Here’s a classic lateral thinking puzzle that I posted to our facebook page: A hunter meets two shepherds. One of the shepherds is carrying three loaves of bread, and the other shepherd is carrying five loaves. The three men decide to share all of the loaves for dinner.
After they finished, the hunter gave the two shepherds eight coins as payment for the meal.
Assuming the loaves were all the same size, how should the two shepherds divide the coins?
Leave your answer in the comment section below, and it would be great if you shared your thought process with everyone.
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About the author, Erin Matlock
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9 Comments On This Post
We are not told anything about how the loaves were shared, how large or how hungry each man was. We can assume that the loaves were divided evenly, but if we calculate only on the information we were given the answer would have to be 3 coins and 5 coins, would it not?
Hi Jemma,
The loaves of the bread were equally shared between the three men.
It’s 1 and 7. The proceeds are split proportionate to the amount of bread each shephard gave up to feed the hunter. There were 8 pieces, so each man ate 2 2/3 piece of bread. Which meant one shephard gave up 1/3 of a piece while the other gave 2 1/3 pieces. Of the combined 2 2/3 bread given up, 1/3 represents 1/8 and 2 2/3 is 7/8 … hence, one coin for the shephard that had 3 pieces of bread and 7 coins for the shepard that had 5.
I think the shepherd who had shared 5 loaves of bread should get 5 coins, and the shepherd who had shared 3 loaves of bread should get 3 coins.
1 & 7
I love problem solving puzzles like this. Your answer is 3 coins and 5 coins just like the loaves of bread.
One shepherd has 5 coins and one has 3.
the shepherds who is carrying three loaves of bread get one coin and the other shepherd who is carrying five loaves get 7 coins.
Thank you,
HXZ
[...] Lateral Thinking Puzzle #1 Solution Email Print The following is the solution to the lateral thinking puzzle: Three Men and Their Dinner. [...]