Two blind men by chance enter a
department store at the same time, go to the same counter,
and both order five pairs of socks, each pair a different color.
The sales clerk is so befuddled by this strange coincidence
that he places all ten pairs (two black pairs, two blue pairs,
two gray pairs, two brown pairs, and two green pairs) into
a single shopping bag and gives the bag with all ten pairs
to one blind man and an empty bag to the other. The two
blind men happen to meet on the street outside, where they
discover that one of their bags contains all ten pairs of socks.
How do the blind men, without seeing and without any out-
side help, sort out the socks so that each man goes home with
exactly five pairs of different colored socks? Can you come
up with a solution to the riddle?
department store at the same time, go to the same counter,
and both order five pairs of socks, each pair a different color.
The sales clerk is so befuddled by this strange coincidence
that he places all ten pairs (two black pairs, two blue pairs,
two gray pairs, two brown pairs, and two green pairs) into
a single shopping bag and gives the bag with all ten pairs
to one blind man and an empty bag to the other. The two
blind men happen to meet on the street outside, where they
discover that one of their bags contains all ten pairs of socks.
How do the blind men, without seeing and without any out-
side help, sort out the socks so that each man goes home with
exactly five pairs of different colored socks? Can you come
up with a solution to the riddle?