Saturday 22 August 2026

How it works

Every witness is either honest or a liar. An honest witness only says true things, and a liar only says false ones, like the knights and knaves in Raymond Smullyan's puzzles. Each of them makes one statement below. Your job is to mark every witness honest or liar so that all the statements hold up together. Exactly one way of doing that works, and you can reach it by reasoning alone: try a guess, follow what it forces, and drop it the moment two statements clash.

The statements

1. The TailorThe Librarian and the Butler are different kinds.
2. The ViolinistAt most four of us are liars.
3. The ButlerThe Tanner and the Violinist are the same kind.
4. The PianistThe Tailor and I are the same kind.
5. The CooperThe Violinist and I are different kinds.
6. The TannerThe Violinist is honest.
7. The LibrarianExactly two of us are liars.