Raymond Smullyan
Mathematician, magician and musician who devised the ‘hardest puzzle ever’
Raymond Smullyan, who has died aged 97, was a magician, concert pianist, hippie, mathematician and philosophy professor. He was also credited as the originator of the “hardest puzzle ever”.
The puzzle goes as follows: three gods, A, B and C, are called, in no particular order, True, False and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a random matter.
Determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes/no questions. Each question must be put to exactly one god, though you can ask the same god more than one question. The gods understand English but will answer all questions in their