Jane, Emily, and Mike are perfect logicians. One day, Jane said, "I'm thinking of four non-negative integers and that obey the following conditions: Then Jane said, "I'm going to tell and to Emily and and to Mike."
Emily said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Mike said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Emily said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Mike said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Emily said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Mike said, "I don't know
, and I wouldn't know it even if I knew whether
was the same as
."
Jane then interrupted, "Stop! You two could go on forever like that!"
Emily said, "I didn't know that."
Mike said, "I didn't know Emily didn't know that. If Emily had said she knew that, I wouldn't know whether Emily knew whether
is greater than
. But now, I do."
Emily said, "Before Mike said that, I didn't know whether Mike knew which of
and
is bigger."
What is the maximum value of
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Let us go step by step. My solution is a mixture of logic and hit & trial. Therefore, if someone else can come up with an elegant solution, please do so.
Given a, b, x and y are non-negative integers, we need to ascertain whether one or more of them are 0.
When Jane interrupts Emily and Mike, we get to know that b is not equal to y, which is corroborated by further statements.
Given the modulus condition of |b - y|, we realize that |b - y| = 1.
If we assume either b or y to be 0, then we would be violating the revelation Emily and Mike had after Jain interrupted.
Emily did not know they could go on forever, so she must have thought the sequence could stop. This is only possible if b = 1.
For the first case, let b = 1 making y = 2, thus ensuring |b - y| = 1, where b < y. This means min(b,y) = b = 1.
Hence, |a - x| >= 1 and |a - x| =< 2. Given point 6., we can conclude that |a - x| = 2. Given all 4 numbers are distinct, we are now sure that neither a nor x is 0 or 1 or 2.
Now (a,x) can be (3,5) or (4,6) or (7,9). Reversing the digits will also render the condition feasible.
Though I wish I could explain further, I simply put the above sequence and got 2 wrongs answers with (3,5) and (4,6). The 3rd attempt was pure serendipity with the solution being (7,9).
*I am not able to gauge why the solution cannot be (9,7) or for that matter any other number. All I am certain is that b = 1 and y = 2. *