What's my number?

Question

I am thinking of an integer $1,2$ or $3$. You can ask me only a single question to which I can reply "Yes", "No" or "I don't know". I will be completely honest. What will you ask me to figure out what number I am thinking about?

Note: Since there are an infinite number of solutions to this puzzle, I'll select the wittiest one / the one with most upvotes. (Because the one I came up with is kind of overly mathematical and a little too out of the box.)

The possible duplicate, though very similar, has 4 possible answers ("maybe"), which in essence changes the answers. — AvZ, Feb 08 '15 at 14:58
"Maybe" can be changed to "I don't know" in almost all circumstances. Besides, there are enough answers on the other question that don't use "maybe" already. — mdc32, Feb 08 '15 at 15:03
@AvZ I have a feeling this question is gonna be closed, perhaps you should accept my answer, and tag this as open-ended. — warspyking, Feb 08 '15 at 15:06
@warspyking Like I have said before, comments like that make me think you answer for the reputation only. — mdc32, Feb 08 '15 at 23:41
@mdc32 My answer was the only understandable one here. Why just leave it unanswered? — warspyking, Feb 09 '15 at 00:53

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 08 '15 at 15:32

4

I'm thinking of either 1.5 or 2.5 . Is your number greater than mine?

Yes - 3
No - 1
I don't know - 2

answered Feb 08 '15 at 15:32

The Dragonista

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score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:22

2

Is either of the following true:

Your number is $1$.

Your number is $2$, and the Riemann hypothesis is true?

If you say "yes", it's 1, if you say "I don't know", it's $2$, and if you say "no", it's $3$. And, if you say "yes" and I find out your number isn't $1$, I'm gonna want a proof.

(You could replace "Riemann hypothesis" by anything else the answerer would not know. For instance, "Is a random number I just thought of equal to $1$?")

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:22

Community

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answered Feb 08 '15 at 17:41

Milo Brandt

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Glad you asked. Here – AvZ Feb 08 '15 at 17:43

frodoskywalker · Answer 3 · 2015-02-08T17:40:14.787

1

Is the reciprocal of 2 minus your number greater than zero?

If the number is 1, the answer is YES (as $\frac{1}{2-1}>0$ )
If the number is 2, the answer is I DON'T KNOW (as $\frac{1}{2-2}$ is undefined )
If the number is 3, the answer is NO (as $\frac{1}{2-3}<0$ )

edited Feb 08 '15 at 17:40

answered Feb 08 '15 at 14:29

frodoskywalker

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You generally consider the form $\frac{1}{0}=+\infty$ which is greater than $0$ – AvZ Feb 08 '15 at 14:34
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@AvZ I would consider $\frac{1}{0} = \pm\infty$, but the other answers are better anyway. – frodoskywalker Feb 08 '15 at 17:37

warspyking · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-08T14:51:31.010

1

I'm going to think of a random number too, 1 or 2. If we multiply our numbers, will the product be greater than or equal to 3?

No -> 1
Yes -> 3
I don't know -> 2

edited Feb 08 '15 at 14:51

answered Feb 08 '15 at 14:37

warspyking

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Nice, this works. Let's see what others think. I am going to acxept this within a day or 2 if there aren't any other better answers. – AvZ Feb 08 '15 at 14:55
@AvZ If there is a better answer I'll just have to get cleverer. – warspyking Feb 08 '15 at 14:56
Is there any particular reason why people downvote "duplicatish" posts. – AvZ Feb 08 '15 at 17:44
@AvZ Yes, because you didn't research enough. – warspyking Feb 08 '15 at 19:08

What's my number?

4 Answers4