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Post by alfromni on Apr 5, 2019 9:55:44 GMT
Nalkarj - "The Lady or the Tiger" As far as I can see there is no mention of the courtier's familly. So supposing he had a sister, and the princess somehow arranged that said sister was the lady behind the door. Although there seems to be no bar on adultery or bigamy, would incest be allowed? It certainly was in ancient Egypt, but was it here? We are drawn back to the "King's pleasure" and whim regarding the law of his land. With this story I'd have to admit that Stockton has reached the ultimate of impossibility. He must have taken great pains to cover all the angles, which he seemingly has done.
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Post by brimfin on Apr 7, 2019 1:21:19 GMT
Hi, alfromni and Salzmank:
I saw your tag, so I will take a shot at the Lady and the Tiger story. I first heard that from my Dad years ago, (when I was just a kid) and later read up on it. I actually found a story where two people supposedly confront the author and ask him for the solution. He then gives them another story with no answer and tells them when they can figure that one out, he’ll give them the answer to L vs. T. The other story was ridiculous anyway.
Taking the story strictly on its merits, I would say the lady was behind the door. I would have to believe that if the king’s daughter truly loved the courtier, she’d prefer seeing him alive with someone she hated that seeing him mauled to death by a tiger. Further, her hatred of the damsel was more of a jealous kind. If she hated the damsel because she thought the damsel was evil, then she would probably have gone with the tiger figuring her love was better off dead than with her.
Now, for a couple of ideas to change the ending. One I had a long time ago was that her father found out that she knew which door was which, so he went in and switched the tiger to the other room. To do it in secret he had to continually whip the tiger to keep it at bay. The next day, when the courtier opens the door, the tiger springs out, but misses and lands on a spot where he had been whipped and is momentarily stunned in pain. The king’s daughter lashes out at the king for his deviltry and accidently knocks him over the precipice where he falls into the arena. The tiger recognizes him as the man who cruelly whipped him and attacks and kills the king. The suitor escapes unharmed.
An even better idea struck me recently though. The suitor opens the door, and the tiger springs out – but does not attack him. The suitor walks around the tiger and it still doesn’t harm him. The king’s daughter shouts out that he had chosen the wrong door, but still even the tiger knows he is an innocent man. The king thus must still set him free, but since he chose the wrong door he does not get the damsel. The king’s daughter and the lowly suitor are later married. The secret? In their many conversations over the years, the suitor had mentioned coming across some scent that the tiger would not approach – perhaps that of a larger animal which he feared, or maybe something from a lady tiger that he would not attack. When paying her gold to find out the secret of the doors, she also purchased this potion and smuggled it to him knowing the tiger would not attack him and thus hoping for the fate they succeeded in making happen.
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Post by brimfin on Apr 7, 2019 1:23:45 GMT
While trying to locate where I had been tagged, I saw the story on Hosea Snow as well. I had a couple of thoughts on that:
1. Stories of people getting away with the perfect crime and then getting caught often hinge on Federal charges. If the mansion where Hosea was killed was somehow shown to be Federal land, Federal charges could be brought against them despite double jeopardy seemingly being in play. There was a QUINCY episode where a man kidnapped a little girl and told the father’s lawyer he wouldn’t return her until he, the kidnapper, was charged and acquitted of her kidnapping. The lawyer must deliberately throw the case and let the guy get exonerated. Afterward, he returns the girl as promised and thinks he’s got away with it and the money. But it turns out he held her in a National Park and so he can be charged with Federal kidnapping charges – and the little girl’s testimony will prove his guilt. It’s actually one of my least favorite episodes of QUINCY because I hate seeing the lawyer have to suffer through being harassed by the judge and Quincy over a period of weeks while the trial goes on – and the whole thing is so far-fetched anyway.
2. Here’s a more fun twist. “That’s where the final fantastic surprise comes in. They didn’t get away with it!”
“They didn’t.”
“Of course not. You see, when they were exonerated they weren’t getting away with anything. They really hadn’t done it.”
“Then who had?”
“Hosea himself. When he realized he was close to death, he wanted to ensure that his sons wouldn’t inherit his money. So he set a gun in place with twine tied around the trigger. He lit the far end of the twine and then pulled the middle part, shooting himself between the eyes. The twine burns without leaving any trace behind so the gun dropped from where it was perched after the twine burned away. Naturally he’d tricked both sons into touching the gun earlier. The police were to find the gun sitting on the floor away from Hosea with both boys’ fingerprints on it. But the boys found him first and came up with their ploy to escape the gallows. I figured out how it was all done, but couldn’t really prove it. People still think they got away with murder. They’ve been trying to spend the fortune wisely on charity works and such to buy their reputations back. So at least Hosea got his wish that they had to work to earn their living.”
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 7, 2019 1:27:48 GMT
Several brilliant solutions, brimfin . Excellent stuff. Thank you.
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Post by alfromni on Apr 8, 2019 9:32:52 GMT
I knew you'd come up with something brimfin.
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Post by ant-mac on Apr 23, 2019 14:03:55 GMT
alfromni & Nalkarj - I expect you've heard this one, but... An adventurer and his companion are exploring a recently discovered tomb when the companion accidentally trips a hidden switch and a cage descends and traps him. No matter what either of them do, they cannot released the trapped man from the cage. Suddenly, a stone pedestal containing two identical switches rises up out of the floor of the chamber, two identical giant beings step out of the shadows and a disembodied voice begins to speak... "Stranger! You have desecrated the sacred tomb of the gods! Now, you must solve the riddle of the gods if you wish to save your companion from certain death and be allowed to leave this place together. Before you, there are two switches. One delivers instant freedom, while the other delivers instant death. You will also see the two guardians of the sacred tomb standing before you. One guardian is programmed to always tell the truth, while the other guardian is programmed to always tell lies. You may ask one guardian one question to help you to choose the right switch. You may proceed when you are ready..."
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Post by alfromni on Apr 23, 2019 15:53:35 GMT
Thanks ant-mac - Will take a looksee. Will get back to you some time.
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Post by alfromni on Apr 23, 2019 21:08:40 GMT
ant-mac -- Re: The Guardians This is a version of the old riddle of the Red Indian tribes, One is the Whitefeet, who always tell the truth. The other is the Blackfeet, who always lie. So...
You ask one Guardian, "If you were the guardian of the other switch and I were to ask you which is the safe switch, what would you tell me?"
Then, whichever switch he indicates, choose the other one. Because the truthful guardian would tell you the truth about the untruthful guardian's lie, and the untruthful guardian would lie about the truthful guardian's honest answer, so whichever guardian of the switches you're talking to he'll give you the wrong answer.
Am I right sir?
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Post by ant-mac on Apr 24, 2019 2:41:59 GMT
ant-mac -- Re: The Guardians This is a version of the old riddle of the Red Indian tribes, One is the Whitefeet, who always tell the truth. The other is the Blackfeet, who always lie. So...
You ask one Guardian, "If you were the guardian of the other switch and I were to ask you which is the safe switch, what would you tell me?"
Then, whichever switch he indicates, choose the other one. Because the truthful guardian would tell you the truth about the untruthful guardian's lie, and the untruthful guardian would lie about the truthful guardian's honest answer, so whichever guardian of the switches you're talking to he'll give you the wrong answer.
Am I right sir? I learned of it from a different source, but I'd say so. Like I said, I felt pretty sure you'd heard of it before.
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Post by alfromni on Apr 24, 2019 4:42:00 GMT
ant-mac --- THis is the usual version... There are two Indian tribes in Montana. One is the Whitefeet, who always tell the truth. The other is the Blackfeet, who always lie. You are hiking, and come to a fork in the road. Down one path lies the treasure you've been looking for, and down the other, a man-eating grizzly and certain death. An Indian stands at the fork in the road, but you don't know which tribe he's from. You get to ask him one question to find out which path to take. What question do you ask him? Had to work round it a tad.
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Post by ant-mac on Apr 24, 2019 4:52:04 GMT
ant-mac --- THis is the usual version... There are two Indian tribes in Montana. One is the Whitefeet, who always tell the truth. The other is the Blackfeet, who always lie. You are hiking, and come to a fork in the road. Down one path lies the treasure you've been looking for, and down the other, a man-eating grizzly and certain death. An Indian stands at the fork in the road, but you don't know which tribe he's from. You get to ask him one question to find out which path to take. What question do you ask him? Had to work round it a tad. My source was the 1975 DOCTOR WHO serial, PYRAMIDS OF MARS. Whilst navigating through various alien logical and philosophical puzzles on Mars, the Doctor's companion becomes sealed in an unbreakable glass cylinder and the Doctor must solve the riddle of the Osirians. I simply changed the characters and location.
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