Riddles

[Firemeboy]

I can't spill the beans right out!    How about a hint.  

Aloe Vera may be needed in figuring out which switch is which...

[Legion]

What you can do its take your 1st trip p to the attic with a saw and cut a whole in the floor then on your way down from the attic cut another whole on the second floor under the first one, then when you get back the the switchs you can flip them all till you see the light go on.....


Or if its an old house, the attic entrance is right near the staires to the basement, which means that from the basement you can see up to the attic, the only trip you have to make it to open the door to the attic.  

[Peter Ahlstrom]

The answer is ZERO. You stay in the basement while your buddy goes up to the attic. You switch the switches one at a time and he calls down saying "it's still off" or "it's on now."

[Firemeboy]

Another clue...

If there were only two bulbs, the soulution would be easy; you turn one switch on then go upstairs.  If the bulb is on, you know that is the switch, if it is not, you know it's the other one.  So really you can figure out two of them, you only need a way to figure out the third.  

There are other ways to verify if a light works than just by looking at it.  If you can figure out that method, and use that method in the same trip as when you are using the other method, then you can take care of the one, and the two.

[Archon]

Flip two of the switches at the same time, if the light doesn't come on, then you know that it is the other switch. If the light does come on, then touch the wire that one switch is connected to. If you get shocked, it is that switch, if not, it is the other switch.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Then it's zero
just flip them one at a time and touch the wires.
It's not exactly a safe way to do it, is it?

of course, you could always use a tester to check for resistance. That'd be safer and still do it.

[Firemeboy]

No need to touch wires, but 'touching' is a step in the right direction.

Let me know if you're all bored, and I will just give you the solution.  

[Archon]

Flip two of the light switches on, and leave them that way for a little way. Then turn one of the switches off. Go up and touch the light bulb. If it is on, then the switch still on is the right one. If it is off, but hot, then the switch you turned off is the right one. If it is cold, then it is the one you never touched.

[Firemeboy]

Bingo.

And you can actually do this by just flipping one of the switches.  

You turn one switch on and leave it for a good minute or so.  Then you flip it off, and turn on the second switch, then go upstairs.  If the bulb is on, you know it's the second switch.  If the bulb is hot, but off, then you know it's the first switch.  If the bulb is off and cool, you know it's the third switch.

Nicely done.

[The Jade Knight]

That's assuming that you can reach the bulbs, and that this uses traditional bulbs, neither of which were stated as part of the riddle.  =þ

I was assuming that this building has ceilings high enough to make the bulbs out of reach.  And if it only takes 5 seconds to get from the basement to the attic, it would be quicker to make 2 trips than to have to get a ladder into the attic.

[Firemeboy]

So, I'm not sure who is up next.  Archon solved it, but e also solved the poker one.

We could get two riddles going, just to cut down on waiting time...

[Legion]

well I will say that my second one did not count since I did not have the reasoning right (and we spent a lot of time trying to get the reasoning) So that should make mine not count....sorry e

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

oh, then I have to think of one.

darn.

I think this one has problems with it, but:

There's a naked woman lying recently dead, face-down in the middle of a muddy field, no tracks lead to or away from her, or anywhere near her. Her dead hand clasps a broken stick.

What is the story of her death? (you are permitted to ask questions to get more details).

[JP Dogberry]

The broken stick was a walking stick. It broke as she fell into the mud when she died. She died from a huge frozen spear of, err, toilet liquid expelled from an overhead plane.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

no, on pretty much all counts. There are no tracks, so she obviously wasn't walking somewhere.