1) The first Sudoku toilet paper*
Inspector Simon Mart of Scotland Yard was looking at the interrogation statements of 3 well known criminals. It had already been established that one of them had stolen the Very First Role of Sudoku Toilet Paper, which of course is an object of immense historical value.
It also had already been established that of the four suspects, exactly one spoke the truth.
Inspector Simon Mart looked at their statements:
Albert: I am innocent
Bill: Charles stole it
Charles: I am innocent
Who stole the toilet paper?
You can check your solution.
There is a rather recent class of puzzles which have to do with statements which are either true or not true. In the branch of mathematics which is called Logic, these statements are called propositions. Though in everyday life we use the term logic rather loosely, in Mathematics it is a rather tricky field with sub-fields such as Arestotelian Logic, logical positivism, fuzzy logic, hypothetical syllogism, Propositional calculus, Predicate logic, Mathematical logic, Intuitionistic logic and many others. It also has practical applications, such as in computer science, and in Argumentation theory.
2) The blue towel*
Everyone of course knows that the blue towel really is yellow, but it is always called the blue towel because king Henry the 87th, of true blue blood, had washed his face with it in the 13th century. A small blue streak of blood, said to have been originated when the king cut his finger, testifies to it.
Inspector S. Mart of Wales Yard looked at the report of the interrogation. He knew the two suspects: Dirty Dave and Big Barry. None of them was able to utter two consecutive sentences without lying at least once. The police officer, who had questioned them after the theft of the “blue towel” from hotel “the palace”, had written a short summary:
Big Barry’s statement, alas, had been in a downtown accent which the police officer had been unable to understand and his notes were completely unintelligible. Dirty Dave’s statements were very short and clear:
Dirty Dave: I am innocent. Big Barry did it.
As other investigations revealed that one of the two must have been the thief, who did Inspector Mart keep under arrest?
Don’t peek at the solution, just use it to check your own solution.
3) The white waste-paper basket *
Inspector S. Mart of Scotland Yard interrogates two suspects of a theft of the white waste-paper basket from the local museum. This famous waste-paper basket is so old it dates back to the previous century.
Mr Brown declares: Both Green and I are guilty.
Mr Green: Brown stole it.
Given the premise that one of them is lying and the other one speaks the truth, who should he arrest?
Don’t peek at the solution, just check your solution.
4) The blue eye paper envelope **
Chief police inspector S. Mart interrogates the 3 suspects of the robbery of the famous Blue Eye paper envelope. All three suspects are well known criminals, and he knows that none of them can utter two consecutive sentences without lying at least once.
Mr Black: “I am innocent, inspector. It was White who stole the envelope.”
Mr Green: “Black is innocent, inspector. Black is lying when he says White is guilty.”
Mr White: “Black is innocent. Green is innocent.”
Who did Smart arrest?
Don’t peek at the solution, just check your solution.
5) The stolen washing-glove **
In his next case, Inspector S. Mart of Wales Yard interrogated the infamous villains Awful All, Boney Bill and Cold Charley about the theft of a hotel washing-glove.
All: Bill lies and Charley stole it.
Bill: I am innocent
Charley: All lies or Bill did it
If only one of them speaks the truth, whom should the inspector arrest?
You can check your solution.
5) The stolen chocolate**
In the famous royal family of the isle of Kids a chocolate has been stolen. The suspects are no less than the five princesses! Inspector S. Mart is immediately called upon when the queen discovers that a chocolate is missing from the chocolate box: princesses are supposed to be absolutely honest!
Anna: Cindy is guilty;
Belinda: I am innocent;
Cindy: Diana is guilty;
Diana: Charles lies if he says I am guilty;
Elizabeth: Anna tells the truth and Cindy lies;
Assuming that only 1 of them lies and all the others speak the truth, who stole the chocolate?
If you find this one a bit hard, you can look up a hint.
And assuming that only 1 spoke the truth, who would be guilty?
You may have noticed that the first puzzle in this post had three people, and the culprit could be deduced if either one of the lied or one of them told the truth.
This puzzle has 5 people and the same conditions. If you omit Elizabeth, you still have a puzzle with 4 people and the same condition. Can you construct a puzzle with 6 people and the same condition?
And a more intriguing question: can this sequenced be epanded to any number of people?
This area of puzzles has been investigated by the logician Raymond Smullyan, in lovely books as Alice in Puzzleland, This book has no title, and other books. According to the English language wikipedia, he has about invented this type of puzzle. I also found puzzles of this type in J.A.H. Hunters “Mathematical brainteasers”, copyrighted 1965, preceding Smullyans books by over 10 years, which seems to make the statement on wikipedia doubtful.
The looking glass at the top of this article was drawn by an unknown artist at commons.wikipedia.
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