Puzzle : Set Timer without Clock?

You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four-minute and a seven-minute hourglass. On the stove is a pot of boiling water. Jill asks you to cook a nine-minute egg in exactly 9 minutes, and you know she is a perfectionist and can tell if you undercook or overcook the egg by even a few seconds. 

How can you cook the egg for exactly 9 minutes?

You should follow THIS process! 

Solution : Setting up Timer without Clock!

What was the challenge?

We can set up a timer of 9 minutes using 4 and 7 minutes hourglass. Below is the process-

1. Flip both the hourglasses and drop egg into the water. 

2. After 4 minutes, 4-minutes hourglass will run out. Flip and reset it. ( 4 minutes counted and 3 minutes countdown left in 7-minute hourglass).

3. After 3 minutes, the 7-minutes hourglass will run out while 1 minute countdown will be left in 4-minutes hourglass. ( So far 4 + 3 = 7 minutes counted ). 

Flip the 7-minutes hourglass thereby resetting it's timer.

4. After 1 minute, the 4-minutes hourglass will run out. ( 4 + 3 + 1 = 8 minutes counted). 

5. At this point of time there will be sand for 6 minutes countdown left in 7-minutes hourglass. Just flip it so that it count exactly 1 more minute.
   

Now, that's how 4 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 9 minutes are counted.

 

"Spot on the Forehead" Sequel Contest

After losing the "Spot on the Forehead" contest, the two defeated Puzzle Masters complained that the winner had made a slight pause before raising his hand, thus derailing their deductive reasoning train of thought. 

And so the Grand Master vowed to set up a truly fair test to reveal the best logician among them.


He showed the three men 5 hats - two white and three black. 

Then he turned off the lights in the room and put a hat on each Puzzle Master's head. After that the old sage hid the remaining two hats, but before he could turn the lights on, one of the Masters, as chance would have it, the winner of the previous contest, announced the color of his hat. 

And he was right once again.

What color was his hat? What could have been his reasoning? 

The winner is wisest for a reason! 

Master of Logic For a Reason!

How the master was challenged?

Let's assume once again A, B and C are those logicians and C has guessed the color of own hat correctly. Here is what he must have thought - 

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"I'm assuming the grand master is conducting this test fairly denying any sort of advantage to any participant.

With that assumption, the grand master can't put 2 white and 1 black hat on heads. In that case, the person having black hat and watching 2 white hats on others' head would know the color of own hat immediately.

For fair play, he can't put 2 blacks and 1 white hat either. That will give unfair advantage to the logicians wearing black hats. Suppose A and B are wearing black and I'm wearing white hat. Now, what A (or B) would be thinking - 

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       " I'm A (or B) and I can see 1 black and 1 white hat (on head of C). If I have white 
         hat on my head then B (or A) would know color of his hat as black as there are 
         only 2 white hats available and those would be on my head and C's head.

         Moreover, 1 black and 2 white hats already eliminated as it's unfair distribution.

         That means I must be wearing black hat."

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That's how the combination of 2 black and 1 white hats also eliminated from fair play.

Hence, all of three must be wearing black hats is only fair distribution giving all of us equal chance of winning and hence I must be wearing black hat only. 

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Note : Here, C is assumed as a winner for only sake of convenience, otherwise either A or B whoever is wisest can be winner.