Riddle

[Steven G]

You come to a fork in the road. One path goes to town while if you take the other path you'll never be seen again. Obviously, you want to go to town, but being new in town you do not know which way to go.

There are two men at the fork. You come to learn that one always lies and the other always tells the truth.
You get to ask one question to the men and hear their responses. What question do you ask?

 

[BigBeachBanana]

You come to a fork in the road. One path goes to town while if you take the other path you'll never be seen again. Obviously, you want to go to town, but being new in town you do not know which way to go.

There are two men at the fork. You come to learn that one always lies and the other always tells the truth.
You get to ask one question to the men and hear their responses. What question do you ask?

Spoiler

Ask both: "What would the other guy say is the path to town?". This ensures both answers are lies.

 

[Deleted member 4993]

You come to a fork in the road. One path goes to town while if you take the other path you'll never be seen again. Obviously, you want to go to town, but being new in town you do not know which way to go.

There are two men at the fork. You come to learn that one always lies and the other always tells the truth.
You get to ask one question to the men and hear their responses. What question do you ask?

This is an old one. Probably the first riddle I heard, that had answer with "twisted" logic. In my riddle you were allowed to ask only ONE question .

 

[BigBeachBanana]

This is an old one. Probably the first riddle I heard, that had answer with "twisted" logic. In my riddle you were allowed to ask only ONE question .

I've only asked one question in Steve's puzzle, but you get two responses. Do you mean one question and one response?

 

[Deleted member 4993]

I've only asked one question in Steve's puzzle, but you get two responses. Do you mean one question and one response?

Yes - One question and one answer as long as you know those people tell the truth or lie - always and they must respond ("I am not telling" is not acceptable).

 

[Steven G]

It doesn't matter whether you hear one response or two responses. You know that.

 

[JeffM]

I have a book with a whole sequence of these liar puzzles

Spoiler

You ask A, “Which path would B tell me leads to town.” Then take the other path.

If A is the liar, he knows that B would indicate the true path so A lies and indicates the false path.

If A is the truth teller, he knows that B would indicate the false path and truthfully indicates the false path.

So, no matter whether A is truthful or deceitful, A will indicate the false path.