4 criminals are caught and are to be punished. The Judge allows them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be hung. They agreed.
The 4 criminals are lined up on some steps (shown in picture). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates the 4th man from the other 3.
So to summarize:
• Man 1 can see Men 2 and 3.
• Man 2 can see Man 3.
• Man 3 can see none of the others.
• Man 4 can see none of the others.
The criminals are wearing hats. They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats. The men initially don't know what colour hat they are wearing. They are told to shout out the colour of the hat that they are wearing as soon as they know for certain what colour it is.
• They are not allowed to turn round or move.
• They are not allowed to talk to each other.
• They are not allowed to take their hats off.
Who is the first person to shout out and why?
Note: There is no trick to the question, just logical deduction.
Scroll down for the solution to the puzzle...
Answer:
The man who calls out is Number 2.
Why?
After a short time, Number 1 has not shouted out what colour hat he is wearing. Because of this number 2 knows that he cannot be wearing the same colour hat as the person in front of him. If he was then number 1 would see two black hats and would therefore know that his hat must be white.
Armed with the knowledge that:
• He isn't wearing the same colour hat as the man in front.
• The man in front is wearing a black hat.
• Number two can confidently shout out that the hat he is wearing is white.
Easy, wasn't it?
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