Both of the guards have a handle. If the guard that always lies pulls his handle, then the minecart will divert to the second track. If both guards pull their handle, the prisoners will be released. One of the handles is covered by a wooden box, where half of the wooden planks of the original box have been replaced by new ones cut from a tree that fell when nobody was around. If guard A is taller than guard B, are we getting paid for this quest?

  • @MrZweihander
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    6 months ago

    My favorite take on the always tells lies/always tells truths puzzle is that the explanation itself was also a lie and both guards will say whatever they think is funniest because guarding is boring work.

    • AhdokOP
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      446 months ago

      When drawing this, I eyeballed it, but I tried to aim it to leave these tiny portions - because that’s more accurate to the CAPTCHA experience.

      • Skua
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        256 months ago

        Guardian portraits, because whoever wrote the “ordinary-looking furniture with counterspell” statblock was presumably really fed up of their sorcerer player

        • Skua
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          6 months ago

          Unless he absolutely does know which way is west because he has, like, gone outside at least once. Or owns a compass.

          • @[email protected]
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            66 months ago

            Sounds like we’re making a lot of modifications to the setting here, but that would require the other guard to also not know because he actually doesn’t. If either of them makes a definitive answer which you can then verify, then you can solve it.

          • @[email protected]
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            36 months ago

            The part about not being able to see the sun is almost certainly true, though, and the usual premise of the riddle is that one of them ONLY tells the truth and one ONLY lies.

            As such, either you’re in something as implausible as a dungeon with a skylight or that guard is the truth teller.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          Wrong. If one points a direction, they may have just been actually familiar with the layout of the castle.

          • @[email protected]
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            6 months ago

            Yes. That’s exactly the point. If one of them points west, he is telling the truth. If one of them points any other directions then they’re a liar. The only way this prompt doesn’t work is if one of them knows and lies about knowing and the other actually doesn’t know, which is a very hyper-specific circumstance.

          • @[email protected]
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            6 months ago

            I mentioned in the adjacent comment thread that circumstance: if one of them gives a verifiable answer then it is solved, if neither of them know: that requires one of them does know and is lying and one actually doesn’t know, which is a very odd stipulation, but you can just ask them any other question with one true answer. “What is 2 + 2?”

    • @[email protected]
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      66 months ago

      These solutions always forget that the key part of the puzzle is you only get one question. The challenge is to both determine which guard is telling the truth and to get the information you need in a single question.

    • AhdokOP
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      26 months ago

      What if the guard answers “I don’t know” ?

          • @[email protected]
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            16 months ago

            An ischemic stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is blocked or reduced. This prevents brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. Brain cells begin to die in minutes. Another type of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke. It occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or bursts and causes bleeding in the brain. The blood increases pressure on brain cells and damages them.

            A stroke is a medical emergency. It’s crucial to get medical treatment right away. Getting emergency medical help quickly can reduce brain damage and other stroke complications.

            • @[email protected]
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              16 months ago

              I would’ve said an emergency stroke is when someone says they’ll be gone for “5-15 minutes”

              • @[email protected]
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                16 months ago

                With your introduction, you don’t really leave a good enough impression for me to care what you would have said.