Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Solution

by
Erik Oosterwal




The solution to this problem is closely related to the Behind the Green Door problem found on The Puzzle Page.


We have no idea what the first person said, but we know the second one said "He said he was a Rafa."

Now the trick is to decide which of the two races could have said "I'm a Rafa."  The Glurphs are always completely honest so if someone had asked them what race they were they would have obliged with "I'm a Glurph."  The Rafas can't tell the truth to save their life, so if someone had asked a Rafa "Waht race are you?" they would have lied and said "I'm a Glurph."

That means that no matter which race the first person was they would have said "I'm a Glurph."  The second one obviously lied when responding with "He said he was a Rafa"  which means that the third one was right in calling him a liar.  That means the third person was a Glurph.


All original puzzles and solutions are © Erik Oosterwal 1993-2008

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