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IAIN wrote:time

No

Darkness?
Nothing?

I think mr Jean is right - darkness

Well...i havent got my copy of "The hobbit" to hand to check, but i think it is!

Silence?

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:Darkness?
Nothing?

Yes, it is darkness

For better or worse the riddles in verse.

Five men sat down to play,
they played from night till the break of day,
they played for gold and not for fun,
with separate scores for everyone,
in the end the five men found,
in their pockets was gold abound,
can you this paradox explain,
if no man lost how did they gain?

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:Five men sat down to play,

Were they playing musical instruments ?? i.e. they were busking and passers-by paid them gold ?? .......... Maybe ??

I also think instruments is the right answer since a 'score' can also mean a piece of music written down, like on music sheets

right you are moonbeam

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:right you are moonbeam

.... in that case, on with another puzzle .........

You are the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom, and as such, the King has invited you to his castle so that you may choose one of his three daughters to marry. The eldest princess is honest and always tells the truth. The youngest princess is dishonest and always lies. The middle princess is mischievous and tells the truth sometimes and lies the rest of the time.

As you will be forever married to one of the princesses, you want to marry the eldest (truth-teller) or the youngest (liar) because at least you know where you stand with them.

The problem is that you cannot tell which sister is which just by their appearance, and the King will only grant you ONE yes or no question which you may only address to ONE of the sisters. What yes or no question can you ask, which will ensure that you do not marry the middle sister?

I bl**dy hate you... I was about to make myself some lunch and go to bed, but that puzzle was annoying me so much I got a 50p, a 20p and a penny out onto my desk and moved them around until I got there, just...

But you have to be able to approach them together, or at least be able to distinguish between any given two daughters (the ones whom you are not asking).

Unfortunately, I have no riddle to offer afterwards...

Ok, well, I've woken up and I want to put this in writing now:

You get the girls in a line. You ask the middle one (spacially, not in terms of age because you don't know yet), "is the sister on your left older than the sister on your right?", and whichever one she indicates is younger, you marry. Here's why:

If the one you ask is the eldest truth telling daughter, her answer will tell you truthfully which of the others is the youngest constantly lying daughter, which is one of the acceptable options.

If it's the youngest daughter (the liar), she will lie, therefore the one indicated as younger will actually be the oldest daughter - the truth teller.

If it's the middle and most annoying daughter, it doesn't matter whether she lies or tells the truth, because whatever she says, you don't marry her, you marry one of the others. So you might get the oldest or the youngest but you definitely won't get her.

Ta da!

But surely the youngest daughter could say the middle one was youngest and still be lying, or have I missed something.

The youngest daughter always has to lie, and the question is not "who is the youngest daughter" but "is daughter X older than daugher Y". So the youngest daughter is forced to indicate that the eldest daughter is the younger of the remaining two unquestioned daughters, hence you would be marrying the eldest daughter.

Ahh I see.