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You are a double-agent in the most important war of the 20th century, The Falklands war. For years you have been playing the United Kingdom and Argentinian governments against each other, taking bribes from both sides and it has caught up with you.

One day travelling you are snatched off the street, kidnapped, drugged and placed on a private plane. You wake up in a cell, you know you have been taken by one of the governments to their capital for interrogation and treason charges but you cannot tell which has abducted you. You have perfected both the UK and Argentinian languages and accents and you know you can convince the guards to let you go if you were to speak in their native tongue asking for your government contact. However speaking the wrong language first will certainly turn out very poorly for you indeed.

You look around your cell, it is a large room with high ceilings, a musty smell, and thick dust covering everything. Based on being unable to hear anything and the constant temperature you conclude you are underground. Nothing about the architecture is distinctive. The only things in the cell are a single metal chair bolted to the floor in the center of the room with a spotlight hanging from a cord right above the chair illuminating the seat brightly leaving the rest of the room in shadow. You know it is a matter of time before you are tied into the chair and interrogated by shadowy agents of one of the governments.

You search desperately for a clue as to where you are. You kick the chair and stub your toe; it is solid. You claw at the light, looking for a marking or a way to open it and see the voltage rating but cannot find either. You yank and pull on it to test how secure it is and cannot dislodge it from the ceiling to get at the cord. You try to swing it far enough to smash against a wall but it will not reach. You search the chair for a makers mark but can find none. You know much more action will invite suspicion even if you know the right language so you stand back and think.

The guard watching on CCTV notices, but decides it is normal behaviour for someone waking up in a cell regardless of guilt so is not immediately suspicious. As far as he can tell you then pace around the room randomly for a few hours deep in thought.

You suddenly walk towards the door and knock, with 100% confidence you correctly ask in perfect Spanish for your government handler who promptly releases you.

How did you know what government to ask for?

  • You can assume you are correct in all your assumptions mentioned in the puzzle.
  • You have no items other than the clothes and shoes you were wearing when abducted. no cell phone, no watch, no pocket lint etc.
John Meacham
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    Nice story! Is this specific to UK and Argentina or can they be replaced with any two countries speaking two different languages? – justhalf Oct 24 '14 at 04:37
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    The specific language or culture don't matter, but they cannot be replaced with completely arbitrary countries. – John Meacham Oct 24 '14 at 04:39
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    I love the depth and the clarity in what answers you're not looking for (light's voltage, markings, etc.) – Xrylite Oct 24 '14 at 17:13
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    "Argentinian language" – Frisbetarian-Support Palestine Oct 24 '14 at 22:37
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    Having learned Spanish in high school from a teacher from Argentina and then attempting to use it in Mexico, I can assert you will not pass for a native. :-) – John Meacham Oct 24 '14 at 23:13
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    I'd just wait until I was being interrogated and see what language they question me in. If this is an invalid answer, can you add something to the question that clarifies that? – Tim S. Oct 25 '14 at 15:33
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    Once you are in the chair it would be too late no matter what you say, but in any case the puzzle specifies exactly the sequence of events that happens in your cell until your release and doesn't include any contact until you ask to be let out. – John Meacham Oct 25 '14 at 21:52
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    Sorry, I just had to create an account for this site to ask, since when has the Falklands war ever been the most important of the 20th century? – TylerH Oct 27 '14 at 17:11
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    @TylerH Pretty sure it's a joke, mate :) – Riking Oct 28 '14 at 08:42
  • @Riking Unfortunately, there is zero indication of that being the case. – TylerH Oct 28 '14 at 13:08
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    @TylerH I had to create an account here just to contribute too. Actually there is an indication - but it's implicit. There's no way that such a statement is serious, hence it must be ironic - hence, a joke. – Konrad Viltersten Oct 28 '14 at 13:44
  • @KonradViltersten I must disagree; I don't start with the presumption that I know everything, hence why I asked the OP for clarification. Maybe he meant "with regard to one specific thing", or maybe he is a Falklands native. Both could be easily plausible and defensible reasons for thinking it is the most important war of the 20th century. – TylerH Oct 28 '14 at 15:01
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    @TylerH I hardly think it's conceivable not to regard WW2 as the biggest one in the passed century, regardless of where one lives (it's that or one's got a LOT of local patriotism in one's blood, hehe). Nevertheless, your point is valid and you are indeed technically correct. I stand slightly corrected on this one. – Konrad Viltersten Oct 28 '14 at 19:14
  • About the metric/imperial bolt solution... (sry to post as a new answer but the system wouldn't let me comment) I live in Chile (next to Argentina) and though we've been metric for ages, most of the screws/bolts/nuts used here are imperial (I think because of US/UK machinery influence). You have to go to a specialized store and pay twice the price if you want metric. –  Oct 27 '14 at 22:11
  • "You have no items other than the clothes and shoes you were wearing when abducted." – Spikatrix Feb 21 '15 at 11:21
  • @JohnMeacham, Wouldn't the handler be concerned that you had spent hours walking around in the cell before asking for them? – Lamar Latrell Mar 26 '16 at 22:32

12 Answers12

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You think for a while and remember that Argentina had adopted the metric system way back in the late 19th century, while the metrication process in Britain had started just a handful of years before the Falklands War.

The only things in the cell are a single metal chair bolted to the floor in the center of the room with a spotlight hanging from a cord

You walk over to the chair and kneel down to get a closer look at the bolts fastening it to the ground. The bolts have the distinctive heads of metric screws.

But since the metrication process in Britain has been going on for a few years, you can't be certain that a metric screw indicates that you are in Argentina.

You look around your cell, it is a large room with high ceilings, a musty smell, and thick dust covering everything.

From the significant dust buildup in the room, you know that this room has to be pretty old. You gauge that if you were in Britain, it is highly unlikely that the room was constructed with metric screws.

Scott Lawson
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    I would say that this answer is so far the only answer that will survive a reality check. – Ole Tange Oct 27 '14 at 08:24
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    Cement bolts would have hex heads in both systems, but still an excellent idea. You might be able to differentiate metric and SAE hex bolts if very familier. Seeing the threads would make it obvious but alas the bolts could not be removed. – John Meacham Oct 27 '14 at 17:22
  • There should be a number of places you could look to find bolts and fasteners. A large lamp would almost certainly need screws, as would the hinges on the door, and perhaps the table if it used screws instead of nails. – Scott Lawson Oct 30 '14 at 07:17
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    @JohnMeacham: It would probably be Imperial, not SAE, but the strength/grade markings on the heads should be different. – jscs Feb 25 '15 at 08:41
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I don't know how scientifically accurate this is, but it might be possible to use the light as a foucault pendulum to determine which hemisphere you are in. Of course, if there is a toilet (which is not mentioned), a flush would do the trick.

martin
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    Definitely the correct answer- beat me by 2 mins (I had to join to be able to post an answer) – Jim Oct 24 '14 at 05:57
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    Haha! Yes, it is a good puzzle! – martin Oct 24 '14 at 06:02
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    We have a winner. The last thing I did to the light was swing it to see if it hit the wall. Shuffling around was to mark the dust on the floor with the plane of the light. I welcome any ideas on improving the presentation, was my first attempt at writing a puzzle. – John Meacham Oct 24 '14 at 06:04
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    Great answer for the most part, but the toilet hypothetical would not work. Coriolis is negligible at such scale, the toilet's flush direction will be dictated by toilet design. – The111 Oct 24 '14 at 08:33
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    The Foucault effect causes the plane the light swings in to rotate by a quarter of a degree per minute. Sorry but there's no way that the light would swing for long enough at sufficient amplitude to detect that. – David Richerby Oct 24 '14 at 11:06
  • @David Richerby I was wondering whether it would. The thickness of the cable seems to be a factor here - in comparison with Foucault's original experiment, it seems unlikely! Still, I assumed this was the intended answer, so posted anyway. A sink with plug might do it - but again, there is no mention of this in the question. – martin Oct 24 '14 at 11:08
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    @martin No, no, one hundred times no. The idea that Coriolis forces produce any significant spin on something as tiny as a sink of water is a total myth. The water turns because it has some angular momentum because it wasn't introduced into the sink perfectly centrally. Test it yourself by pouring water into the sink from one side using a jug, letting it settle and then pulling the plug; then do the same from the other side and you'll see it spin the other way. – David Richerby Oct 24 '14 at 11:14
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    @David Richerby Interestingly, It is a popular tourist activity in Equador on the equator (as I am sure it is in many other places) - but when I went there I was feeling rather ill at the time so didn't do it! – martin Oct 24 '14 at 11:17
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    @martin Yeah, there are hucksters doing this demonstration in Africa, too. They use exactly the technique I just described. The skillful part is that they manage to get almost no rotation when standing on the equator! – David Richerby Oct 24 '14 at 11:18
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    That is why I specified the roof was very high, perhaps i should call it a 'heavy, industrial looking lamp held up by a thin electrical cord' to emphasize it. The amplitude would certainly be a lot less after a while, but you need only get an idea of what direction it is going and I have seen that done in a classroom with a plumbob. The spotlight in a dark room means you have a nice crisp edge to watch, next best thing to a laser pointer. – John Meacham Oct 24 '14 at 11:49
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    @JohnMeacham I like the puzzles like this if they actually work. In this case I find it unlikely: The wire has to be thin, insulated, current bearing, and hold up a heavy lamp; yet the insulation has to dampen the swinging so little, that the pendulum will swing so long that you can see the changing angle with your naked eye. Did you test that this solution works in the real world? If not: Will you revoke the question if anyone tests it and comes to the conclusion it will never work? – Ole Tange Oct 27 '14 at 07:29
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    Implausible. The ceiling would need to be very high and the light fitting would need to be very heavy. Smithsonian suggests height 52 feet (16m), weight 240 pounds (109kg). With such specialist equipment you're not really in a 'prison cell' with a 'light fitting' any more, you're in a stairwell or an atrium with a metal bob that happens to have a light on it. Sorry. ;) – A E Oct 27 '14 at 14:02
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    It looks as though you can get away with a 20 foot (6m) ceiling for a ball weight of 235lb (107kg). Ceiling will need strengthening too. http://www.academypendulums.com/pdf/Mark2arc_spec.pdf – A E Oct 27 '14 at 14:11
  • @DavidRicherby "there's no way that the light would swing for long enough at sufficient amplitude to detect that." Depending on the cable, it could very well swing long enough. It doesn't have to have a high amplitude though - if you look at the cable from several angles, even a very tiny swing will be apparent side to side from some angles. When you are in line with the swing it will disappear. With care you'd only need several minutes of swinging, depending on your visual perception. I think, as a spy, he's capable of it. – Adam Davis Oct 27 '14 at 16:15
  • @OleTange Don't forget that there is a spotlight at the end of it and you can make marks on the ground to delineate the edge of the beam. You only need to determine whether it is precessing clockwise or counterclockwise, even a degree of difference would be noticeable. – John Meacham Oct 27 '14 at 17:09
  • @AdamDavis You can also mark the ground due to the layer of dust. that is what was being done when walking around, marking the dust with your feet. – John Meacham Oct 27 '14 at 17:11
  • @JohnMeacham Yes, but you don't even need to do that. Just swing the light in line with the chair legs. Even if it's not very close, by lining up your line of sight with the legs and observing the swing you'll notice whether it's coming closer to parallel with the legs, or further away, and in which direction. You can get rid of the dust altogether and this would work. Could use the chair back if it was a flat back, but since the chair has two or more legs, you can always line something up visually. – Adam Davis Oct 27 '14 at 17:14
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    @AdamDavis Certainly possible, I included the dust to make it even easier. I imagined that within the narrative it wasn't the spies original intent, but figured it out after seeing the light was still swinging from trying to smash it into the wall. But that's just speculation. Since I included swinging the light in the description I didn't think it would be fair to not mention that you were doing so thinking of a pendulum if you were. As in, I wanted the character to figure out the answer after the narrated part of the story to keep the omnicient perspective during the first part. – John Meacham Oct 27 '14 at 17:26
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    I was thinking something to do with the rotation of the Earth as well, but didn't remember the Foucault pendulum. Nice job. –  Oct 28 '14 at 01:08
  • Well this answer doesn't work if you are held in a basement at the equator level or in either of the poles. – mani_nz Nov 19 '14 at 09:04
  • Knowing which hemisphere won't help you much- if its Southern then you could be Falklands or Argentina or a couple other British territories. Its always possible that Argentina is able to hold footholds in the Northern Hemisphere like in embassies. – user2617804 May 16 '15 at 08:04
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    @user2617804 you know you have been taken by one of the governments to their capital – Stephen S Jun 06 '17 at 20:29
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Wave your hand through the thick layer of dust until you start sneezing. Eventually someone will say "Bless you" or the equivalent in whichever language, and you're good to go.

user3294068
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Of course you know it's not the UK government because you have been left alone in your cell long enough to miss tea time, and it would be completely barbaric to not observe that sacred ritual. So, Argentina government it is!

JonTheMon
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Having learned from an ancient master the art of chronobarbology, you stroke your beard stubble and determine that precisely eight hours have passed since your abduction in Bogota, Colombia.

Factoring in the time needed to transport you to and from the airport, and the maximum realistic speed of a 1980's private jet, you realize you cannot possibly be in London and must therefore be in Buenos Aires, land of the Martín Fierro.

Or... you could just pass gas when the first interrogator steps into the room and observe whether his response is "Blimey!" or "¡Uy!".

COTO
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On walking around the room thinking for hours, he started feeling weird, like increased heartbeat, heavy breathing, feeling like less oxygen around the area, than normal. So he understood that he is currently in a high altitude area, preferably above 20000ft above sea line to feel such weird effects.

He knew the highest altitude in UK is some what about 4400ft above sea line and so Eliminated the possibility that he is in UK. Then the chances are he is either in Argentina or in some high altitude place outside UK or Argentina.

But he knew Argentina has places with altitude above 22000ft. Also he was sure that it's either UK or Argentina government took him. So he understood he is in some high altitude location in Argentina.

After all these deductions, with full confidence, he knocked the door and talked with the guards in Spanish.

Lightness Races in Orbit
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AeJey
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    Another excellent response I didn't think of, unfortunately not the answer as Buenos Ares and London are about the same altitude and I specified you were brought to the capital. However I feel this should be the answer to another puzzle we should come up with as i like it... could also be something like his shampoo bottles expanded or contracted. – John Meacham Oct 24 '14 at 05:25
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    Although it raises the question of 'how does he know he's been taken the the capital?' - or even the nation in question? – Jon Story Oct 25 '14 at 01:27
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    That's why I stipulated that all of your assumptions stated in the puzzle are true. After all, you are a spy for both agencies, presumably you picked up some info on how they operate. – John Meacham Oct 25 '14 at 02:39
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    @JohnMeacham yeah, more a loophole in the original question than in the answer – Jon Story Oct 26 '14 at 19:02
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Unscrew the light bulb from the lamp, if it's bayonet style, you're guaranteed to be in the UK and not Argentina (with light bulbs inside of cars being the only exception), if it's screw-style/Edison style, then you're most likely in Argentina (although, that's not a 100% guarantee because some Edison style light bulbs can be found in the UK despite the fact that bayonet style light bulbs predominate in the UK).

You don't even need to turn off the light to find this out. A small twist should give you enough information without cutting off the electricity to the bulb. Just make sure not to burn yourself while doing this, use some of your clothes to insulate your hand.

Stephan Branczyk
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Another lighting related one. Peel back a bit of the outer insulation on the light flex. If the wires inside are coloured black and red, you're in Britain, which had its own set of standards and didn't switch to IEC60446 (blue/brown) until the early 21st century, long after the Falklands conflict.

Be careful, mind you, or it's all going to be a bit academic.

Julia Hayward
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    Yeah, that would have been my first attempt too were I in this scenerio, which is why I went into detail about the attempts to find out the voltage or get at the cord not working. – John Meacham Oct 27 '14 at 17:31
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Because you are so far underground, you have the unique position to feel any earth tremors in the area. Having visited the Andes multiple times, the chance of feeling an earthquake are good, but I believe that going further underground allows one to sense any earth tremors that would be imperceptible on the Earth's surface.

So, as you went "asleep" for a couple hours, you were actually concentrating to feel any such movements.

When you did, you were instantly sure that you were in Argentina and not in Britain.

Nonsingular
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  • I misread pace for sleep, but I still believe that one can still feel a slight tremor while walking. – Nonsingular Oct 27 '14 at 23:07
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    I don't think so. San Francisco (the place where I live) has had: (M1.5 or greater): 2 earthquakes today, 6 earthquakes in the past 7 days, 49 earthquakes in the past month, and 516 earthquakes in the past year (and only a small fraction of those earthquakes can be felt by human beings, even underground). On the other hand Buenos Aires has had: (M1.5 or greater) 0 earthquakes today, 0 earthquakes in the past 7 days, 5 earthquakes in the past month, and 33 earthquakes in the past year. Source: http://earthquaketrack.com/ – Stephan Branczyk Oct 27 '14 at 23:29
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    The question states you're underground. Not how far underground. Therefore this answer is not applicable. – Mast Oct 28 '14 at 14:56
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When you knock on the door, listen to the guard's response and use his language.

JesseTG
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Maybe you could use Spanish and English cognates (words that are pronounced nearly the same in both languages).

For example. what if you started a conversation with the guard by saying "legal error!" as if to say you got the wrong person. The only hard part would be a neutral accent.

Another example would be asking the question did I do something wrong? by saying "criminal??" while pointing at your self. And again the accent would be hard but maybe the guard wouldn't catch it.

there are a lot of cognates so you probable could come up with something.

Hashbrowns
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So many great answers. But what about the CCTV? If it is in the room, you may be able to look at the manufacturer or the model. If not and you can still see it, you may be able to find something based on it's looks.

user500668
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