How many adulterous spouses?

[Parcival]

I searched the forum for any of the versions of this of which I am aware and found none. If I missed it, let me know.

 

In a certain village, it is the moral duty of every woman to shoot her husband at midnight if she determines that he has been unfaithful. If a husband is unfaithful, every woman in the village, except his wife, knows it. On day, a priestess arrived in the village, told the woman that she knew of at least one adulterer in the village, and left.

 

39 nights passed without incident. Then at midnight on the 40th night, several women shot their husbands.

 

How many adulterous husbands were shot that night?

[sepultallica]

If a husband is unfaithful' date=' every woman in the village, except his wife, knows it.

 

id have to guess none because the woman's husband doesnt know he was....

 

 

actually, it would be everyone's husband except for the one that the priestess told it to. women cant keep secrets (except from men of course).

[MadScientist]

I searched the forum for any of the versions of this of which I am aware and found none. If I missed it' date=' let me know.

 

In a certain village, it is the moral duty of every woman to shoot her husband at midnight if she determines that he has been unfaithful. If a husband is unfaithful, every woman in the village, except his wife, knows it. On day, a priestess arrived in the village, told the woman that she knew of at least one adulterer in the village, and left.

 

39 nights passed without incident. Then at midnight on the 40th night, several women shot their husbands.

 

How many adulterous husbands were shot that night?[/quote']

 

I can't give you an exact figure but all of the "adulterous husbands" were shot because the women don't shoot "husbands" that aren't adulterous.

 

There could have been one or more of the wives who just felt like murdering their husbands on that same night though, even though they'd never committed adultery. That has nothing to do with the number of adulterous husbands that were shot though.

 

Right??

 

I'm assuming "the priestess told the woman" was a typo and it should have been "the women" otherwise you'd have typed "a woman".

If it's not a typo then that means there is only one woman living in the village, since you didn't specify the priestess selected one woman from the group of women to talk to but you later go on to say "several women." so make your mind up.

 

 

If I'm wrong..

They would have had to conclude that since they don't know whether their husbands are adulterers or not that they have to shoot them just in case they might be.

[Parcival]

"the woman" was a typo. The priestess spoke all the women.

 

Yes, all the adulterous husbands were shot. I was looking for the exact number. Each woman who shot her husband knew that he was an adulterer.

 

Any other questions?

[atinymonkey]

Sepultallica is correct, Parcival seems to be wrong. Perhaps a second scan for typos might help.

[Parcival]

Sepultallica is correct, Parcival seems to be wrong. Perhaps a second scan for typos might help.

 

I took Sepultallica's comments as a joke. Upon review, I see no unresolved question concerning the puzzle.

 

Perhaps a version of the same puzzle with different chrome would help.

 

Several hundred men are sitting in a large room. Each man has had either a red hat or a blue hat placed on his head. No man can see the hat on his own head, but can see the hat of every other man in the room.

 

A (hatless) man enters the room carrying a bell. He explains that he will ring the bell every few minutes. When the bell is rung, every man who knows that he is wearing a blue hat should leave the room. He tells them at least one of them is wearing a blue hat.

 

After 39 rings, no one has left the room. When the man rings the bell the 40th time, all the men wearing blue hats leave the room. How many men were wearing blue hats?

[Callipygous]

i dont see anyway to solve this unless 40 is an arbitrary number and they all just assumed after so many rings that if noone else is leaving they must have the hat on their own head... : P

[atinymonkey]

I'm assuming there is piss taking afoot.

[Guest Alcides]

One adulterous husband.

 

On guy with a blue hat.

 

Alcides.

[Callipygous]

One adulterous husband.

 

On guy with a blue hat.

 

Alcides.

 

then why forty rings? if hes the only one he would see that no one else has a blue hat, he knows there is at least one, he knows its him on the first ring...

[sepultallica]

I took Sepultallica's comments as a joke.

 

it aint no joke. women cant keep secrets.

 

oh yeah, which village is this so i can stay away.

 

 

not that i frequent villages.

 

my first post was correct if you were to look only at the initial puzzle and nothing else.

[Parcival]

I just looked at Ian Stewart's book Math Hysteria. He covers this type of puzzle in Chapter 1.

[Deified]

*[expletive deleted]*

[Lowemack]

40 blue hats

[Cadmus]

How many adulterous husbands were shot that night?

Assuming that the priestess told all of the women, 40 men were killed.

[Kygron]

Are we supposed to explain our answers in this area? it's 40

[Callipygous]

people have posted 40 over and over again now... can someone, anyone, at least try to post an explaination??

 

we get it, its 40... but WHY?

 

if there were anything about them only ringing the bell once for each hat or something like that i would understand, but there isnt.

[Cadmus]

people have posted 40 over and over again now... can someone' date=' anyone, at least try to post an explaination??

 

we get it, its 40... but WHY?[/quote']

The priestess told the women of the village that there was at least one adulterer.

 

If there had been exactly one adulterer, then everyone would have known about it but for one woman. If she believed the priestess that there was an adulterer, yet she did not know who it was, then she would have realized that it had to be her husband, and she would have killed him.

 

This repeats for each day. On the 40th day, 40 women realize that they know of only 39 adulterers, yet since these 39 women did not realize it on the 39th day and kill their husbands, the only reason can be that there are 40 adulterers, with the 4oth being their own husband. Therefore, since there are 39 adultererx, it is on the 40th day that 40 women realize that they do not know of all of the adulterers, and therefore that their husband must be one also.

[Callipygous]

Thanks! : )