1. "This evening" said Scheherazade "I'm going to start you on your way through
a maze". "Really?" said the Sultan. "I hope it won't take long. I have plans for later".
"One step at a time" said Scheherazade, "Ahmed Al-Zahawi, a traveller in Mesopotamia,
was seeking shelter in a storm, and he came to a large building which he assumed
was a ziggurat, of which he had heard, though he'd never seen one. He was welcomed
by the priests and given food and drink. The drink contained a potion that rendered
Ahmed unconscious, and when he awoke he found himself in a small room in the
depths of the ziggurat. He was told that he had to travel through a series of rooms, and
in each room there would be a choice of doors to pass through. On each door would be
a sign, which might be true or false, and he had to choose the correct door in order to
make progress to freedom. All other doors led to dead ends, from which there was no
escape or return. Ahmed, having no alternative, approached the two doors at the end
of the room.
Sign A, on door A: These signs are both false.
Sign B, on door B: This is the door you should go through.
Which door should be opened?
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2. "Well," said the Sultan, "Ahmed went through the right door last night. What happened
after that?" "He found himself in another room, but this time there were three doors to
choose from" said Scheherazade. "Oh oh" said the Sultan, "I might have know it'd get
more complicated. And there were three signs, I suppose". "That's right".
Sign A: "Exactly two of these signs are false"
Sign B: "This is the door to go through"
Sign C: "Enter the next room through this door"
Which is the correct door?
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(Acknowledgement: Norman Willis, "False Logic Puzzles")
Edited by baldhair (Wed Nov 19 2014 07:07 AM)