top button
Flag Notify
    Connect to us
      Site Registration

Site Registration

Explain how you can guarantee victory.

+1 vote
338 views

You die and the devil says he'll let you go to heaven if you beat him in a game. The devil sits you down at a perfectly round table. He gives himself and you an infinite pile of quarters. He says, "OK, we'll take turns putting one quarter down, no overlapping allowed, and the quarters must rest flat on the table surface. The first guy who can't put a quarter down loses." You guys are about to start playing, and the devil says that he'll go first. However, at this point you immediately interject, and ask if you can go first instead. You make this interjection because you are very smart and can place quarters perfectly, and you know that if you go first, you can guarantee victory.
Explain how you can guarantee victory.

posted Nov 25, 2014 by Nimish

Share this puzzle
Facebook Share Button Twitter Share Button LinkedIn Share Button

2 Answers

0 votes

You place a quarter right in the center of the table. After that, whenever the devil places a quarter on the table, mimic his placement on the opposite of the table. If he has a place to place a quarter, so will you. The devil will run out of places to put a quarter before you do.

answer Aug 21, 2017 by Pankaj Deshmukh
0 votes

Answer:
You place a quarter right in the center of the table. After that, whenever the devil places a quarter on the table, mimic his placement on the opposite side of the table. If he has a place to place a quarter, so will you. The devil will run out of places to put a quarter before you do.

answer Sep 26, 2017 by Mogadala Ramana



Similar Puzzles
+2 votes

You have a flashlight that takes 2 working batteries. You have 8 batteries but only 4 of them work.

What is the fewest number of pairs you need to test to guarantee you can get the flashlight on?

+1 vote

enter image description here

There are 13 caves arranged in a circle. There is a thief hiding in one of the caves. Each day the the thief can move to any one of of the caves that is adjacent to the cave in which he was staying the previous day. And each day, you are allowed to enter any two caves of your choice.

What is the minimum number of days to guarantee in which you can catch the thief?

Note: Thief may or may not move to adjacent cave. You can check any two caves, not necessarily be adjacent. If thief and you exchange your caves, you will surely cross at some point, and you can catch the thief immediately.

0 votes

There are 3 switches downstairs, each corresponding to one of the light bulbs upstairs.
How can you figure out which light switch goes to which light bulb by only making 1 trip upstairs?

+2 votes

You are standing next to a well, and you have two jugs. One jug has a content of 3 liters and the other one has a content of 5 liters.
How can you get just 4 liters of water using only these two jugs?

...