Posted by Peter Claassen on February 26, 2003 at 10:32:00 from 63.206.220.228
In Reply to: no posted by Frank H on February 26, 2003 at 09:25:35:
I had to go to the Car Talk web site and re-read the answer. I had not remembered that each visitor was only to flip up the A switch only twice. Hence it would would take 44 trips for the counter. I have not sat down to figure if it is really 44 times.
It seems to me the extrapolation from solving for 2 prisoners, (a counter and a flipper, that it takes two visits by the counter to be sure), may not mathematically telescope to 22 prisoners for a total of 44 visits.