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...but first you have to find the solution!

Two friends (Andrew and Gabriel) go to another friend (Ellen) and claim to be able to read each other's mind. Ellen doesn't believe that and wants to test their ability.

Andrew steps away from Gabriel and Ellen, gets blindfolded and waits. Meanwhile Ellen whispers something in the ear of Gabriel. Gabriel then says: "ok, let me estabilish the mental link, are you ready Andrew?" "Yes I am" replies the friend.

Then Gabriel begins to ask always with the same voice tone:

"Am I thinking of a fun park?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of person?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of Bavarian sky?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of love?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of a spider?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of StackExchange?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of a car?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of a muzzle?" "Yes"

It was a muzzle. Ellen doesn't believe her ears and wants to test it again, this time to understand if it works both ways. After the same preparation, Andrew starts to ask:

"Am I thinking of playing soccer?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of a fridge?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of Ellen?" "Yes"

Ellen told Andrew exactly her name. She wanted then be sure that this wasn't a "turn based trick", therefore asked again Andrew to ask and Gabriel to reply.

"Am I thinking of Ellen again?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of learning German?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking of the wild wild west?" "Nope"

"Maybe then I'm thinking of Will Smith!" "Nope"

"Are you sure? I may be thinking about a saloon then!" "Nope"

"I give you the solution, I'm thinking about an harpoon" "Don't make me laugh, you ruin my concentration! Of course not!"

"Ok, then am I thinking about a yellow Submarine?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking about a dirty table?" "Nope"

"Am I thinking about smoking a cigar?" "Yes"

Ellen becomes red with anger. They did it again! Andrew and Gabriel go on the entire day doing this game and eventually Ellen surprises them during another random day asking them to repeat the experiment. The number of questions always changes... Ellen asks if the trick is dependant on the number of questions or the day, but Andrew and Gabriel laugh and give Ellen a hint: "If it was a trick, which of course is not, it wouldn't be dependant on the number of questions or the day"

How did Andrew and Gabriel put this up?

P.s.: This has nothing to do with hidden microphones or something like that :)

P.p.s: If you DO realize how they did it, I will upvote you if you don't post the solution, but a list of questions/answers "Yes/Nope" to make other users go mad :D

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  • $\begingroup$ While I agree with your puzzling spirit, I dont know if answering a question with another question would fit SE $\endgroup$
    – skv
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:39
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    $\begingroup$ Well that could be more fun (would be kind of playing "mastermind"), but it's not a must ^^ $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:40
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    $\begingroup$ Is it relevant that some of the questions are grammatically incorrect ("a person", "the Bavarian sky") or just typos? $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:47
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    $\begingroup$ Those are not typos. I apologize for my not perfect English but "a person" is supposed not to be "the person" and "the Bavarian sky" is not supposed to be "a Bavarian sky" :D $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:48

6 Answers 6

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Do these series work? If so, I know the answer.

Example 1

"Am I thinking about a raisin?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about an ostrich?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about a finger?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about a moose?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about an astronaut? "Yes"

Example 2

"Am I thinking about a snake?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about the Eiffel Tower?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about the Pacific ocean? "Yes"

Example 3

"Am I thinking about a traffic light?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about a ring?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about air?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about a bed?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking about a bottle? "Yes"

Solution:

"A thing with 4 legs" is the key. The guess after the 4-legged item is the correct one.

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    $\begingroup$ Just from a meta point of view, an accepted answer which doesn't actually answer how the question works is ... not exactly ideal for a Q&A site ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:25
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    $\begingroup$ Ok - most fridges I know don't have legs at all... they are just planted squarely on the ground ^^ $\endgroup$
    – Falco
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:52
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    $\begingroup$ plus i wouldn't consider a car to have 4 legs... $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 12:03
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    $\begingroup$ I understand the solution itself. What I wanted to point out is that your partner will fail when you bring something on like "fridge". As I tell from the comments people have different opinions of objects and their feet. The solution is not a good one, from my point of view, since there is too much room for speculation. Same with TV, cupboard, oven, couch, and so on... $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 12:22
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    $\begingroup$ @Falco Many appliances that you would think have legs actually do. You'll need to adjust them from time to time to ensure proper function. For example, if your oven is slightly unlevel it can heat unevenly. You need to pull it out and adjust the "feet" (really just screws with a protective bottom) until it sits level. $\endgroup$
    – FreeAsInBeer
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 14:40
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I'd ask for your mother, a T-Rex, Michael Jackson, a chair and a rainbow (which is the answer).

Let me ask for a beach, a skyscraper, a castle, a park bench, world's fastest computer and a smartphone

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  • $\begingroup$ Marked as corrected answer because I'm sure you are the first to have understood. That list of question would definitely work. $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:50
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, actually I really want to post the answer but I'm a man of mysteries, too. Isn't there a way I can wright you a personal message or sth? $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:50
  • $\begingroup$ You lose your "correct answer" @avigrail XD You are correct about most, but didn't understand it all $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:59
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    $\begingroup$ I think I got it. The thing that indicates the answer is an inanimate object that you could find in your house $\endgroup$
    – Ivo
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:00
  • $\begingroup$ seems to be wrong since I lost my correct answer xD $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:01
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Maybe it is not a

list of words they agreed upon, but the item before the right answer is a thing Andrew has got, for example, at home. In fact, the first words are somewhat weird things, like "Bavarian Sky", or "a spider", while the last word before the right one is something more "real" than the others.

A simple example:

"Am I thinking of a unicorn?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of an angel?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of a pen?" "Nope"

The "pen" is the key item

"Am I thinking of (whatever you want)?" "Yes"

Another try:

"Am I thinking of a flying unicorn?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of an angel?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of a blue pen?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of a door?" "Nope"
"Am I thinking of a hole?" "Yes"

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  • $\begingroup$ You are too almost there... But not quite :) $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:40
  • $\begingroup$ After your edit: nope, that serie wouldn't work. $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:51
  • $\begingroup$ Even if I replace "pen" with something like "bed"? $\endgroup$
    – Andrea Gottardi
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:54
  • $\begingroup$ Can you write down the list you have in mind? $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:56
  • $\begingroup$ the same as above, only with "bed" instead of "pen" $\endgroup$
    – Andrea Gottardi
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:58
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Not quite sure what you're asking with a list of questions/answers "Yes/Nope" as answer... So I'll go with the canonical answer:

Since is the information holder that makes the questions and he knows the hidden word Andrew has to answer "yes" to the 8th question of Gabriel, while Gabriel to the 3rd. At least this is how I would do it :)

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  • $\begingroup$ You could try to write yourself some questions that for example Gabriel asks, and the "Yes" or "Nope" that Andrew replies... Andrew and Gabriel could go on the entire day doing this game or Ellen could surprise them a random day asking them to repeat the experiment. The number of questions always changes :) $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:50
  • $\begingroup$ Well, I understand what you're saying, but the random day isn't a breaker. Suppose Andrew agree to answer yes at the (number-of-day)th question and Gabriel to the (number-of-day - 5)th question. This way, the 8th of the month, your example works. In 5 days the number of questions change and Ellen can show up to repeat the experiment as a "surprise". Given this is not the solution, I can't find a flaw in the reasoning. $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:58
  • $\begingroup$ Ok I'll edit my riddle in order to clarify that it's not number-of-questions dependant $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 8:59
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    $\begingroup$ @Noldor130884 Oh! Now I understand the list of questions/answers "Yes/Nope" part! I'll try to solve and post a new answer then :D $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 9:05
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One way to do it is that they agree beforehand to a list of words that indicate that the question after it will be the correct answer. In this case it is "a car", "a fridge" and "a dirty table".

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'd like to know, if they can say"yes" if there will be only one question? $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 9:43
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    $\begingroup$ Of course not... With only 1 question the mental link hasn't been quite well estabilished :P @Ivo Beckers: you ALMOST got it. Assume Andrew and Gabriel are people with low memory and cannot remember large lists... $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:05
  • $\begingroup$ I thought so. I also followed your imagination $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 10:41
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I could ask for

  • The planet Jupiter: Nope
  • Queen Cleopatra: Nope
  • The Catholic Church: Nope
  • A tree: Nope
  • A window: Nope
  • New York City: Nope
  • A TV: Nope
  • The Pacific Ocean: Yes
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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, but this wouldn't work :) $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:10
  • $\begingroup$ @Noldor130884 Edited. Does it works now? $\endgroup$
    – Victor Stafusa
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:13
  • $\begingroup$ this is borderline... can you post another serie? $\endgroup$
    – Noldor130884
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 11:18

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