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Here is a simple logic puzzle.

post #1 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
When asked to people in the street 90% of them got the answer wrong.

I'm sure people at CHUD will get it straight away.

The puzzle is this.
"It's a cold winters morning; it's dark outside and the light in your bedroom has blown. You've managed to get dressed merely by touch, but neglected to lay out your socks the previous evening. In your sock drawer you have 6 pairs of navy blue socks and 6 pairs of black socks. You decide to just grab a bunch of socks and put them on before going out the front door.

What's the MINIMUM number of socks you need to grab to ensure you have a pair of the same colour?"

Edited to add: I doubt this will work on the web; this is supposed to be an instantaneous response.
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post #2 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:06pm
Um, three? Is there a trick question buried in this puzzle I'm not seeing?

And why are you stopping random people in the street to ask them logic puzzles?
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post #3 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:16pm
I get a flashlight.
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post #4 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:17pm
Professor Layton I am not.
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post #5 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:20pm
It's dark outside, but it's morning, so I just bide my time until the sun comes up...
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post #6 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:20pm
Is this some trick question where all you have to do is grab one pair?
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post #7 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:24pm
Why do I get up on a dark winter morning in the first place?

Define the parameters:
How you you sort your socks? If they are bundled as pairs already, what is the problem?
If not, turn on the light.
If the rules say it doesn´t work I suppose it would be seven by deduction, but you would still face the same problem.
So the right answer would be: Fuck it. Stay in bed and cuddle with your better half.

Edit: Duh.
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post #8 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:26pm
Uh...three, I think. If you only have two choices, no matter what, you're getting a completed pair by the third pull. If you pull a blue one first, the next one is either a black or a blue one. If it's a black, then the third will be either a black or a blue one, thereby giving you a pair.
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post #9 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:26pm
Actually, if they were unsorted you'd only need three seeing as there are only two variations, with three you will always have at least one pair of matching socks.
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post #10 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:26pm
Who wears socks? I wear inside out feet of the less fortunate.
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post #11 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove View Post
Who wears pants?
Fixed.
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post #12 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jan Travolta View Post
So the right answer would be: Fuck it. Stay in bed and cuddle with your better half.
The above is my first answer (I have an adorable better half). My second answer is three. Oh, and duh.
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post #13 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:29pm
It's 7 right?
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post #14 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:31pm
If you're putting the socks on in the dark, how do you know what color they are to make sure they match?
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post #15 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
My faith in CHUD was well founded.

I should just point out that the average answer of 'man in street' was 13.

Try this out at work.
It's fun.
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post #16 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:31pm
My answer is ... 3 ... And everyone beat me to it while I was turning my answer black.
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post #17 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:33pm
For putting spoiler invisotext... yes.

*edited to add. Damn you for editing Peeper! DAMN YOUUU!
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post #18 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:33pm
Wait! I just figured it out! It's winter and no one's going to be able to see your socks under your boots! So the correct answer is "What does it matter, anyway? Winter is never going to end, the snow is never going to melt, my life is a tiny, pathetic joke, and I should probably use the 24 socks in my drawer to fashion a noose and hang myself from the rod in my closet."

Right?!
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post #19 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:34pm
Eh, navy blue and black are close enough that I wouldn't care if they matched.
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post #20 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:36pm
And Zooey wins the internet with her well phrased and existential response. Way to bring down the room, Zooey!
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post #21 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:37pm
Wow Zooey, you all really got hit hard with the snow this year... I'm just about an hour south, and we got killed, but you cheeseheads really took a beating. It looks like it's wearing on your mind.
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post #22 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:39pm
Alright Graham, stop watching us squirm. What the hell is it?
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post #23 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomstick View Post
Wow Zooey, you all really got hit hard with the snow this year... I'm just about an hour south, and we got killed, but you cheeseheads really took a beating. It looks like it's wearing on your mind.
Not only that, but their beloved quarterback/ManGod Favre just retired! Holy shit, it sucks to be in Wisconsin right now.
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post #24 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:41pm
Hey, at least I'm not over in the gigglefest that is the Patrick Swayze thread. And, anyway, things are looking up - I can see about two feet of bare ground outside of my living room window. Perhaps the above-freezing temperatures next week will make it three! Neato!
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post #25 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:44pm
What kind of freak doesn't pair their socks before stowing them in the sock drawer?

Perhaps the more important question- are there any Lincoln Logs in the sock drawer?
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post #26 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:46pm
I do. I just toss em all into the drawer. They're so mismatched by now it's not even funny.

Luckily, that's why I have shoes! So no one can tell.
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post #27 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:46pm
I cleaned out my sock drawer a couple of weeks ago and I found a Lego brick. It should be noted that I've used the same dresser since I was six. Nevertheless, I'm still puzzled by this.
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post #28 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Happenin View Post
Not only that, but their beloved quarterback/ManGod Favre just retired! Holy shit, it sucks to be in Wisconsin right now.

Change your name to Doc Smith... "Oh, the pain!"

No one's looking forward to the Rodgers era???
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post #29 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:47pm
What if they're all sock puppets? What then? WHAT THEN!?
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post #30 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:50pm
The answer is 2 if you have the ability to feel colors.
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post #31 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:53pm
And the answer is none if you happen to sit in a wheelchair.
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post #32 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:53pm
What if you only have one foot? This logic puzzle is discriminatory.
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post #33 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:55pm
I just kills me how a lot of these logic puzzles hinge on someone acting in a completely illogical way in order to set up the puzzle. Like I'd sit there and worry about how many random socks I need to grab to guarantee I have a pair instead of changing the fucking lightbulb.
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post #34 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
"It's a cold winters morning; it's dark outside and the light in your bedroom has blown. You've managed to get dressed merely by touch, but neglected to lay out your socks the previous evening. In your sock drawer you have 6 pairs of navy blue socks and 6 pairs of black socks. You decide to just grab a bunch of socks and put them on before going out the front door.


What's the MINIMUM number of socks you need to grab to ensure you have a pair of the same colour?"
None! It's obviously a trick question.

"Colour" is the English spelling of "color," which means that you're probably waking up in England. In England, it's widely known that they don't wear socks- they either wear brown paper lunch sacks tied with twine around their ankles (referred to as "flimsy nubbies" by the upper class), or if they're part of the elite, they wear what are called "Victoria's Sliders", which are made from fox scrotums. Gotcha!
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post #35 of 67
3/6/08 at 5:59pm
I'll explain my answer of seven.

However unlikely, you could grab up to six socks and still not have a matching pair. With seven it's a guarantee.


*edit- Nice Minsky.
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post #36 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7 View Post
I'll explain my answer of seven.

However unlikely, you could grab up to six socks and still not have a matching pair. With seven it's a guarantee.
No. You couldn't. I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense.
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post #37 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7 View Post
I'll explain my answer of seven.

However unlikely, you could grab up to six socks and still not have a matching pair. With seven it's a guarantee.


*edit- Nice Minsky.

So if you grabbed 6 socks and they all happened to be black you couldn't make THREE black pairs???
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post #38 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:07pm
You're right, I'm an idiot.
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post #39 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:09pm
There is a somewhat harder version of this puzzle floating around the web:

"It's a cold winter's morning; it's dark outside and the light in your bedroom has blown [name of rockstar withheld]. You've managed to get dressed merely by touch (probably, too much touch, honestly), but neglected to lay out your socks the previous evening. In your sock drawer you have 6 pairs of navy blue socks and 6 pairs of black socks and a copy of Gentleman's Quartely, the magazine that usually features coins dressed in small business suits and tuxedos, but this is the swimsuit edition. You decide to just grab a bunch of socks and put them on before going out the front door. You have only one leg because of a horrific car accident three years prior. The population of the world is currently suffering from a strange ocular disease that has left its entire population colorblind. Because of a strange allergy, whenever the color navy blue touches your skin, you feel like someone put itch powder in your sleeping bag. You don't own a sleeping bag. Anymore. Your roommate has been known to borrow your black socks for, um, "interesting" purposes and, before bed, you did notice he was watching the Kristy Swanson/Stephen Baldwin erotic thriller Bound by Lies.

What's the MINIMUM number of socks you need to grab to ensure you can fuel your jetpack that is powered by sock consumption?"
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post #40 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:10pm
Wait, Nexus- are you assuming that there are three DISTINCT pairs of black sock and three DISTINCT pairs of navy? I was running under the assumption that any black could be paired up with any black, and any navy could be paired up with any navy.
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post #41 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:12pm
Even my idiotic answer of seven was incorrect in my bizarro way of thinking, since I misread the initial post mentioning PAIRS of socks. So in my nonsensical bit of answering, it would be 13.

Since he specifically mentions pairs. It would be one, right? Since they're paired up.

I hate this thread. *grumbles*
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post #42 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:12pm
One gallon of socks.
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post #43 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:13pm
Minsky, I have no idea what I was thinking.
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post #44 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Matchstick View Post
There is a somewhat harder version of this puzzle floating around the web:

"It's a cold winter's morning; it's dark outside and the light in your bedroom has blown [name of rockstar withheld]. You've managed to get dressed merely by touch (probably, too much touch, honestly), but neglected to lay out your socks the previous evening. In your sock drawer you have 6 pairs of navy blue socks and 6 pairs of black socks and a copy of Gentleman's Quartely, the magazine that usually features coins dressed in small business suits and tuxedo's, but this is the swimsuit edition. You decide to just grab a bunch of socks and put them on before going out the front door. You have only one leg because of a horrific car accident three years prior. The population of the world is currently suffering from a strange ocular disease that has left its entire population colorblind. Because of a strange allergy, whenever the color navy blue touches your skin, you feel like someone put itch powder in your sleeping bag. You don't own a sleeping bag. Anymore. Your roommate has been known to borrow your black socks for, um, "interesting" purposes and, before bed, you did notice he was watching the Kristy Swanson/Stephen Baldwin erotic thriller Bound by Lies.

What's the MINIMUM number of socks you need to grab to ensure you can fuel your jetpack that is powered by sock consumption?"
We need more information to solve this one. In what year was the jetpack manufactured?
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post #45 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7 View Post
I'll explain my answer of seven.

However unlikely, you could grab up to six socks and still not have a matching pair. With seven it's a guarantee.


*edit- Nice Minsky.
Interesting answer...I'm not sure if this is snark/sarcasm...but interesting nonetheless.

Two of you mentioned 7, which is one above the 6 pairs mentioned.
In the original question (not the one above, but the one that appeared on the BBC program I filched this from; it wasn't 6 pairs of navy/6 pairs of black, but twelve navy socks/twelve black socks) apart from that small word manipulation, the question was the same.

...and the average answer was 13.

The program was about how the brain works, and ,at times, doesn't work.


...and, the answer is of course, three.

Try it out on your friends.
You'll be surprised.

(Just do it face-to-face).
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post #46 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:18pm
Two socks board trains in Ohio and New York, respectively, at exactly the same time. 3:30 PM. The socks are traveling towards each other at 45 miles per hour. The Ohio train has passengers and freight, the NY train only has passengers. The next day, the trains collide in a mass of twisted metal. Everyone dies.

What color were the socks?
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post #47 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham View Post
....Two of you mentioned 7...
Nexus-7, I feel your pain. Self-inflicted though but nonetheless. I realized my mistake after I posted but it would have been even more stupid to edit the post with the correct answer. Hence the Duh.
No wonder Lost seems to fuck with me every other episode.
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post #48 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:22pm
It's a 1 out of 26 chance!!!
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post #49 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:22pm
Deal or no Deal?
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post #50 of 67
3/6/08 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
It's a 1 out of 26 chance!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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