The Puzzle:

There are three sailors standing in a room in a row, one behind the other, so that the sailor in the back can see the two sailors in front of him, the middle sailor can see the sailor in front of him but not the one behind him, and the sailor in front cannot see either of the other two sailors behind him.

The captain comes into the room with three white hats and two black hats. The three sailors see the hats that the captain brings into the room. The captain places one hat on each of the sailors’ heads. The sailors do not see the hats that are left over.

The captain asks the sailor in the back, who can see the two sailors in front of him, "What color hat do you have on?" The sailor says, "I don’t know."

The captain asks the sailor in the middle, who can see the sailor in front of him but not the sailor behind him, "What color hat do you have on?" The middle sailor says, "I don’t know."

The captain asks the sailor in the front, who cannot see the two sailors behind him, "What color hat do you have on?" The sailor says, "I know what color it is."

Two questions: 1, what color hat does the sailor in the front have on, and 2, how did he know?

The Solution:

The sailor in the back does not know what color hat he has on. If he had seen two black hats on the two sailors in front of him, he would know that he has a white hat on, but since he does not know what color his hat is, it means that he sees either two white hats or one white and one black hat on the sailors in front of him.

Similarly, the middle sailor does not know what color hat he has on. But if he had seen a black hat in front of him, he would know that he has a white hat on, but since he does not know what color his hat is, it means that he sees a white hat on the sailor in front of him.

So, the sailor in the front of the row knows that he must have on a white hat.

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