albionmoonlight
12-02-2003, 10:04 AM
Here is a puzzle that I got from this board back in the day. Props to whoever introduced it in the first place; it remains one of my favorites. There are probably enough new people on the board to throw it back out here.
You are in a room that contains a floor to ceiling hollow tube. The tube contains four chest level holes placed at the points of the compass (i.e. two sets of two holes directly across from each other).
Inside of this tube is a cylinder with four levers that correspond to the four holes in the tube. Each of these levers can either be up or down. You cannot see inside of the tube, so the only way that you can tell if a lever is up or down is by putting your hand in the hole.
You can only put two hands into the tube at a time. You can either put your hands into holes directly across from each other, or in holes next to each other. When your hands are in the hole you can grab the levers and move them up or down, as your fancy takes you.
The catch is that once you remove your hands from the tube, the cylinder spins rapidly, stopping in a random place. You cannot tell where it stopped. In other words, you can put your hands into two holes and manipulate levers; however, when you remove your hands, the levers will rotate position in a way unknown to you. Up levers will stay up, and down levers will stay down, however. You cannot leave anything on a lever to mark it or anything.
Your goal is to place the levers either all up or all down. As soon as you accomplish this, you will know about it (bells, whistles, etc.).
How would you go about doing this (or--prove that it is impossible).
You are in a room that contains a floor to ceiling hollow tube. The tube contains four chest level holes placed at the points of the compass (i.e. two sets of two holes directly across from each other).
Inside of this tube is a cylinder with four levers that correspond to the four holes in the tube. Each of these levers can either be up or down. You cannot see inside of the tube, so the only way that you can tell if a lever is up or down is by putting your hand in the hole.
You can only put two hands into the tube at a time. You can either put your hands into holes directly across from each other, or in holes next to each other. When your hands are in the hole you can grab the levers and move them up or down, as your fancy takes you.
The catch is that once you remove your hands from the tube, the cylinder spins rapidly, stopping in a random place. You cannot tell where it stopped. In other words, you can put your hands into two holes and manipulate levers; however, when you remove your hands, the levers will rotate position in a way unknown to you. Up levers will stay up, and down levers will stay down, however. You cannot leave anything on a lever to mark it or anything.
Your goal is to place the levers either all up or all down. As soon as you accomplish this, you will know about it (bells, whistles, etc.).
How would you go about doing this (or--prove that it is impossible).