Galactic Riddles

Veritas landscape: buildings and trees of clear crystal, a glass house with a big round house-number plate and a bench, three closed doors in a teal meadow, white signposts at a fork in the road, red and white hats on a pedestal, a rope bridge over a ravine, and a water lily on the lake

Planet

Veritas

On Veritas every inhabitant is a perfect logician. Veritasians instantly deduce every consequence of what they know, never contradict themselves, and answer questions with strict literalness. Ask a Veritasian “Do you know what time it is?” and you’ll get “Yes,” and nothing more.

Even the road signs always tell the truth—but only the literal truth: “This path does not lead to the city” is a precious piece of information, if you have the patience to think it through. Here riddles are solved with doors, colored hats, rickety bridges, and water lilies that grow with mathematical precision, and every choice has a consequence you can deduce.

Dord loves Veritas more than any other place in the galaxy, because at last nobody does anything irrational. The trouble is that nobody does anything fun, either. Liz finds it exhausting: you try ordering a coffee from a perfect logician. M00N, meanwhile, has made friends with everyone: she found out that even a perfect logician, if you give him a smile, deduces that he ought to smile back.

Riddles from this planet

  • At customs on planet Veritas, a deadpan official shows three red hats and two white hats to Liz, Dord, and M00N

    The Colored Hats

    At Veritas customs, three travelers each wear a red hat: the third one figures out the color of his own hat. How did he…

  • At night on Veritas, four tired alien soldiers with a single torch stand before a rickety bridge over a ravine, with Liz holding a stopwatch

    The Four Soldiers

    Four soldiers, a rickety bridge, a single flashlight, and 17 minutes: how can they all get across before it’s too late?

  • In a Veritas TV studio, Liz chooses among three closed doors while the host watches her and a goat peeks out from backstage

    Game Show

    Three doors, a flying car, and two goats: after the host opens a door with a goat behind it, should you switch your choice?

  • In a small square on Veritas lined with crystal houses, two elderly alien mathematicians embrace on a bench, watched by M00N, Dord, and Liz

    Family Matters

    Two old logician friends on Veritas talk about their kids: the ages multiply to 36 and add up to the house number. How old…

  • A gigantic water lily spreads across the surface of a lake on Veritas, with the starship Kinesys hovering over the water and an alien fisherman on the shore

    The Water Lily

    A water lily that doubles in size every day covers a lake in 100 days. How many days does it need to cover half…

  • A Veritas village under a huge full moon, with worried villagers at the windows, the mayor holding an ordinance, and a happy M00N next to the moon

    Werewolves

    A village on Veritas has werewolves who don’t know they’re werewolves. Why do they only find out after the third full moon?