Logic Puzzles

106. Dotted Dwarfs

The leader of a group of dwarfs wants to test his group. So at night he paints on the back of each dwarf a dot, either red of blue. The next morning he let's the dwarfs gather at a meeting point and tell's them the rules of the game:

You may never know what the color of your own dot is. (This is accomplished by saying they may not communicate in any way or use mirrors and such)

He will give them a few minutes to discuss a tactic to solve the puzzle.

The goal is that the number of dwarfs with a red dot, assume this number is X, on their back gather at the same meetingpoint the number of days, X, after the start of the game. for example if there are 10 red dots, after 10 days they must gather

Any other entry upon the meetingpoint of any dwarf results in failure.

Now, how must every dwarf think to solve the puzzle?

Submitted by tartle · Added 23 April 2010

Solution:

Each dwarf will observe the number of red dots on the backs of the other dwarfs. If a dwarf sees Y red dots, they will assume that the total number of red dots, X, is either Y (if their own dot is blue) or Y + 1 (if their own dot is red). Therefore, they will wait for X days. If no one gathers after Y days, it indicates that they must have a red dot themselves, and they will gather on the Xth day. This way, all dwarfs with red dots will gather at the correct time.


Comments (17)

sinb 20 May 2010

well, the group selects a single person as a leader. The leader can see, let's say Y dots. either X = Y (if his own dot is green) or X = Y+1 (if his own dot is red)
The plan is that the group meets at a place every day at a pre-decided point, but the leader is supposed to show up only on (Y-1)'th day. So everyone except for the leader know X, that is they know Y and depending on the leader's dot they can decide on X. When they decide on X (the total number of red dots), then they can decide whether their own dot is red or blue.
Now on X'th day, every red dot dwarf meets at the same place if the leader's dot was red, otherwise they all meet at some other pre-decided place to which leader wont come.

I dont know if the guy is allowed to indicate X value to others by going to the meetingplace, (it would be indirectly telling everyone which dots they have), but this is the solution I came up with. Let me know if you have some other solution.

shrek619 28 June 2010

I assume there are at least 2 red dots.

Consider one dwarf with either red or blue dot, let X be total no. of dots out there. If he is red dotted he sees X-1 dots let it be Y, if he is blue dotted he sees X dots let it be Y. Y is no. of red dots as he sees on other dwarfs.
All he need to do is go on to the location on Y+1 day. Each one of them should follow this rule.

If he is red dotted he goes to the location on correct day, if he is blue dotted the game is already over on Y th day so there is no need for going to the meeting place.
am i right ? is there any other solution

sudheerkuttiyat 29 November 2010

Every dwarf must think he has a red dot on his back.

Then every one with red dots in the back will meet X days from now, where X-1 is the number of red dots a dwarf with a red dot behind him can see.

Anyone with blue dots on the back will see X red dots and will come to meet his mates X+1 days from now.

ramagurung 15 August 2013

They are not supposed to communicate or look in the mirror to see the dot, so just don't turn up. I am sure i got this wrong.

hasz921 24 September 2013

Agree with sinb. That should be the solution.

sanchit 8 July 2014

this is indeed a very difficult one . since there should be no communication therefore no chances of appointing a leader . i would xperince difficulty in explaining it . one can search it on google as the blue eye islander.


it goes lyk this suppose only two persons had red dots you and me . firstly you will be sure that i have a red dot therefore i must go at first day but i will be thinking same as all others are blue . but not meeting at first day you will come to know that you also have a red dot otherwise seeing all blue dots i would have gone there at once(as there is atleast one dot for sure) , this will give u idea that i also thinks the same therefore there must be one more and which obviously would be you as all others except me are blue

same will occur in every case , every one with red dot will know that they too possess a red dot just a day before gathering

hope u understood

nicejojo12 22 July 2014

If there is only 1 red dot, then he goes around and sees nobody else with one, meaning it's only him. If there are 2 red dots, Imagine that you are one of them. You see that there is another person with a red dot. Thinking that he is the only one, you wait. But that's what he thinks as well. Then seeing as nobody else has a red dot, you realize that you must be the person with the red dot. If there are 3 red dots, then imagine you are one them. You see 2 others also with red dots. You think that those 2 are the only people with red dots, but after the second night you realize that they still need one more person with a red dot. Seeing as there are no other people with red dots, you realize that you must be the one with a red dot. etc.

FredMo 18 August 2014

I assume all reds must show up at the prescribed meeting place on the right day and blues should show up there never.

A simple strategy - All dwarfs agree to meet at a pre-meeting rendezvous point one day before the number of red dots they count. The red folks will rendezvous two days ahead of the correct day, see only reds, and know to go to the meeting place two days hence. The blues will rendezvous the next day, see only blues, and know they should stay away.

MK 12 September 2014

The DWARFS select a leader. The leader counts the RED dots on others and tells that there are X dots. As the leader is not telling anybody individually and nobody is telling him or to anybody, it is all fair.

Now, the DWARFS can see the dot on leader.
If it is blue, they go to assemble after X days.
If it is RED, they go to assemble after X+1 days.

But, the scene is spoiled if leader comes on day X and also if leader does not appear on day X+1.

But, as the leader is intelligent, he checks that others are there on day X or not. If they are not to be seen, it means he is BLUE and he need not go.

If they are there on day X, it means he has also to go on dayX+1.

Decius 9 October 2014

Every dwarf comes to the arranged location at day X, where X is one greater than the number of red dots that dwarf sees.

Every dwarf with a red dot will see X-1 red dots, and arrive on day X.

Every dwarf with a blue dot will see X red dots, and not arrive on day X.

elcanrebat 9 October 2014

This is actually a very simple question.

The key to winning this is for all dwarves to automatically assume their own dot is red in colour.

for eg, imagine there are 10 dwarves, 5 are blue and 5 are red.
a red dot dwarf will see 5 blues and 4 reds. if he automatically assume his colour is red, he will gather after 5 days
all 5 red dwarves will gather after 5 days.

a blue dwarf will see 4 blues and 5 reds, if he automatically assume his colour is red, he will gather after 6 days.
hence 5 blue dwarves will gather after 6 days. ( but they will not appear on the 5th day and will not affect the win)

there is no need to elect a leader.

pvedha 7 January 2015

Solution can be achieved with less than 3 days of activity.

Conditions:
1. No of red dots not equal to blue dots.
2. The dwarfs dont have any other meeting place apart from the one instructed.

At the meeting point they agree upon this,

The dwarfs should gather in pairs. The pair will see each others colors. Consider the dwarfs are named A1, A2, B1, B2.....
If there are odd number of dwarfs, let X be the name of the one that cant be paired.

Day 1:
All the dwarfs who seen red color on their partner should turn up.
So, if A1 and A2 both present, they both know they got red color.
if only B2 is present, B2 understand he got blue color.

Dwarf X (if there is one) should approach a pair with both partners present and show his color. This pair should turn up on day 2 if Dwarf X is red. (WCS-Worst case scenario, no pair got both red, X will try this on Day 2).

Day 2:
All the dwarfs who were absent on day 1 turn up. (those who seen blue on their partner)
Now, if C1 and C2 both present they both know they got blue color.
if only D2 is present, D2 understand he got red color. (D1 would have been there on day1).

Dwarf X understands he is red if his agred pair turns up.
In case of WCS, X tries to find another dwarf and agree for the Day 3.

On the day X all the dwarfs with red shall go to the meeting point.

hemant.bisht24 27 February 2015

elcanrebat is right

ArmyMP84 19 February 2016

I agree with elcanrebat's solution above. Each dwarf counts the number of visible red dots, adds one, then assembles that many days later.

All reds will assemble on the correct day, and all blues will assemble the day after the correct day (and after the event is complete).

Dzallen 13 July 2016

Interestingly enough, if all the dwarfs are completely rational, there is no need for them to make any strategy whatsoever!

Consider if there was only 1 red dot. The Dwarf with the red dot would realize immediately by seeing all blue dots, and hence appear on day 1.

If there were 2 red dots, the two respective dwarfs would each only see 1 other red dot. However, when they realize that no-one appeared on the first day, they would deduce that there cannot be only 1 dot, i.e. they must have a red dot themselves. Hence they would appear together on the second day.

If there were 3 red dots, the respective dwarfs see only 2 other red dots. But when no-one appears on the second day, they would deduce that there cannot be only 2 dots, i.e. they have a red dot themselves. Hence the three would appear on the third day.

In general, if a dwarf realizes that no-one appeared on the day of the number of red dots he sees, he would deduce that he must have a red dot, and appear on the following day.

It seems that some have ignored the fact that 'any other entry upon the meeting point of any dwarf results in failure'. Other solutions are of course viable as well, but this can be done without any planning or communication at all!

bathfilms 15 July 2016

Simplest answer:
Every dwarf must think to kill any dwarf with a blue dot!

However, Dzallen's (Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:06 am) answer is ideal.

sjsimmons 4 October 2016

I agree with the solution that's been offered--everyone adds 1 to the number of red dots they see and then all the red dot people will come on the right day.

It seems to me there's another solution, since the problem only asks that the number of dwarves with a red dot return on the correct day. They can all line up in a straight line. If the dwarf in front of you has a red dot move left. If the dwarf in front of you has a blue dot, move right. The dwarf in front then goes to the back of the line, looks at the dot in front of him, and makes the appropriate move. The group on the left would meet again in the number of days represented by the number of people in the group on the left.

If only the red-dot dwarves are to return, then you can learn the color of your own dot by how the person behind you moved. Then those dwarves would return on the day represented by the number of people in the group on the left. If that counts as "communication," then I'd just stick to the one offered by others.

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