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Puzzle : The Password Challenge by Evil Troll

A bridge was guarded by an evil troll. The troll was very intelligent, but he was also a coward. He was afraid of anyone smarter than him. So every time anyone tried to cross the bridge, the troll would set up a test. If the traveler passed the test, he would be allowed to cross. Otherwise, the troll would eat him.

Three travelers, Al, Ben and Carl, came across the bridge. 

The troll told them, "You may only cross my bridge if you know the password." 
He wrote five three-letter words on a rock. The five words were HOE, OAR, PAD, TOE, and VAT.

He then said, "I will tell each of you a different letter from the password. If you know what the password is, I will let you pass. But don't tell anyone else your letter." 

He then whispered a letter from the password to each traveler so that neither of the other two could hear him.

Then the troll asked Al, "Do you know what the password is?" "Yes," said Al, and the troll let him pass.


Then the troll asked Ben, "Do you know what the password is?" "Yes," said Ben, and the troll let him pass.

 
Then the troll asked Carl, "Do you know what the password is?" "Yes," said Carl, and the troll let him pass.


So, what is the password?


THIS is the correct password! 

One more such challenge by an evil troll! 



Solution : Intelligent Response to an Evil Troll


What was the challenge?

The list of words given by evil troll is - 

HOE, OAR, PAD, TOE, and VAT

Remember, all travelers i.e. Al, Ben and Carl knew the correct password straightaway as soon as evil troll whispered a letter from the password to each traveler.

STEPS : 

1] The unique letters (i.e. letters appearing only once) in above list of words are D, H, P, R and V. The evil troll must have one of these letters to Al, as Al could guess the correct password straightaway. 

The word TOE doesn't have any unique letter, hence, TOE is eliminated straightaway. 

Had Evil troll whispered any letter from TOE (i.e. T, O or E), then Al wouldn't have an idea whether the correct password is TOE or VAT, HOE or TOE or OAR,  HOE or TOE.

2] Now, Ben is smart enough to know that TOE is eliminated from the race after Al's response. He has to think about only four words i.e. about HOE, OAR, PAD, VAT.

The unique letters appearing in rest of words list are D, E, H, P, R, T, and V. One of these letters must be with Al and other must be with Ben. 

But the word OAR has only one unique letter i.e. R. If OAR was the password then only 1 of 3 travelers would have guessed the password correctly while other 2 would have been confused.

Therefore, OAR can't be the password.

3] Carl too smart enough to recognize that OAR and TOE are not the correct passwords. So, he has to think of only 3 words -  HOE, PAD, VAT.

Here, unique letters from the list of words are - D, E, H, O, P, T, and V.

Every traveler must have one unique letter from the above list. In fact, the password itself must be formed by only unique letters from the above list.

Words PAD and VAT has only 2 unique letters ( P & D, V & T respectively).

So, if PAD or VAT was the correct password then the one with letter A wouldn't have been able to guess the correct password.

Hence, HOE must be the correct password. 

4] The letter H must be with Al as T, O, E can't be with him. Similarly, Ben can't have letter O, so he must had letter E and he knows TOE is not the password after hearing Al's response. And the letter O must be with Carl and he knows TOE or OAR are not the passwords.

Intelligent Response to an Evil Troll

Puzzle : An Evil Troll on A Bridge

A bridge was guarded by an evil troll. The troll was very intelligent, but he was also a coward. He was afraid of anyone smarter than him. So every time anyone tried to cross the bridge, the troll would set up a test. If the traveler passed the test, he would be allowed to cross. Otherwise, the troll would eat him.

A traveler came across the bridge. 


The troll said, "You may only cross my bridge if you know the password." 

He then wrote thirteen pairs of letters on a rock:

A-V
B-W
C-Q
D-M
E-K
F-U
G-N
H-P
I-O
J-R
L-X
S-T
Y-Z


"These thirteen pairs consist of all 26 letters of the alphabet," said the troll. 


"The password contains thirteen letters, no two of which are the same. Each pair consists of one letter that is in the password and one other letter. If you wrote out the "other" letters in alphabetical order and then wrote each "password" letter under each one's corresponding "other" letter, you would have the correct spelling of the password."

Then the troll wrote five short words on the rock: FACE, QUEST, QUICK, SWITCH, and WORLD. 


"Each short word contains exactly the same number of letters with the password," he said.

So, what is the password? 

Solution : An Evil Troll on A Bridge Puzzle : Solution


The thirteen pairs of letters given by an evil troll are -

A-V
B-W
C-Q
D-M
E-K
F-U
G-N
H-P
I-O
J-R
L-X
S-T
Y-Z


And 5 short words given by troll are -  FACE, QUEST, QUICK, SWITCH, and WORLD.  

As described in the given details, we'll refer letter from password as PASSWORD letter & other as OTHER letter.

As per troll, those short words are having same number of PASSWORD letters.

STEPS :

1] Both S & T are appearing in the pair with each other. Hence, either S or T must be a PASSWORD letter but not both. Since, both letters are appearing in short word QUEST, that is QUEST having at least 1 PASSWORD letter for sure hence, all 5 must have at least 1 PASSWORD letter.

2] Suppose every short word has 1 PASSWORD letter. With S or T as 1 PASSWORD letter from QUEST, other letters Q, U, E can't be PASSWORD letters. 

If Q, U, E are not PASSWORD letters then C (from C-Q pair), F (from F-U pair) and K (from E-K pair) must be PASSWORD letters. 

In that case, FACE will have 2 PASSWORD letters viz. C & E which goes against our assumption of having exactly 1 PASSWORD letter in each short word. 

3] Let's assume along with S or T the second PASSWORD letter is E i.e each short word has 2 PASSWORD letters. Again, Q, U can't be PASSWORD letters but C (from C-Q pair) & F (from F-U pair) must be. Still then FACE will have 3 PASSWORD letters which goes against our assumption of exactly 2 PASSWORD letter in each short word. 

4] Now, let's assume along with S or T the second PASSWORD letter is U. Again, Q, E can't be PASSWORD letters but C (from C-Q pair) & K (from E-K pair) must be. Still then QUICK will have 3 PASSWORD letters which goes against our assumption of exactly 2 PASSWORD letter in each short word. 

5] Let's assume there are 4 PASSWORD letters in each short word. So apart from S or T, the letters Q, U, E of short word QUEST must be PASSWORD letters. 

If Q, U, E are PASSWORD letters then C (from C-Q pair), F (from F-U pair) and K (from E-K pair) must NOT be the PASSWORD letters. 

In the case, the short word FACE will have maximum only 2 PASSWORD letters (not sure about A from A-V pair) which again goes against our assumption of exactly 4 PASSWORD letter in each short word. 

6] Hence, each short word must be having 3 PASSWORD letters. 

If Q, E are the PASSWORD letters with S or T in QUEST, then C & K can't be PASSWORD letters. With that, Q, U, I will be 3 PASSWORD letters in QUICK. And if U too is the PASSWORD letter then QUEST will have 4 PASSWORD letters. 

If Q, U are the PASSWORD letters with S or T in QUEST, then C & F can't be PASSWORD letters. With that, FACE can have maximum of only 1 PASSWORD letter. 

7] Hence, U & E must be other 2 PASSWORD letters apart from S or T in short word QUEST. So Q must not be the PASSWORD letter but C must be. Also, F and K can't be the PASSWORD letters.  Hence, FACE will have E, C and A as PASSWORD letters. 

If A is PASSWORD letter then V (from A-V pair) can't be the PASSWORD letter.

8] Next, from QUICK we will have, C, U and obviously I as 3 PASSWORD letters after Q, K are ruled out. If I is PASSWORD letter then O (from I-O pair) can't be the PASSWORD letter.

9] Just like QUEST, SWITCH too have either S or T as PASSWORD letter. Moreover, it has I & C as PASSWORD letters. Hence, H & W must not be the PASSWORD letters.

10] So, if W & O are not the PASSWORD letters then other 3 letters of WORLD i.e. R, L, D must be PASSWORD letters. With that M (from D-M pair), J (from J-R pair) and X (from L-X pair) are ruled out.

11] So far we have got - 

PASSWORD letters - U, E, C, A, I, R, L, D, Either S or T.

OTHER letters - Q, F, K, V, O, H, W, M, J, X  

12] Arranging every OTHER letter in alphabetical order & writing down corresponding PASSWORD letter below it -

OTHER :  F   H   J   K   M   O   Q   V   W   X
PASS.  :  U   P   R   E   D   I    C   A    B   L 

13] Now, S-T, G-N, Y-Z are the only 3 pairs left. And correct placement for these pairs must be like.

OTHER :  F   G   H   J   K   M   O   Q   S   V   W   X   Z
PASS.  :  U   N   P   R   E   D   I    C   T   A    B    L   Y

CONCLUSION : 

The PASSWORD that an evil troll has set must be UNPREDICTABLY

An Evil Troll on A Bridge Puzzle : Solution
 
 

Story of Four High School Friends

Four high school friends, one named Cathy, were about to go to college. Their last names were Williams, Burbank, Collins, and Gunderson. Each enrolled in a different college, one of them being a state college. 

From the clues below determine each person's full name, and the college he or she attended.

1. No student's first name begins with the first letter as her or his last name, and no students first name's last letter is the same as his last name's last letter.


2. Neither Hank or Williams went to the community college.


3. Alan, Collins, and the student who went to the university all lived on the same street. The other student lived two blocks away.


4. Gladys and Hank lived next door to each other.


5. The private college accepted Hank's application, but he decided he could not afford to go there.


Story of Four High School Friends


Here is ANALYSIS of the story! 

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends


What was the story?

GIVEN DATA : 

First Name : Hank, Gladys, Cathy, Alan 
Last Name : Collins, Burbank, Gunderson, Williams 
College       :  State College, University, Community College, Private College 

HINTS : 

1. No student's first name begins with the first letter as her or his last name, and no students first name's last letter is the same as his last name's last letter.

2. Neither Hank or Williams went to the community college.


3. Alan, Collins, and the student who went to the university all lived on the same street. The other student lived two blocks away.


4. Gladys and Hank lived next door to each other.


5. The private college accepted Hank's application, but he decided he could not afford to go there.   


STEPS :  

1] Let's make a table like below and fill it as per hints.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends
  
2] As per Hint (3), we have, Alan, Collins and student going to the university as 3 different students.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends

3] As per (1), Collins can't be Cathy & as per (4), Cathy can't be at no.3 as in that case no blocks will be left for (4) to be true. Hence Cathy must be at no.4.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends

4] As per (2), Hank and Williams are two different students. And as per (4), Gladys and Hank must be at 2 & 3 (and anyhow these are only blocks left for them) but order yet to be known. So, Williams is certainly not at 3 or 2. And as per (1), Gladys can't be Gunderson or Collins or Williams & Hank can't be Burbank.  Therefore, Hank must be Collins at 2 and Gladys must be Burbank at 3.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends

5] Now, as per (1), Alan can't be Gunderson hence must be Williams and Cathy must be Gunderson. 

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends

6] As per (2), neither Hank nor Williams went to community college, hence Cathy Gunderson must be. And as per (5), Hank didn't choose private college hence must have chosen state college while Alan Williams must be in private college.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends

7] Therefore, the final table looks like as below.

Analysing The Story of Four High School Friends
 

A Letter Delivery to the Leader

There is a 50m long army platoon marching ahead. The last person in the platoon wants to give a letter to the first person leading the platoon. So while the platoon is marching he runs ahead, reaches the first person and hands over the letter to him and without stopping he runs and comes back to his original position.

In the mean time the whole platoon has moved ahead by 50m.

The question is how much distance did the last person cover in that time.


Assuming that he ran the whole distance with uniform speed. 

A Letter Delivered to the Leader


Skip to the answer!

Distance Covered by Letter Delivery Person


What was the puzzle?

Let's suppose the first person of the platoon move X meters ahead by the time the last person reaches to him.

To reach at him, the last person has to cover distance of 50 + x.

Assume M be the speed of last person and P be the speed of platoon i.e. of first person.

If T1 is time needed for the last person to get to at the first person,

T1 = (50 + X)/M

T1 = X/P

(50 + X)/M = X/P

M/P = (50 + X)/X  ..........(1)

As per given data, by the time the last person gets back to it's original position (i.e. end of platoon), the platoon moves 50m ahead from it's position that was when the last person started his journey towards first person.




That is end of platoon is now at position at which the start of platoon was initially.

Since, the first person has already moved X meters ahead, he has to move only 50 - X meter to lead the platoon 50m ahead of it's original position.

And, the last person has to move only X meters to get back to  original position i.e. the end of platoon.

If T2 is the time taken by last person to get back to original position (i.e. time taken by first person to move ahead 50 - x) then,

T2 = X/M

T2 = (50 - X)/P

X/M = (50 - X)/P

M/P = X/(50 - X)  ..........(2)

Equating (1) and (2),

(50 + X)/X = X/(50 - X)

X^2 = (50 + X)(50 - X)

X^2 = 2500 - X^2

X^2 = 1250

X = 35.355 meters.

So,

the distance traveled by the last person = (50 + X) + X 

                                                          
                                                          = (50 +35.355) + 35.355 

the distance traveled by the last person = 120.71 meters.

The ratio of their speeds = M/P = (50 + X)/X = (50 + 35.355)/35.355 = 2.41

M = 2.41 P

That is the speed of last man is 2.41 times the speed of first man or the speed of platoon itself.

And that's the speed the last man needed to reach at the first person of the platoon.

Cars Across the Desert

A military car carrying an important letter must cross a desert. 

There is no petrol station on the desert and the car has space only for petrol that lasts to the middle of the desert.

There are also other cars that can transfer their petrol into one another.

How can the letter be delivered?

Delevering letter across the desert

This is how letter can be delivered!

Source 

Delivering Letter Across The Desert


What was the task?

We need 4 such cars to deliver the letter across the desert successfully.

Let's divide the entire route into 6 parts. That means the distance that car can travel (half the total path in desert) is divided into 3 parts. To travel each part car requires 1/3rd of it's petrol in the tank.

1. At first 1/6th of total path, all cars are 2/3rd full. Now 2/3rd of the petrol from 1 car can be used to fill 1/3rd of tanks in other 2 cars (1/3 + 1/3 = 2/3). This way, we would have 2 cars full while 1 car 2/3rd full. We are leaving behind the empty car, taking 3 cars forward.

Journey of Letter Across The Desert
Stage 1

2. At next 1/6th of the distance, 2 full cars will use 1/3rd of their petrol hence would be 2/3rd full. And the car that was 2/3rd at previous stage would be not 1/3rd full. At this stage, the petrol from car that is 1/3rd full can be used to fill tank of 1 car completely. So we are leaving behind one another empty car here & taking fully filled car & 2/3rd filled car for next stage.

Journey of Letter Across The Desert
Stage 2

3. For next 1/6th of the total distance, the car that was fully filled would have 2/3rd petrol. And the car which was 2/3rd at previous stage would be now 1/3rd filled. The petrol of this car can be used to fill the tank of the first car. Now we have 1 car fully filled while other one is empty. So we can leave behind the empty car & use fully filled car for the rest half of the journey. Remember, a car which tank is full can travel half the total path.

Journey of Letter Across The Desert
Stage 3
 
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