Now, I should warn you, this is one of my practical problems; meaning I don't know the solution and the answer's probably anticlimactic (like this or that). Still...
My old pal Rawrdon Mamsay is soon going for a vacation to a town, where his three friends reside.
Those friends are all superbly bad cooks. Every evening each of them prepares a meal for their guests, and every meal (comparing day by day) is different and incomparable to others in their qualities.
Every evening that he stays in town, Rawrdon pays a visit to one of his friends to have a taste of his meal. However, there is a twist.
Each friend plagiarises another, in a chain, completely copying the meal the one prepared the day before. Thus, if A serves a bolognese on Monday, B will serve the same bolognese on Tuesday and C on Wednesday.
As the one hating plagiaraised bolognese, Rawrdon aims to find who is guilty of such unforgivable sin. As the one disliking bad cuisine in general, Rawrdon wants to spent the least amount of days in the city.
How many days (worst case scenario) will it take Rawrdon to locate the 'masterchef' - the one who is first among three to serve the dish?
How many days (worst case scenario) will it take Rawrdon to completely order the friends from most original to least original?
P.S: I intended to post this problem as a commoncase, with N friends; however I considered this too complicated. Anyways, if you find some commonly applicable method, feel free to post.
P.P.S: I will correct typos later as I am in a hurry. Or you can help me with that :3