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Einstein’s neighbours and the Hats

Posted on 30. Jun, 2009 by Jake.

Albert Einstein Brain Teaser

This quiz was made up by Albert Einstein and according to him 98% will not solve it.
There is a row of five houses, each having a different colour. In these houses live five people of various nationalities. Each of them nurtures a different beast, likes different drinks and smokes different brand of cigars.

1. The Brit lives in the Red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the Blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

Who has fish at home? (are you one of the 2% ?).

Answer:

Albert Einstein Neighbours
Norwegian – yellow, Dunhill, water, cat
Dane – blue, Blend, tea, horse
Briton – red, Pall Mall, milk, bird
German – green, Prince, coffee, fish
Swedish – white, Blue Master, beer, dog

Hat riddle

Three men are captured by cannibals in the jungle. The men are given one chance to escape with their lives. The men are lined up and bound to stakes such that one man can see the backs of the other two, the middle man can see the back of the front man, and the front man can’t see anybody. The men are shown five hats, three of which are black and two of which are white. Then the men are blindfolded, and one of the five hats is placed on each man’s head. The remaining two hats are hidden away. The blindfolds are removed. The men are told that if just one of the men can guess what hat he’s wearing, they may all go free. Time passes. Finally, the front man, who can’t see anyone, correctly guesses the color of his hat. What color was it, and how did he guess correctly?

Answer

The back man can see the hats worn by the two men in front of him. So, if both of those hats were white, he would know that the hat he wore was black. But, since he doesn’t answer, he must see at least one black hat ahead of him. After it becomes apparent to the middle man that the back man can’t figure out what he’s wearing, he knows that there is at least one black hat worn by himself and the front man. Knowing this, if the middle man saw a white hat in front of him, he’d know that his own hat was black, and could answer the question correctly. But, since he doesn’t answer, he must see a black hat on the front man. After it becomes apparent to the front man that neither of the men behind him can answer the question, he realizes the middle man saw a black hat in front of him. So he says, correctly, “My hat is black.”

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