My Indian friend Jamal recently participated in the well-known TV quiz show Who wants to be a millionaire?. You might have heard or read about Jamal's spectacular success; the media reported on it extensively.
Here is what Jamal told us about the 500.000 Euro question:
For the 500.000 Euro question, I excluded answers A and B right away: A is the smallest of the eight, and does not have any of its own. Furthermore I recalled that B has two in fear and terror. Hence I had to decide myself between C and D. I was really stumped, so that meant I was going to have to use my phone-a-friend lifeline. Fortunately, my friend Albert knows the weirdest things in the strangest sub-areas of science, and so this seemed to be the right question for him.
I read off the question to him, and only told him answers C and D. There were a few seconds of silence, and I was afraid that the phone connection had broken down. Then suddenly Albert's voice came back and told me that D is no good since those are all water deities, whereas the one in the question is "as you like it" and might well belong to C.
"How sure are you?" I probed. "About nine..." and the phone hung up. I was pretty sure he was going to say ninety-something, which was good enough for me. I happily smiled at Prem and said: "In the 250.000 Euro question I chose for answer C, and also this time I will go for C!". Prem gave his usual "Are you sure?", and I moved on to the final question. Good to have Albert as a friend. Gosh, that's much better than good!
What was the 500.000 Euro question?
What were the four possible answers A, B, C, D?