Word Games & Puzzles - Lateral Thinking
12. The Coin
Mark is on a raft, adrift in the ocean with several other
survivors of a shipwreck. The others are too weak, so he or
Steve will swim to a nearby island to look for help. It is
almost certainly suicidal, due to the circling sharks, but they
have little else to hope for. Steve takes the lose change from
his pocket and puts two pennies in a hat. He tells Mark that one
is a 2005 penny, and the other 1975. If Mark picks the newer
penny he can stay on the rat, and Steve will risk his life. If
Mark picks the older penny, he must go. Mark has seen that both
pennies were actually dated 1975, but he doesn't want to say
anything, because Steve is a big guy. How does he win, and get
Steve to go, without exposing him as a fraud in front of the
others?
Solution
Mark reaches into the hat and takes out either
penny. He lets it slip out of his hand and fall into the ocean.
Apologizing, he suggests that if the remaining penny in the hat
is the 1975 one, he must have drawn the 2005 penny. Steve cannot
argue with the logic unless he wants to admit to lying. Since
the others won't tolerate a liar anyhow, he makes the swim.
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