Tuesday 30 July 2013

Tumblers on a Turn Table Puzzle


You are blindfolded. There is a square turntable in front of you with four tumblers at four corners. Each might be oriented "up" or "down". You make a sequence of "moves". Each move consists of five phases:
(1) A referee turns the table an unknown number of quarter-turns(90,180, 270 or 360 degrees);
(2) You select "adjacent" or "opposite", and then take a pair of tumblers which are either "adjacent" (90 degrees apart) or "opposite" (180), accordingly.
(3) You observe (by touch) the current orientation of these two tumblers.
(4) You turn over one or the other tumbler, or neither, or both.
(5) The referee tells you whether all four tumblers are in the same orientation; if so, you win and the game is over.

After how many moves can you guarantee that you will win no matter whats the starting position or whatever way referee plays?
What is your strategy?

Solution: tumblerPuzzleSolution.pdf

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