hardlogic

Illustration for riddle: You came to a fork in the road. One path leads to your destination, the other to a cliff 200 km away — Can you figure out this riddle?

You came to a fork in the road. One path leads to your destination, the other to a cliff 200 km away. There are two people there standing next to a sign. One who tells the truth and the other tells lies. What could you do to make sure you went to your destination?

Look at the sign

Why this works

This riddle plays on the classic logic puzzle involving truth-tellers and liars. The key is that regardless of which person you ask—whether they tell the truth or lie—you can infer the correct direction by analyzing their response. If you ask either person which way leads to your destination, the truth-teller will point you to the correct path, while the liar will mislead you. However, if you look at the sign, it represents a fixed point of reference that you can trust, ensuring you choose the right path without needing to interrogate the individuals. The clever twist is that the sign itself is an unambiguous guide, sidestepping the need to navigate their deceptive communication.

Common Wrong Answers

“Ask either person which path leads to the destination”

If you ask the liar, they will point you toward the wrong path, and if you ask the truth-teller, you won't know which person is which.

“Choose the path with the most footprints”

Footprints may not indicate the correct path; they could belong to someone who took the wrong way.

“Flip a coin to decide which path to take”

Flipping a coin does not provide any logical information about which path is correct and leaves the decision to chance.

More logic riddles →More hard riddles →Browse all riddles →