# What is the answer to the "Labyrinth" riddle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-answer-to-the-labyrinth-riddle/208553>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 20, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-answer-to-the-labyrinth-riddle/208553 "2003-10-20T17:49:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-answer-to-the-labyrinth-riddle/208553/41 "2003-10-27T08:11:30Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Shade \*  
> I think my favorite comment on puzzles of this type comes from a book whose title I can’t remember (probably by Raymond Smullyan). There’s several puzzles where the the setter specifies that one the statements engraved on a pair of boxes is a lie, and the guesser has to find something hidden in one or the other box, and so on. Then in the final puzzle, the setter gives no clues and shows the guesser two boxes…

I dunno if you’re being ironical or not, but one of Smullyan’s books that contained this type of “engraved box” puzzle was (wait for it) _What is the Name of This book?_. Chapter five is “The Mystery of Portia’s Caskets”. The premise is that Portia will marry the man who can figure out which of a group of engraved caskets contains the gold ring (or whatever the prize was). The caskets (typically gold, silver and bronze) have engravings like “Either the statement on this casket is true, or the bronze casket contains the ring” and whatnot.

The chapter goes on to describe the daughter and then grandaughter of Portia (each also named Portia), who present suitors with increasingly difficult puzzles. The chapter closes with a distant descendant of Portia (also named Portia) who presents a suitor with caskets engraved with statements that are deliberately misleading, I guess to prove a point that just because a statement says it is true, doesn’t necessarily make it so.

Smullyan finishes the story by saying this final Portia marries her suitor anyway, despite him being tricked by the misleading statements. Then (somewhat sexistly, I thought) her new husband promptly puts her over his knee and gives her a good spanking, thus discouraging her from any future thoughts of playing such games.

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**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-answer-to-the-labyrinth-riddle/208553/42 "2003-10-27T08:22:03Z")

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Yep, that’s it. No, I knew the title was something like that, but I hadn’t spotted the irony in my genuinely not remembering it.

Sexist? Maybe, but not if you assume she’d have done the same thing to him if he’d have played silly buggers with her like that - I think all the women _I_ know would 🙂

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