What's The Right Question?

Julia257

Here's the scenario:  There are two doors...go through one and you're in your new beachfront on Malibu.  Choose the other and you're in a cardboard box under the Tappan Zee Bridge.  There's a guard at each door.  One is honest, he'll always tell the truth.  The other will lie every time.  Now here's the thing...There's one question, the same question, you can ask both guards that will reveal the right door.  So what's the question?

otter

No one has answered this yet.  Maybe it's been done before, but I don't hang around on the humor & games forum so I had not seen it.  It's an old, but fun riddle.  I'll admit it:  I cheated.  Here's the answer.

You only have to ask one of the guards one single question.  It doesn't matter which guard you ask, because they will both say the same thing.  Pick one of the guards, and ask him this question:  "If I ask the other guard which of these doors (Door #1 or Door #2) leads to the beach in Malibu, which will that guard say is the door to Malibu?"

If the guard you are asking is the one who always tells the truth, the answer he gives will be what the other guard would really say.  But, that other guard is the one who lies all the time, so whatever that other guard would say would be the opposite of the correct answer.  So, the guard you asked will tell you what the other guard’s response would be, but the real answer (the door that really leads to the beach) will be the opposite door.

Similarly, if the guard you are asking is the one who always lies, the answer he gives you will be the opposite of what the other guard would really say.  Since the other guard is the truth-telling one, his answer would have been the correct one; but the guard you are asking will reverse that answer and tell you the opposite of the true answer.

So, in summary, it doesn’t matter which guard you ask, because both will give the same answer.  But, the true response (the door that really leads to the beach in Malibu) will be the opposite of whatever the guard says the other guard would say.

Enjoy!

otter

Julia257

Yes, both guards will have the same answer to a question similar to this:

"Would he say this is the right door?"

Then grab your bikini and walk right through the "no" door.

Thanks for playing.