Puzzle from a TV show: how to boost the chance of winning?
Today's puzzle challenges readers to find a strategy that increases the probability of both players guessing correctly in a coin-flip game from 25% to something higher.
Puzzle from a TV game show
The science section of The Guardian has published a new mathematical puzzle based on an imaginary TV show. In the game, two contestants are placed in separate booths. Each flips a fair coin – the result is visible to the audience but not to the other player. Then each must guess what the other flipped – heads or tails. If both guess correctly, they win a prize.
At first glance, each player has a 50% chance of guessing correctly, so the probability of both guessing correctly is 25%. However, the puzzle's author, Emeritus Professor Henk Tijms of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, poses a question: is there a strategy that can improve these odds?
The reader is called on stage with a friend. Before the game, they whisper a strategy to their companion that gives them a better than 25% chance of winning. The solution will be revealed later in the evening. Readers are invited to discuss their favourite game shows without spoilers.
