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Riddles — Page 2

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then im stupid, is that what youre saying?
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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Please note, for the record, that I never "said" that.

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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HAHA!!!
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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So by laughing good naturedly, you admit to having said problem and you are able to laugh about it?
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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no, just that i like that we can yank each other's chains like this.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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Yeah, I don't know if I could have gotten it without the insight that it was USED in death to smell good rather than naturally smelling good. Wihtout that hint I was barking up every wrong tree in the forest.

As for the other riddle, yes, it's the scale of justice type of scale.

And we're looking for the minimum, not the maximum. Sorry if I glossed over that point.
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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11
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Lower.
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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i can get it down to 3.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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Do tell. How would your weighings play out?
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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Is that before or after you cook it?
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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I suppose we could do the same riddle with 12 identical strips of bacon...
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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But with one that's just slightly meatier.

"Move over bacon..."
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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you put 6 in each scale, you take away 3 from each. either you have the lighter/heavier BB in your hand or its on the scale. and then its simple elimination.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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For ongoing discussion let's use this legend:
U = unknown
R = confirmed regular BB
H = potentially heavy BB
L = potentially light BB
HHU RRR = two H's and a U on one balance, three R's on the other...

I'm with you through the end of the second weighing.
1 = UUUUUU UUUUUU (gives you HHHHHH LLLLLL after weighing)
2 = HHH LLL
so regardless of if weighing 2 is even or uneven, you can assign HHH, LLL, and RRRRRR.

How does weighing 3 locate the BB out of the 3 H's and 3 L's?
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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well, if its on the scale, you take 1 BB off each scale, if its still on the scale, you take 1 more, then you are 100% certain you have it either in your hand or on the scale.

now, if its in your hand, you just replace the ones in your hand with the ones on the scale. but you only put up two instead of three. and you do the same thing as before.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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Then we're up to 4 weighings minimum, if we're lucky. If that next set you take off (#3) turns out to have the rogue, then you still need one more weighing (#4) to figure out if the H or the L is the rogue. If when you remove that pair (#3) and it's still unbalanced, you'll need 5 total weighings.

The answer is less than 5.
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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oops stupid me... yeah it is 5.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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He said it's less than five.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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i know... thank you...
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Qui-Gon Jinn (R.I.P.)
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If the scale you are mentioning is the one you put weight on both sides, it's actually THREE the answer:

1- You have 12 bbs and weight them, 6 in each side, you'll end up with 6, you used the scale once.
2- Weight 6, with 3 each side, you end up with 3, used the scale twice.
3- Weight only 2 of them. If both have the same weight, the one left is the heavier one. If the scale changes direction, you'll logically know the one heavier.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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What if one of the BB's is lighter instead of heavier? How are you going to figure out if the higher side is is a light rogue or the lower side is a heavy rogue?

============

I'll give you all a HINT.

First weighing is 4 and 4. You need three weighings. How do you do it?
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!
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If one of them is lighter? The same thing, but you discard those who weight too much!
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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But each time you discard is another weighing.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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I'm just saying, if you weigh 3 and 3 and one side goes down, you don't know if the side that went down contains a heavy BB or if the side that went up contains a light BB. If you pick wrong, you're going to get extra weighings in there.

Using your strategy, worst case scenario:
1: six and six.
2: take the heavier side, 3 and 3. Comes out even.
3: take the other six, 3 and 3. One side is lighter.
4: NOW you're down to 3. Weigh 2 of them and find the light BB.

Since the rogue BB can be either heavier or lighter, and you don't know which, you can't eliminate them that way.

Edit: I went and re-read the question, and there is some room for ambiguity in there. To re-state: One BB weighs different than the rest. You don't know if it's heavier or lighter, just that it's different.
If you're going to take forever, then I'm having a hotdog!