Solve This.

[NYRAPTOR]

3 boxes of checkers labeled, red box, black box, red and black box. each box is labeled wrong. by taking one checker out of one box, re-lable the boxes correctly. remember, one checker. this was a bonus question on a college exam i had. took me a while. think about it.

[Fox17]

all you have to do is remove one checker and relable the boxes with different lables right?

[NYRAPTOR]

yes but the checker you remove will tell you what color each box is. red, black, red & black. remember each box is labeled wrong. which box do you take one out of?? one shot.

[Fox17]

yes but the checker you remove will tell you what color each box is. red, black, red & black. remember each box is labeled wrong. which box do you take one out of?? one shot.

the one labled black and red. cause if its labled wrong it will definately tell you what color it is

[k.p.]

umm  it dosent matter which you pull it out of becaust they are labeled wrong..meaning any of them could be a color.or something..i get it in my head but i cant type it out lol

ooor what johnf said..maybe

[NYRAPTOR]

fox 17 got it. if you take one from the red and black box and its red that means that box is red. then the black box is red and black and the red box is black. remember each box was labeled wrong.

[Fox17]

fox 17 got it. if you take one from the red and black box and its red that means that box is red. then the black box is red and black and the red box is black. remember each box was labeled wrong.

booyah. 

[k.p.]

yeah!!thats what i was thinking but i couldnt type it without confusing myself... i have a riddle: what goes up and down the carpet but dosent move?

[digginfool]

No, you must open either the box labeled black or red.  Depending on what the contents are, you solve the rest.  For example, you open the box labeled red.  It turns out to be black.  Since the box labeled red and black is labeled wrong, it can only be red and the box labeled black is red and black.  It works in all combinations.  Another example:  You open the box labeled red and it is red and black inside.  Then, the box labeled black is red and the box labeled red and black is black.  Work it out for yourself.

[NYRAPTOR]

no it doesn't. only taking a checker from red and black will solve the puzzle.

[Fox17]

No, you must open either the box labeled black or red.  Depending on what the contents are, you solve the rest.  For example, you open the box labeled red.  It turns out to be black.  Since the box labeled red and black is labeled wrong, it can only be red and the box labled black is red and black.  It works in all combinations.

no, think about it some more. you cant prove which one is red and which one is red and black. all you did is prove that one is black and not red.

[NYRAPTOR]

for example, you take a checker from the box labeled black and its a red checker, since the box was labeled wrong it could be red or it could be red and black. since you're only allowed to take 1 checker from 1 box, you must take it from the red and black. 20 point bonus college question. got it right 1992. no other answer. fox 17 got it.

[digginfool]

Your right.  I out-smarted myself.   

[Fox17]

Your right.  

we know. 




j/k. well, we did really know.

[NYRAPTOR]

fox is right because you only get to take 1 checker. the red box or the black box could be red and black but not the one labeled red and black because it is labeled wrong. plus they are all labeled wrong. tricky stuff

[digginfool]

At least I have the guts to admit it!

[NYRAPTOR]

don't worry bro, it took me like 3 hours and alot of checkers to figure that out. it's confusing.

[digginfool]

I initially agreed with Fox but when I started running the other combinations in my head, I convinced myself that it had to be black or red, even though I was thinking that was too easy and left too many combinations.  

[NYRAPTOR]

i did the same thing. 

[NYRAPTOR]

i had to edit my answer. i wrote it wrong. confused myself after 15 years. its all good now.

[SWAMP_DONKEY]

Have a beer

[digginfool]

After thinking about this for a while last night, it doesn't matter which box you open.  The key is that you know all three boxes are lableled wrong.  Once you know one, you know them all.  Examples:

Open red box, find black.  The box labeled red and black cannot have red and black, therefor, it has red leaving the black box with red and black.

Open red box, find red and black.  The box labeled black cannot have black, therefor, it has red leaving the red and black box with black.

Those are all the possible combinations opening the red box.

Open black box, find red.  The box labeled red and black cannot have red and black, therefor, it has black and the box labeled red has red and black.

Open black box, find red and black.  The box labeled red cannot have red, therefor, it has black and the box labeled red and black has red.

Those are all the possible combinations opening the black box.

Open red and black box, find black.  The box labeled red cannot have red, therefor, the black box has red and the red box has red and black.

Open red and black box, find red.  The box labeled black cannot have black, therefor, the black box has red and black and the red box has black.

That's it.  There are no other combinations.  So the final answer, for $1,000,000.00 is, it doesn't matter which box you open.  You can solve it from there because you know that all boxes are labeled wrong.       

[NYRAPTOR]

still only one way. sorry. if you take a checker from a box thats labeled red for example and it's black, how do you know that it's not a red and black box. remember only one checker and each box is labeled wrong. you can only solve this by taking one from the box labeled red and black to determine a red OR black box.    one checker.

[digginfool]

Okay, out-smarted myself again.  Not that I've ever seen one (a red and black checker), but I was thinking along the lines of three different checkers (red, black, red and black), not a box of mixed checkers (red checkers and black checkers mixed together).  So, in the real-world case, you would be correct.  In my warped mind, I would be correct.   

[NYRAPTOR]

i should have worded the question better. my fault. red checks and black ckecks mixed together.