The Grey Labyrinth is a collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, paradoxes and other intellectually challenging diversions. Related topics: puzzle games, logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, philosophy, mind benders, brain teasers, word problems, conundrums, 3d puzzles, spatial reasoning, intelligence tests, mathematical diversions, paradoxes, physics problems, reasoning, math, science.

   

Seven Jack O' Lanterns

You've angered the spirit of Halloween by failing to revere the Great Pumpkin, and now a curse has befallen you. On the walkway to your house is a Ward of Seven Jack O' Lanterns arranged in a circle. If midnight comes and any of the seven are still lit, a dark reaper and seven dark horses with seven dark riders shall visit thy abode. They shall surround thy domicile and circle it seven times seven times. And the seven riders having circled thy dwelling seven times seven times, they shall proceed with the throwing of the eggs and the cream of shaving. And come morn there will be a great mess to be reckoned with. Verily.

So you'd better get those lanterns out.

You quickly discover something odd about these lanterns. When you blow out the first one, the lanterns on either side extinguish as well! But there's more- if you blow out a lantern adjacent to one that is extinguished, the extinguished one(s) will relight. It seems that blowing on any lantern will change the state of three- the one you blew on, and its two neighbors. Finally, you can blow on an extinguished lantern and it will relight, and its two neighbors will extinguish/ignite.

After a frustrating exercise of playing "Whack-A-Mole" with the lanterns, you find yourself back where you started, with all seven lit. Being the excellent puzzler you are, you sit down and examine the puzzle logically. But be quick, hoofsteps approach...


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