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Lost man on his way back to his village. Fork in road. A man on each road. One always lies, the other always tells the truth. Don't know which is which. What is the one question that will get him on the right road? ONLY one question allowed to both men.

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Nulinvoid

by Nulinvoid on December 21st, 2006

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Answers. 26 helpful answers below.

  • Takei-Shihan
    Takei-Shihan May 17th, 2009 Ask either one, "If I asked the other one which way was the safe way, what would they say?" ... and then go the other way ...

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • garster..if you want an honest answer
    garster..if you want an honest answer May 17th, 2009 Why ask them anything, just follow them.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Ditto
    Ditto May 17th, 2009 "Where are you two losers hiding the boat?"

    6 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • Old School
    Old School Jun 5th, 2008 You ask the brother who is present which fork the *absent* brother would tell you to take...then you take the other one.

    If you're talking to the truthful brother, he will tell you (honestly) that the other brother will direct you down the wrong road.

    If you're talking to the lying brother, he will lie and say that the truthful brother will direct you down the wrong road.

    This was once a Car Talk puzzler....

    5 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • iwnit
    iwnit Apr 25th, 2007 1) you could ask: "what would the other answer, if I asked him if this road is the road to the village"
    if they say yes, go the other way
    if they say no, go this way

    2) you could ask: "what would you answer, if I asked you if this road is the road to the village"
    if they say yes, go this way
    if they say no, go the other way
    (in this case you need just one person)

    3) you could yell "Free Beer at the village", and then just follow them

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • azlotto
    azlotto May 17th, 2009 Which one of you will pull my finger? +5 to you

    2 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • twist and shout
    twist and shout May 17th, 2009 The one who lies, his nose will flare so ill just go the way the one with the normal nose says!

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo
    Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo May 17th, 2009 This has been asked here dozens of times.

    Ask either one of them, "If I asked the other person which cave leads to safety, what would they say?" Then take the other cave.

    I won't go into all the details, but this sets up both a double negative and a double positive, logically.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Beany
    Beany May 17th, 2009 I'd ask them how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. It might not help, but it's always a laugh

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • CesareBorgia
    CesareBorgia Jan 26th, 2009 Ask one of them, "if I asked that person what direction is the river", then go the other way. As either way they would they would direct in the wrong direction.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • fred flintstone
    fred flintstone Jan 6th, 2009 Ask one twin "If I asked your twin if she is on the road to safety, what would she answer?"

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo
    Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo Jan 6th, 2009 You ask either girl, "If I asked the other person which path to take to safety, what would they say?" Then take the path OPPOSITE the answer.

    This sets up a double negative/double positive situation.
    Let's say girl A always lies, and girl B always tells the truth. Let's say the left path leads to safety.

    When you ask the question above to girl A, she replies, "The path on the right." She is lying about girl B's response, which would be "The path on the left" since girl B always tells the truth.
    When you ask the question above to girl B, she replies, "The path on the right." She is telling the truth about girl A's response, which would be "The path on the right" since girl B always lies.

    This question has been asked here DOZENS of times. Didn't any of these come up when you typed it in?
    +1

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Ali
    Ali Oct 23rd, 2008 Ask one of the guys if the other would tell you if a road is the right road do the opposite.

    4 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo
    Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo Feb 1st, 2008 Pete says, "If I asked the other guy which fork to take, what would he say?" He can ask this of either person. Then do the opposite.

    This sets up a double negative = a positive and you get the right answer.

    Let's see why:
    Say the correct fork is the left one, and Man 1 is the liar.

    If you ask Man 1 this question, he will say, "the right fork." Why? Because Man 2 tells the truth and says "left," but then Man 1 must lie about Man 2's answer.
    If you ask Man 2 this question, he will say, "the right fork," since he knows Man 1 will lie and say "right."

    Got it? :o)

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • HealthFreak
    HealthFreak Mar 12th, 2007 "Which way would your buddy here say is the right way?"

    The liar would lie, telling you that the truthful man would say to go down the wrong road. The truthful man would tell the truth and say that the liar would tell you to go down the wrong road. They would both point to the wrong way, so the alternate way is the way to go!

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • Koz_Dracon - Lost in Cyber Space
    Koz_Dracon - Lost in Cyber Space Sep 22nd, 2007 If I asked you yesterday "Which road is the way back to my village, what would you have answered?" The liar would say the correct answer because it would be a lie and the truth sayer would say the truth.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Nulinvoid
    Nulinvoid Dec 22nd, 2006 The one question that will illicit a "true" answer from either the truth teller or the liar is this:

    "If I were to ask you 'Is this is the road back to my village?' what would you tell me?"

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • polishdude20
    polishdude20 Dec 21st, 2006 what would the other man say road (a) would be. and then if the truth man said the liar would say death then it would be life and if the lie man would say death cause the truth man would say life but the lie man always lies so he would say the opposite of what the truth man says so if both of them say death then that door is the life door. sorry i cant explain it so much im not really good with explaining.

    4 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • SHAUNIRAMSDEN
    SHAUNIRAMSDEN Jul 30th, 2008 PETE ASK THEM BOTH WICH WAY THE OTHER MAN WOULD SAY

    SO BASICLY THE LIER WOULD LIE ABOUT WHAT IS THE OTHER MAN WOULD SAY GIVING YOU THE WRONG WAY

    AND THE OTHER GUY WOULD TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT THE 1ST MAN WOULD SAY BUT WITH HIM BIN A LIER YOU WOULD END UP WITH BOTH DIRECTIONS BIN WRONG KNOWING TO GO THE OTHER WAY

    MAKE SENCE??????????

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • maddienco
    maddienco Jun 5th, 2008 Spoilsport. lol :)

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • aishwarya
    aishwarya Jun 5th, 2008 I will ask the brother who is present that which direction the absent brother would have told me to take.
    then I will take the other direction.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Marky Mark
    Marky Mark Jan 15th, 2010 "Tell me which is the right road to the village or I'll come back and beat you up?"

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo
    Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo Jul 10th, 2009 You ask either person, "If I were to ask the other person which path leads to safety, what would they say?" Then take the other path.

    This sets up a double negative/double positive situation.

    I can explain further with examples if needed, just like in the dozens of other times this question has been asked.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • Takei-Shihan
    Takei-Shihan Apr 29th, 2009 "If I were to ask a knave which path led to death, what would he say?"

    ... if the one inhabitant is a knight, he will truthfully indicate what the knave would say, which would be a lie, so the indicated path leads to the food.

    ... if the one inhabitant is a knave, he will lie and the path indicated will lead to the food.

    ... either way, go the way indicated ...

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • xprofessor
    xprofessor Apr 29th, 2009 This (and variations of it) is a very old logic puzzle.

    One solution is to ask, "Which way would the other kind of person tell me?" Then, whatever the answer is, take the opposite fork!

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • tripod
    tripod Oct 23rd, 2008 where do you live? the liar points to the cool place, and the truthful guy points to the cool place.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

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More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading Lost man on his way back to his village. Fork in road. A man on each road. One always lies, the other always tells the truth. Don't know which is which. What is the one question that will get him on the right road? ONLY one question allowed to both men. - which can also be phrased in the following ways:

  • Pete is trying to find his way to town.Town lies at the end of a fork in the road but he dont know which.2 men stand at the fork.he knows one tells truth and the other lies but doesnt know which is which.What one question can he ask to find the right road
  • Two brothers live at a fork in the road...one always lies, one always tells the truth. You come to the fork to ask direction, one brother is present, tells you which way to go. How do you know which way to go?
  • What's the answer to that riddle with the two guys and the fork in the road and one can always tell the truth and the other one always lies and you need to get home really bad and you can only ask one question and you can't hit them?
  • As you are walking, you come to a fork in the road, with a person at each fork. 1 way leads to the River, one to the Forest. 1 person always tells the truth, 1 always lies. You can only ask 1 question to get to the River. Who do you ask, & what?
  • U need 2 get off an island. There r 2 caves 1 leads to safety & the other 2 death. 2 people r in front of u. 1 always tells the truth & 1 always lies but u cant tell which. U have 1 question 2 ask 2 figure out how 2 get off the island. Whats the question?
  • You are standing in front of two paths. One leads to safety, one to death. There is a liar and a turht teller, but you don't know which is which. You can ask one question to one person. What is the question?
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