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BGonline.org Forums
Aladdin and the Lethal Liquid
Posted By: Nack Ballard
Date: Tuesday, 7 May 2019, at 3:24 p.m.
It was in King Shahryar's own self interest that he recently knighted once-peasant Aladdin. He had proven to be a handy fellow to have around for special problems that might arise.
Once a year, the emperor hosts a party for the owners of the sixty-four vineyards sprinkled across his land, and to such an occasion no one dares refuse an invitation. Moreover, the monarch's ongoing "request" (meaning demand) is that each plantation owner bring a bottle of the finest wine they can produce.
This year, it was mandated that all labels be removed, an experiment that nearly backfired. By only the most fortunate of circumstances, the queen overheard a conversation that led her to the realization that one of the vineyard owners had nefarious intentions. She was unable to determine who it was, or if anyone in particular was the target, but she heard enough to pick up some important details, which she immediately shared with her husband. His annual event, if not his very life, was in serious jeopardy.
The powerful overlord quickly summoned his royal puzzle-solver to the well-guarded ballroom, and elucidated the situation as follows:
"Here, on the grand chessboard, there is a bottle of wine placed on each square. One of these bottles is poisoned, but I don't know which. Even a tiny amount of the poisoned wine is lethal to humans, but it takes precisely one day to take effect: any victim will, reliably but without warning, suddenly get violently ill and die exactly 24 hours after ingestion.
"Now, it happens that I caught six unprincipled participants cheating in the last backgammon tournament, which of course is a crime punishable by death. They are imprisoned here in the castle, and I had planned to make an example of them with a public hanging next week. Shortly before you got here, however, I offered to release any of them that might survive a possible poisoning, and for that hope they unanimously prefer to take their chances.
"But alas and alack, Aladdin! Here is the conundrum: I have all these fine wine bottles here on the chessboard that I had planned to serve to my guests, but one of them is poisoned, festivities start at about this time tomorrow, and I have only six death-row prisoners. Is there a way that I can guarantee determining which bottle is poisoned in just ONE round of testing?"
The seasoned sleuth mused to himself... "What is it about the number six? In the very first puzzle my master posed, six checkers seemed like too many. Now, six test subjects seems like too few..." He shook himself out of his internal monologue, sensing he was being observed. Sure enough: the tyrant was punctuating his intensity with a blinkless stare and one eyebrow raised, telegraphing a silent but ominous reminder that he does not like to be disappointed!
Can Sir Aladdin figure out a fully successful strategy for administering the wine to the hapless jailbirds?
If you believe you've found the solution, please submit it to me by e-mail (found by clicking on "View User Profiles" tab above). If you just have questions (or non-spoiler comments), please post in the normal way.Nack
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