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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. Puzzle time

Puzzle time

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  • KlausK Offline
    KlausK Offline
    Klaus
    wrote on last edited by Klaus
    #5

    Question: Do you assume that the two persons in each couple know each other? 🙂 Sounds like a rather unrealistic assumption, but I want to be sure.

    1 Reply Last reply
    • KlausK Offline
      KlausK Offline
      Klaus
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      Also, does a person shake his own hand (since we can safely assume that everone knows him- or herself)?

      1 Reply Last reply
      • Doctor PhibesD Offline
        Doctor PhibesD Offline
        Doctor Phibes
        wrote on last edited by Doctor Phibes
        #7

        Are these all university couples? If so, it would probably be quite hard for them to shake their own hands since they'll be so busy patting themselves on the back 😀

        I was only joking

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        • jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nyc
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          Klaus - they don’t shake their own hand or that of their pairing.

          They’ll end up, after a lot of drama, with the same formula they use every time they have a trifecta: take away health care and food assistance from low income families and use the money to fund tax cuts for their donors.

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          • MikM Mik

            Zero. Klaus played piano after which she was shunned.

            kluursK Offline
            kluursK Offline
            kluurs
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            @Mik said in Puzzle time:

            Zero. Klaus played piano after which she was shunned.

            Klaus expressed the desire for "she" to be used as his her preferred pronoun? Makes sense, I just wanted to confirm.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • 89th8 Offline
              89th8 Offline
              89th
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              I think 20 must be too obvious, so if we take the "and got a difference answer every time" key phrase, that means even individuals WITHIN a couple have difference answers, which means we need to find all the various valid combos out there...leaving Mrs. Klaus shaking 10 hands.

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              • markM Offline
                markM Offline
                mark
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                It doesn't matter. They will all be dead from corona virus in a few weeks. 🌡🤒

                1 Reply Last reply
                • jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  Can’t just throw out a number, you have to say why

                  They’ll end up, after a lot of drama, with the same formula they use every time they have a trifecta: take away health care and food assistance from low income families and use the money to fund tax cuts for their donors.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ Online
                    jon-nycJ Online
                    jon-nyc
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    This one took me a little while.

                    They’ll end up, after a lot of drama, with the same formula they use every time they have a trifecta: take away health care and food assistance from low income families and use the money to fund tax cuts for their donors.

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                    • KlausK Offline
                      KlausK Offline
                      Klaus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      OK, let's see.

                      Since there are at most 20 people anyone can shake hands with, the different numbers of the other 21 partygoers must be the numbers from 0 to 20...

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • KlausK Offline
                        KlausK Offline
                        Klaus
                        wrote on last edited by Klaus
                        #15

                        What I don't understand is how Ms. Klaus plays any designated role in your puzzle that would allow me to distinguish her from anyone else.

                        Let's say we name the other 21 persons p-0 to p-20, whereby p-0 shook 0 hands, p-1 shook 1 hands etc.

                        Ms. Klaus could be any p-i without raising a contradiction.

                        So, let's say Ms. Klaus is p-7 and shook hands with 7 other people. If the puzzle is well-designed, that should lead to some kind of contradiction. But I don't see a contradiction.

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                        • KlausK Offline
                          KlausK Offline
                          Klaus
                          wrote on last edited by Klaus
                          #16

                          Hm, wait a minute.

                          The guy with the 20 handshakes, p-20 must have shaken Ms. Klaus hand because he shook everyone's hand except his own partner's.

                          So Ms. Klaus cannot be p-0. And p-20's partner must be p-0, by the same argument.

                          Presumably this is the base case of some kind of inductive argument...

                          But on the other hand, what prevents Ms. Klaus from being p-20? Hmm...

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • KlausK Offline
                            KlausK Offline
                            Klaus
                            wrote on last edited by Klaus
                            #17

                            Ah, I think I got it.

                            p-20 must have shaken my hand and hence cannot be Ms. Klaus.
                            p-20's partner must have been p-0, who can hence also not be Ms. Klaus.

                            p-19 must have shaken my hand, too, because he didn't shake p-0's hand, hence p-19 cannot be Ms. Klaus either.
                            By the same argument as above, p-19's partner is p-1, who also cannot be Ms. Klaus.

                            If we continue in the same way until p-11 and p-9, we see that the only number that is left is p-10.

                            Ms. Klaus shook 10 hands.

                            Correct?

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • jon-nycJ Online
                              jon-nycJ Online
                              jon-nyc
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              No, your first statement is not correct.

                              Hint - first find out how many hands you shook.

                              They’ll end up, after a lot of drama, with the same formula they use every time they have a trifecta: take away health care and food assistance from low income families and use the money to fund tax cuts for their donors.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • KlausK Offline
                                KlausK Offline
                                Klaus
                                wrote on last edited by Klaus
                                #19

                                Oh, I see. I think my solution is still correct.

                                p-20 must be married to p-0, ..., p-11 must be married to p-9.

                                Hence my wife can't be any of p-0,...,p-9 or p-11 to p-20, because I'm not among the ones they are married to.

                                That leaves only the p-10 spot for her.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • KlausK Offline
                                  KlausK Offline
                                  Klaus
                                  wrote on last edited by Klaus
                                  #20

                                  Here's the full solution.

                                  p-0 : {}
                                  p-1 : {p-20}
                                  p-2 : {p-19,p-20}
                                  ...
                                  p-9 : {p-12,....,p-20}
                                  p-10 = Ms. Klaus : {p-11,...,p-20}
                                  p-11 : {Mr. Klaus, Ms. Klaus, p-12, ..., p-20}
                                  p-12 : {Mr. Klaus, Ms. Klaus, p-9, p-11, p-13, ..., p-20}
                                  p-13 : {Mr. Klaus, Ms. Klaus, p-8, p-9, p-11,p-12, p-14, ..., p-20}
                                  ...
                                  p-20: {Mr. Klaus, Ms. Klaus, p-1, .., p-9, p-11,...,p-19}
                                  Mr. Klaus: {p-11,...,p-20}

                                  Is this not correct?

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  • Doctor PhibesD Offline
                                    Doctor PhibesD Offline
                                    Doctor Phibes
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    Typical German. You should just ask her.

                                    I was only joking

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • jon-nycJ Online
                                      jon-nycJ Online
                                      jon-nyc
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      Yes you are right, Klaus

                                      They’ll end up, after a lot of drama, with the same formula they use every time they have a trifecta: take away health care and food assistance from low income families and use the money to fund tax cuts for their donors.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      • KlausK Offline
                                        KlausK Offline
                                        Klaus
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        It's a pretty neat puzzle.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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