My son gave me this brainteaser yesterday and I'm proud to say I solved it:
There are three cards placed face-down in front of you - one jack and two aces. You don't know which cards are which. You must pick a card but you don't get to see the face value.
Now you get to ask ONE yes-or-no question. If the card you picked was an ace, the question will be answered truthfully. If the card you picked was the jack, your question will be answered randomly - maybe truthfully, maybe with a lie.
What question do you ask so that when you get the answer you can correctly pick an ace out of the three cards?
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This reminds me a little bit of the "Let's Make a Deal" situation where people pick door #1, 2, or 3, and then Monty opens one of the doors that the contestant did not choose, revealing the dud behind. He then asks whether the person wants to change their pick. The correct choice is CHANGE TO THE OTHER DOOR. It doesn't mean you will win, but it does double your chances. This is very difficult for people to understand, but I'm happy to say it makes perfect sense to me, and I can even usually explain it to people so they get it too
Does anyone have more of these types of brainteasers for me? I'm in a logic-happy mood!


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