![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
No. 00X - The Fourth Wall
[There sure is a lot of excitement this morning. After getting a vague grip on the situation by talking to some of the wingless newcomers, Layton decides to take a stroll around the village, trunk in hand, and observe. Something very unusual is happening, and there's no point in missing it by staying indoors.
Occasionally, he takes a seat on a bench or at a table and scribbles notes into his journal. Or puzzles into his puzzle index. Because no matter how much hubbub there is, you can never stop the puzzles.]
Occasionally, he takes a seat on a bench or at a table and scribbles notes into his journal. Or puzzles into his puzzle index. Because no matter how much hubbub there is, you can never stop the puzzles.]
no subject
[Christ, that's a lot of words. He takes a deep breath - with a very long inhale for some reason - and sighs.]
Am I right?
no subject
just as planned]Quite right. Job well done. It seems like a simple puzzle at first glance, but it takes a sharp mind to find the real answer.
no subject
Thank you. Can I give you a puzzle while you think of one?
no subject
I'd like nothing more. Please, let me hear it.
no subject
You have a number of round, buoyant fruit. Eighty-one of them. They all exert the same amount of lift except for one, which is more buoyant. It's over-ripe and you don't want it.
You have a set of inverted scales. How few times can you use them to find the over-ripe fruit? Smallest number possible, please.
[It's really just an inversion of a fairly common puzzle, using lift instead of weight. He'll see if Layton can solve it.]
no subject
...
After a length, he lifts his head and raises a finger.]
Four weighings will find the overripe fruit with certainty. One will do if luck is on your side.
no subject
Correct. Let that one float away then find enough people to eat the rest. Too much for one person.
[He's gaining some admiration for this man, although perhaps grudgingly. Too bad they'll never meet again.
or will they]no subject
With that much fruit, you would be able to make quite a few new friends. Speaking of which, let me introduce myself. Hershel Layton, at your service.
[He gives a little tip of his hat.]
no subject
Suruvalu Tattoi. What do you do here?
[Pretty direct. Anyway, by the ragged, patchwork look of this fellow, it certainly looks like whatever he does is high-impact.]
no subject
At the moment, I teach at the school. Otherwise, I spend much of my time with some book or another. Why do you ask?
no subject
[Maybe if he was actually going to be here more than a few hours, this would matter. But he isn't, so it doesn't.]
A bakery's near here. Will you have a puzzle when I get back from there?
no subject
[He lifts his puzzle index, indicating what he'll be doing in the meantime.]
no subject
Have a snack. What puzzle do you have for me?
no subject
Here's one I quite like. You find yourself convicted of a crime in a land with strange customs. They present two jars to you: one contains 25 white balls, and the other contains 25 black balls. You are to be blindfolded and made to draw a ball from one of the jars. A white ball means you will be set free and a black ball means death.
Before you are blindfolded, however, you are given a chance to redistribute the balls between the two jars. This is merely a tradition, as it is thought to make no difference, but you know better. How should you redistribute the balls so as to maximize your chance of drawing a white ball?
no subject
Put one white ball in one jar and all the others in the other jar. Roughly 75% chance of freedom.
[Of course, if it was him, he'd be solving it rather more violently. Good thing it's only a hypothetical scenario.]
no subject
Correct. There's still reason to worry that you'll draw a black ball, but 75% sounds much better than 50 when your life is on the line. Well done, you handled that one like a pro.
no subject
[Or even just about them. Anyway, unless it's cold tea, Tattoi really doesn't want anything to drink. You'll just have to suffer, Layton.]
Any other puzzles like that?
no subject
So you find yourself in another land with strange customs and are convicted of yet another crime. Apparently, you're something of a troublemaker. Again, your fate is to be left to luck. In the presence of the court, the king presents you with a single jar of his own preparation. It supposedly contains two slips of paper: one which reads "innocent" and the other "guilty". You are to draw exactly one slip of paper and receive the sentence written on it.
However, there is a twist. During your time in this land you earned the disdain of the king, who decided to sabotage your so-called trial. You know for a fact that he has replaced the "innocent" slip with a second "guilty", but you cannot speak their language and accuse him of it. You also know that if you try to draw both slips of paper and show them to the court, the king will kill you on the spot to hide his trickery.
How can you outwit the king and be found undeniably innocent despite all this? Violence is not an option.
boy this is a tough one
Draw a slip and read "innocent." The king should react.
it's one of those "omg" puzzles haha
But what will you do when you have to hand the slip over? However the king reacts, the slip is damning evidence.
I get the feeling this won't end well......
Drop the slip into the jar again.
welp
[He's sure Tattoi will see the answer in time, as long as he keeps exploring possibilities.]
yep
Draw both slips.
no subject
[The king can do wuteva he wants.]
no subject
Destroy the slip. The other one says "guilty," so yours must have been "innocent."
(no subject)