa! Now listen carefully. I will ask you one single question, to which there is only one true and correct answer of either 'yes' or 'no'. You will maybe know the answer to this question, but it will be impossible for you to answer it.
This talking stone might eventually be able to give the correct answer, but you wont. Now tell me, what is my question to you?"
The apprentice stayed apprentice for a very long time, as he could not solve the gurus riddle. After the death of the guru, he suddenly had a stroke of genius and /facepalmed himself, as it was too late.
Now prove yourself worthy of being a riddle guru and find the apprentices question.

Five gnomes

Originally Posted by Bogart

The everquarreling five gnomes, Kaulumprisarix, Kalumprosix, Kulaumanpix, Klulamunparix and Klaumulaprix get into a fight about who is lying. Everyone is insulting the others in some way:
Kaulumprisarix: "Kalumprosix only lies, if Klulamunparix tells the truth."
Kalumprosix: "If Kulaumanpix is being truthful, then either Kaulumprisarix or Klulamunparix is a liar."
Kulaumanpix: "Klaumulaprix lies, and either Kaulumprisarix or Kalumprosix is a liar too."
Klulamunparix: "If Kalumprosix tells the truth, either Kaulumprisarix or Kulaumanpix is is being truthful too."
Klaumulaprix: "At least one of Kaulumprisarix, Kulaumanpix and Klulamunparix is lying all the time."
Althought the spectaculum is kinda funny to watch, try to find out who is lying and who is telling the truth in order to end the fight.

The three-headed dragon of chizophrenia

Originally Posted by Bogart

Your search for [enter any appropriate word you see fit] have brought you deep into the catacomb labyrinth below Riddlelong Castle. You have just entered something similar to a trassure chamber, as a rockfall blocks the corridor you came from. In the middle of the room you see your desired [enter any appropriate word you see fit], but it is guarded by the horrible three-headed dragon of chizophrenia. Yikes! It is however known, that the dragon loves riddles, and would spare your life if you would be able to solve the one it will challenge you with. It is also known, that:
one of the heads always speaks the truth,
one head allways lies,
and one head sometimes lies and somtimes tells the truth.
Unfortunatelly you can not tell any differences between the heads, none of them seem trustful in any way. The dragon points at two doors at one side of the room and you suddenly hear a voice within your head:
"One of these doors will lead you to our dining room, where you will be served delicatelly for my pleasure, speaking of which would be your death. The other door is a safe exit to the surface and your only option for survival. Now you must chose wisely... You do however have two questions you may ask. But remember, each question is to be answered by only one of us, of which you chose. You may chose the same head twice if you wish. After those questions you must chose a door or I will eat you immediatelly. Its all up to you."
Now which questions will you ask the dragon, and at which heads will the questions be directed to? Note: You cannot chose to ask the head that always tells the truth, as you do not know which head that is! A 50/50 guess, like "I take the right door", is no solution... !!!

Unknown Entity I

Originally Posted by Bogart

Its meaning is equal to tool.
It can malfunction.
It can be big.
It is of vital importance,
but can be replaced.
It holds a great range of functions,
but is allways specialized for a certain purpose.
It is very expensive.
What is it?

Unknown Entity II

Originally Posted by Bogart

It is often seen on television.
It can be inside or outdoors.
It isn't allways found, but often searched for.
If found, it is found too late.
It holds very important informations.
It witnesses cruel acts, sometimes shocking and horrible.
What is it?

Unknown Entity III

Originally Posted by Bogart

It protects against hazardous rays.
It can have various shapes.
It can be natural or artificial, but allways consists of simple raw materials.
It is a common thing, but also a high-tech product.
It is a means of information transport.
It is a liquid and is sometimes very beautiful.
What is it?

Unknown entity IV

Originally Posted by Bogart

It is kept but often lost.
It allows humans to walk.
It inherits a control system.
A minimum of two forces are needed to gain it,
but the more forces, the more difficult it is to keep.
What is it?

The Citicens of Produnumhulully

Originally Posted by Bogart

Below the place-name sign of Produnumhulully hangs another sign,
which exactly tells how many citicens there are in Produnumhulully.
Now all male citicens are gardeners and all the female citicens are math-teachers,
so its no wonder the sign looks like this:

The following statements are true for all citicens of Produnumhulully:
1) Each family consists of exactly 2 citicens.
2) No families have the same number of apple trees in their gardens.
3) No family has exactly 518 apple trees in its garden.
4) There are more families than there are aplle trees in all gardens.
5) Each family owns exactly one garden.

Now tell me: Whats the maximum number of citicens living in

Produnumhulully?

The Full Match-Up

Originally Posted by Bogart

After the first round at the annual turtle full match-up tourney,
where every contestant plays each one match against all other
contestants, the rankings result of the day is seen in the chart:

1. Able Smith
2. Bryan Longjohn
3. Chris Fargo
4. Dennis Hopper
5. Elvira Mulantory

These are the point rules for the ranking:

• Win = 1 point
• Draw = 1/2 point
• Lose = 0 points

From gossip you have catched up two pieces of information concearning the tourney day:

• Bryan Longjohn is the only player without a loss.
• Elvira Mulantory is the only palyer that never won.

What were the game results of each game played?

20 Questions

Originally Posted by Bogart

Answer each question correctly:
1. Which question is the first with a B answer?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 5
2. Which two subsequent questions are the only ones to have the same answer?
(A) 6 and 7
(B) 7 and 8
(C) 8 and 9
(D) 9 and 10
(E) 10 and 11
3. How many questions have answer E as their answer?
(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
(E) 4
4. How many questions have answer A as their answer?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 7
(E) 8
5. Which question has the same answer as the answer to this question?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 5
6. What is the correct answer to question number 17?
(A) C
(B) D
(C) E
(D) none of the above
(E) the same as to question number 1
7. How many alphabetic positions are there between the answer to this question and to the following question?
(A) 4
(B) 3
(C) 2
(D) 1
(E) 0
8. How many questions have a vowel as their answer?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 7
(E) 8
9. What is the next question having the same answer as this question?
(A) 10
(B) 11
(C) 12
(D) 13
(E) 14
10. What is the answer to question number 16?
(A) D
(B) A
(C) E
(D) B
(E) C
11. How many of the above questions have B as their answer?
(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
(E) 4
12. What is true for the number of questions having a consonant as their answer?
(A) it is an even number
(B) it is an odd number
(C) it is a squared number
(D) it is a prime number
(E) it is dividable by 5
13. What is the only odd-numbered question with answer A?
(A) 9
(B) 11
(C) 13
(D) 15
(E) 17
14. How many questions have answer D as their answer?
(A) 6
(B) 7
(C) 8
(D) 9
(E) 10
15. What is the answer to question number 12?
(A) A
(B) B
(C) C
(D) D
(E) E
16. What is the answer to question number 10?
(A) D
(B) C
(C) B
(D) A
(E) E
17. What is the answer to question number 6?
(A) C
(B) D
(C) E
(D) none of the above
(E) the same as to question number 20
18. The number of questions with answer A is equal to the number of questions with which answer?
(A) B
(B) C
(C) D
(D) E
(E) none of the above
19. What is the answer to question number 19?
(A) A
(B) B
(C) C
(D) D
(E) E
20. How many seconds is Dizzy Mizz Lizzy's Waterline Intro?
(A) 9
(B) 14
(C) 19
(D) 24
(E) 29
NOTE: Each question ofcourse only has one correct answer. Not much to explain here, get your answers right!

A Sentence With Numbers

Originally Posted by Bogart

Let the letters a to j be numbers.Fulfull the following sentence to tell the truth:
"Within this sentence, the number 0 is contained a times, number 1 is contained b times, ... and number 9 is contained j times."

The strange screen

Originally Posted by Bogart

You are in a room with three doors. You dont know why, you dont know wherefrom. Infront of you is a screen displaying some text and a keyboard below. You read the text:

"One of these doors will lead you out, two
doors will lead you to your certain death!
After pressing 'any key' you may enter three
questions, one after the other, which are to
be answered with only 'yes' or 'no' and I will
answer every of them. However, I will only
tell the truth ONCE." followed by a blinking cursor.

What questions will you ask?
Important: You can ask questions depending on previous answers you got. You cannot ask nested questions like "Is it true that door 1 leads to the exit and the answer to this question is a lie?" with basically two question combined with a conjunction. Now get your brains going, after all you do want to be home for dinner.

EDIT: Note that in order to ask questions depending on future answers, you will need an if-clause, which is allowed. In any case you cannot ask if any answer is/was/will be a lie (or the truth ofcourse).

Busy Businessmen

Originally Posted by Bogart

At an anti-stress conference meeting 10 businessmen from 5 different companies are teamed up pairwise (2 businessmen/company). During the cheerful meeting, some shake hands and exchange business cards, others don't. Ofcourse businessmen from the same company dont exchange business cards.

At the wrap-up dinner, one businessman named Bob asks all the others about how many times they exchanged business cards. He gets an answer from all the other businessmen, but no two answers are the same.

How many business cards did Bob's partner collect during the conference meeting?

Note: Every businessman exchanges business cards at max once per businessman, and businessmen from the same company dont exchange business cards.

[SNIPER]

I mean 36?

[Bogart]

Sorry, but no - thats not the correct answer ^^ nice guess.

[Crimson Phoenix]

97? 100?

Lolz. Super quick guessing ftw.

[Zombie]

25?....

[Bogart]

Originally Posted by SNIPER

I mean 36?

Originally Posted by Crimson Phoenix

97? 100?

Lolz. Super quick guessing ftw.

Originally Posted by Zombie

25?....

Sorry, but no. only 95 possible answers to go (Sniper posted 22 before editing). I will however not support the elimination process. Answers should have a foundation, guesses might not get an reply from me. (post a descriptive solution, a calculation in this case)

[Duraza]

Pardons-31.

Simple table calc, I'll scan my sheet if needed.

[Spiri†ofdarkness]

49

Well firstly I determined the ration between certain variables, took the slope of that number, followed by taking the derivative of the answer, used some extensive formulas and at the end I added 49.