The Dungeon

It's a Monday, which means yet another party of adventurers has broken into your layer, here to slay your minions and steal your treasures. Judging by the trail of destruction, you're up against a fighter, a rogue, and a cleric. The first two won't be a problem for a powerful necromancer If they can cast even one on you, you're a goner, which is why it's lucky that the party has fallen prey to one of your traps. In order to enter your inner sanct Then foolishly, one picked up a cursed skull, which immobilized all three adventurer's limbs for ten minutes or until you physically interact with one of them. You rush to the scene, bearing a magical ring that can render a cleric harmless and have no idea which adventurer is which. Well, that's okay. The potions they drank will compel each to answer one question with either the truth or a lie. You demand which one of you is the cleric. Agan answers, Bjorn is not both a lying potion drinker and a cleric. Bjorn says, either Agan drank a lying potion, or I am not a cleric. And Cedar replies, the cleric drank a lying potion. Quick, who is the cleric? In order to find the cleric in this puzzle, originally crafted by master logician Raymond Smullyan, we'll need to also figure out who drank what. There are several paths to the solution, but Cedar'statement is more straightforward than the other two, so let'start there. If Cedar is telling the truth, she can't be the cleric, since then the cleric would also have to be a liar. But if she's lying, she also can't be the cleric, because then the cleric should have told the truth. So the cleric must be Agan or Bjorn. Let's ass If Agan is also telling the truth, Bjorn must be the lying cleric by the process of elimination. But Agan'statement contradicts this by saying that Bjorn can't be both lying and a cleric, leaving no possible cleric. If, on the other hand, Agan is lying, then her statement means Bjorn is a lying cleric. Now we need to look at Bjorn'sentence, and this is where things get tricky, because the way it'structured, it can be confusing understanding what a lie would be. So let'simplify. Bjorn stated two facts, and said that exactly one of them is true. So if Bjorn is telling the truth, it could be that one is true and two is false, or one is false and two is true. And if Bjorn is lying, it means that one and two are both true or both false. This is equivalent to the XOR, or exclusive OR, function in Boolean algebra, a branch of mathematics that deals with logical operations. Boolean algebra is the underpinning of the electronic logic gates that allow computers to function, using ones and zeros instead of true and false. So now let's assess Bjorn'statement based on what we know. We're ass But in that case, Bjorn would be telling the truth, which contradicts the idea that the cleric is a liar. In other words, if Cedar is telling the truth, Agan can't be telling the truth or lying. Therefore, Cedar must be lying, so the cleric is telling the truth. So again, let's consider the possibilities for Agan. She can't be lying, because then Bjorn would be a lying cleric, which we know isn't possible. So Agan must be telling the truth, and we're back to our truth table for Bjorn. One is false, and if the second were false, Bjorn would be a lying cleric, again impossible. So statement two is true, making both Agan and Bjorn truth tellers, and Agan the cleric. You slide the ring onto her finger, polymorph all three into skeletal mice. Temporarily, of course, you're not a monster, and send them on their merry way. But in that moment, was there a connection? Looking for your next challenge? Ted Games are here, and we want you to play. See if you have what it takes to beat the daily one-of-a-kind puzzles at ted. com.