# Fun logic puzzle. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 14, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244 "2013-10-14T19:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/1 "2013-10-14T19:11:21Z")
Jack is looking at Anne, Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, George is not. The question is…Is a married person looking at an unmarried person? A. Yes B. No C. Cannot be determined I got the answer right after thinking about it for a bit. Spoiler contains the answer, but see if you can figure it out and reply with your answer without looking at the spoiler, looking up the answer, or reading other replies in here. Bonus points if you can explain the reasoning behind your answer. Answer: [spoiler] Yes. Let’s say Anne IS married. In that case, it’s a yes, because a married person (ANNE) is looking at an unmarried person (GEORGE). Let’s say Anne ISN’T married. Well, the answer is still the same: Yes, because in that case, a married person (JACK) is looking at an unmarried person (ANNE).[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/2 "2013-10-14T19:17:06Z")
Answer:A simple triangle will show you that either Jack(married) is looking at Anne(unmarried) OR Anne(married) is looking at George(unmarried). ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/3 "2013-10-14T19:36:39Z")
My first thought: Jack is married to Anne, and he is looking at her because he sees her looking at George, and he’s pissed. So yes. Then I thought about it more logically and still came up right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/4 "2013-10-14T19:52:58Z")
Haven’t looked at the spoiler. I say yes. If Ann we’re unmarried, then married Jack would be looking at an unmarried person. If Ann were married, then married Ann would be looking at an unmarried person. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/5 "2013-10-14T20:06:58Z")
My answer is yes. Because there are two possible marital states for Anne and both of them would lead to a married person looking at an unmarried person. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/6 "2013-10-14T21:31:29Z")
This raises an interesting point. I am a mathematician who uses classical reasoning and the answer is obvious. But a so-called intuitionistic mathematician cannot answer the question because the only answer he would find acceptable is one that tells which married person is looking at an unmarried person. In fact, what this does is to put a well-known mathematical example of this phenomenon into layman terms. The mathematical version is this. Can an irrational number to an irrational power be rational? Yes (for a classical mathematicians). Consider (sqrt(2)^sqrt(2))^sqrt(2), which obviously is sqrt(2)^2 = 2. So if sqrt(2)^sqrt(2) were rational, that would be the example and if not it would be a rational number whose sqrt(2) power is rational. But I like the poster’s example better, because it is so accessible. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/7 "2013-10-14T22:15:28Z")
yes ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/8 "2013-10-14T23:51:46Z")
If we presume Ann can only be single or married, then… If Ann is single, then a married person (Jack) is looking at a single person (Ann). So the answer in this case would be “yes.” If Ann is married, then a married person (Ann) is looking at a single person (George). So the answer in this case would be “yes.” Therefore, the answer is “yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/9 "2013-10-15T00:30:58Z")
I say “cannot be determined”: Anne could be an iguana. Booyah! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/10 "2013-10-15T02:58:24Z")
I was trying to find the “catch,” but I guess there wasn’t one and my immediate answer (which everyone else had) was right. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/11 "2013-10-15T03:06:54Z")
I thought I got it right, but then I read **Left Hand of Dorkness** ’s answer. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/12 "2013-10-15T04:00:28Z")
Is George a girl? What about Timmy the dog? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/13 "2013-10-15T05:15:18Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I say “cannot be determined”: > > Anne could be an iguana. > > Booyah! Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/14 "2013-10-15T06:15:25Z")
Several people have raised a valid point. The way the question is worded leaves a loophole. [spoiler]The puzzle says George is not married. But it doesn’t explicitly state he’s a person. George could be a dog, for example - which would be in keeping with his unmarried state. So if Anne is married, then there’s no married person looking at an unmarried person. Jack, a married person, is looking at Anne, a married person. And Anne, a married person, is looking at George, an unmarried dog. So the correct answer is the “C. Cannot be determined”.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/15 "2013-10-15T18:25:13Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> the Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/16 "2013-10-16T03:38:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Hari Seldon** : > > The mathematical version is this. Can an irrational number to an irrational power be rational? Yes (for a classical mathematicians). Consider (sqrt(2)^sqrt(2))^sqrt(2), which obviously is sqrt(2)^2 = 2. So if sqrt(2)^sqrt(2) were rational, that would be the example and if not it would be a rational number whose sqrt(2) power is rational. But I like the poster’s example better, because it is so accessible. Am I reading you correctly, that it’s not known whether sqrt(2)^sqrt(2) is rational? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/17 "2013-10-17T07:04:29Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I say “cannot be determined”: > > Anne could be an iguana. > > Booyah! Yip. I didn’t notice that either, but that is how to break the question. I tried to find a contradiction, but there is nothing stated in the OP that must be performed by a person–human or not. For example, no one “wants” anything–which would required anthropomorphism, making even iguana Anne a person for the sake of the puzzle. Looking is not even arguably a person-only trait. And people give names to non-persons all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-logic-puzzle/671244/18 "2013-10-17T13:50:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I say “cannot be determined”: > > Anne could be an iguana. > > Booyah! For that matter, Anne could be [Resusci Anne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resusci_Anne).(It’s a stretch, I know.)