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Which path?

You walk up to a mountain that has two paths. One leads to the other side of the mountain, and the other will get you lost forever. Two twins know the path that leads to the other side. You can ask them only one question. Except! One lies and one tells the truth, and you don’t know which is which. So, What do you ask?

This entry was posted Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 11:02 and is filed under Puzzles/ Mindbenders. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Which path?”

  1. Nils Says:
    December 9th, 2007 at 16:56

    Have you ever lied before? The liar will say no, the one telling the truth – granted he is forced to really tell the truth on this occasion – will say yes. Because we’ve all lied at some point or other, for whatever little reason?

  2. Nils Says:
    December 9th, 2007 at 16:58

    Oh, but then you don’t know which path to take of course. Heh, I suppose you’re better off going home anyway, instead of hanging out with weird twins who sit around mountains all day.

    Okay, lemme think about this some more. Cough.

  3. Author Says:
    December 9th, 2007 at 21:34

    But of course. You got it right on Nils :) .

    Seriously though, it’s quite a clever riddle.

  4. Josh Says:
    December 10th, 2007 at 18:57

    Cool riddle. A very similar riddle was used in The Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connelly; identical, in fact, except that instead of two mountain pathways, it was two doors. Here’s the solution in full, from this page:

    The solution to the riddle: Sarah was allowed only one question of her two doorkeepers, one of whom always lied and one of whom always told the truth. The question she finally asked was: “Would he (she pointed at the other doorkeeper) tell me this door leads to the castle?”

    If the door she was indicating was the wrong one and she was asking the lying doorkeeper, his answer would be yes – because he would lie. If she was asking the truthful doorkeeper, he too would answer yes – since the other doorkeeper would lie. In either case, the other door would be the correct one.

    If the door she was indicating was the right one and she was asking the lying doorkeeper, his answer would be no – because he would lie. If she was asking the truthful doorkeeper, he too would answer no, since the other doorkeeper would lie. In either case, this would be the correct door

  5. Author Says:
    December 11th, 2007 at 00:46

    Nice.

    Though it would have been cooler if you told me you came up with it on your own :P .

  6. Adam Says:
    December 24th, 2007 at 13:06

    The sad thing is, I thought of the Labyrinth first too… Damn good movie.

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