A king and queen wanted their daughter to marry the wisest and bravest prince in the land. They invited three noble princes, all of whom came from honorable families. The royal parents decided to create an assessment in order to choose the wisest and bravest of them all.
The three princes were taken to the royal courtyard and were told to sit in a circle facing one another. They were given three silver swords and two gold swords. Next, they were blindfolded and one sword was placed in back of each of the princes. The remaining swords were put in a secret location in the palace.
The King and Queen told the princes that the first one to figure out the color of the sword behind him, without looking at it or turning around, will marry their princess. The princes were told to remove the blindfolds.
Prince #3 saw two silver swords behind the other princes. After a few minutes, he realized that the other princes couldn’t tell what the color of their sword is. They seemed hesitant and were afraid to guess.
What color is Prince #3’s sword?
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Hint: Why can’t Prince #1 and Prince #2 solve the riddle?
Scroll Down to See the Answer!
Silver.
The King and Queen would not choose two silver swords and one gold sword. This would mean two princes would see one gold sword and one silver sword. The only prince with the gold sword behind his back would be at a disadvantage.
If a prince had a gold sword behind his back, the other two princes would be able to quickly assume they had silver swords behind their backs.
If a wise prince noticed a silver sword and a gold sword, he would realize eventually that the King and Queen would never select two gold swords and one silver sword. Any prince seeing two gold swords would automatically know he had a silver sword behind his back. Therefore, if a prince can see one gold sword, he can safely figure out that he has a silver sword behind him.
The only fair and balanced assessment is for all three princes would be to have silver swords behind all of them. Prince #3 waited to see the other princes’ reactions and after a short time, could safely say that he had a silver sword behind him. Now, Prince #3 can marry the Princess!