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Which Alice?

Which Alice?

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ALICE IN PUZZLE-LAND<br />

either told the truth, so did the other who agreed with him) and<br />

that C told the truth. Then either C accused himself and was guilty,<br />

or he accused A and A was guilty, but there is no way to tell which.<br />

So Humpty Dumpty couldn't have known who was guilty in this<br />

case.<br />

The only possibility that Humpty Dumpty could have known who<br />

was guilty is that he was told that exactly two statements were true.<br />

This means that A, B both told the truth (because their statements<br />

agreed, so if one were false, the other would also be false, which<br />

would mean two false statements) and C lied. Since A, B both told<br />

the truth and accused B, then B must be guilty.<br />

WHAT WAS THE FATE OF THE GOAT Given the fact that the<br />

Goat lied, it does not follow that the Goat was guilty, nor does it<br />

follow that the Goat was innocent; so, knowing that the Court knew<br />

that the Goat lied, the Court might have convicted the Goat (on the<br />

basis of further evidence, which we don't know about), or they<br />

might have acquitted him (again, on the basis of further evidence),<br />

or they might have done neither, and there is no way of knowing<br />

which. On the other hand, if both Insects told the truth, it must<br />

follow that the Goat was guilty, because both Insects accused the<br />

same creature (since they both told the truth) and neither accused<br />

himself; so they must have both accused the Goat. So the Gentleman<br />

in white paper must have been told that both Insects told the<br />

truth, in order for him to have known what the Court did. He then<br />

knew that the Court convicted the Goat.<br />

THE MOST BAFFLING CASE OF ALL To solve this remarkable<br />

puzzle, we must use the table used in the solution of Problem 83.<br />

To begin with, the Jabberwocky solved the case after knowing<br />

which of the eight cases occurred (that is, knowing what each<br />

defendant said) and knowing that at most one defendant told the<br />

truth. This rules out Cases 4, 6, 7, 8, because in Case 4, there are<br />

180

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