Gnome Puzzle

by **sully800** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:36 am

4 gnomes are chillin' outside the Travelocity Headquarters.

There are 2 red hats and 2 blue hats. Each gnome knows how many of each color hat there is, but none of them know which color they are wearing.

Moz is an opaque brick wall. None of the gnomes can see through/above/around Moz.

Also, each gnome can see everything in front of them up until the wall. So Andy can see the color of AK and lack's hats, despite the fact that lack is in front of AK.

The gnomes are not allowed to turn around, move, or look at the color of their own hat. They are strictly forbidden to talk or communicate in anyway unless it is to announce that they know what color hat they are wearing. If they guess incorrectly they will be killed instantly, so they will only speak if they know the color of their hat.

Which gnome is able to speak up and name the color of his own hat?

Disclaimer: Their is a real solution to this puzzle- nothing corny and nothing that involves finding a loophole in my words. No mirrors, no tricks of any kind.

Also- if you know the solution please don't announce it in the thread because it will ruin it for everyone. If you are stumped PM me and I will tell you the answer but that is a sign of weakness (so think harder and figure it out yourself). :twisted:

by **lord twiggy1** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:52 am

i like gnomes, i wanna be a gnome when i grow up

by **spinwizard** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:55 am

we did this 1 and twiggys dot 1 in out maths lesson

by **lord twiggy1** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:57 am

spinwizard wrote:we did this 1 and twiggys dot 1 in out maths lesson

thats were i got the dot thing, where do you go to school?

by **Balsiefen** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:57 am

easy, ive got it

by **spinwizard** on Sat May 12, 2007 3:05 am

lord twiggy1 wrote:
spinwizard wrote:we did this 1 and twiggys dot 1 in out maths lesson
thats were i got the dot thing, where do you go to school?

high school in england

by **Balsiefen** on Sat May 12, 2007 3:09 am

this is one of those things maths teachers always do to make themselves look less boring.

by **spinwizard** on Sat May 12, 2007 3:13 am

Balsiefen wrote:this is one of those things maths teachers always do to make themselves look less boring.

so, so true

by **unriggable** on Sat May 12, 2007 7:41 am

Its pretty easy...

by **mr. incrediball** on Sat May 12, 2007 8:25 am

question: if one gnome announces the colour of their hat, will the others be able to hear them?

by **sully800** on Sat May 12, 2007 9:18 am

mr. incrediball wrote:question: if one gnome announces the colour of their hat, will the others be able to hear them?

Yes.

by **dominationnation** on Sat May 12, 2007 11:11 am

question is moz considered a gnome and can she talk?

by **MeDeFe** on Sat May 12, 2007 12:23 pm

Took me about 10 seconds to figure it out.

by **sully800** on Sat May 12, 2007 12:43 pm

dominationnation wrote:question is moz considered a gnome and can she talk?

Moz is not a gnome :lol:

I just labeled the brick wall with a name because I used 4/5 of the mod squad. I figured moz deserved to be featured as well, but no that's just a wall and will not talk or give hints to the gnomes. As I said, its nothing tricky where you are looking for some sort of loophole :wink:

by **twinfists** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:17 pm

i got it, quite clever, i assume the knomes know each other's position?

by **Syzygy** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:34 pm

Duh!

I've got it.

by **Fircoal** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:50 pm

I had to ask Sully,

oh well

by **Dancing Mustard** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:55 pm

How long until somebody maliciously posts the answer? I'm taking bets here...

by **GreecePwns** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:57 pm

I say by the end of this page...

by **Syzygy** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:59 pm

It's because gnomes can read minds. Duh.

by **freezie** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:01 pm

I can't figure it out... :cry:

by **Dancing Mustard** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:05 pm

freezie wrote:I can't figure it out...

Here's a clue: The solution is directly linked to the intrinsic unique properties of the number 4. Would it work with 5 gnomes? Once you get that far then the puzzle's yours.

by **firth4eva** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:08 pm

whats the answer?
plz

by **Fircoal** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:08 pm

if you don't know what the anwser is, pm Sully, so I'm not the only one.

by **sully800** on Sun May 13, 2007 8:12 am

Well I'll throw some hints so people can get on the right track without just asking for help...

What information do lack and wicked have? They can't see the color of anyone's hats and there are no tricks that would allow them to do so. It would be better to turn your focus away from them (as I'm sure most people have done).

Are there any different conditions under which Andy would be able to determine the color of his own hat?

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