One of my favourite probability puzzles to teach is a close cousin of the Monty Hall problem. Originally from a 1965 book by Frederick Mosteller,1 here’s my formulation: Three prisoners, A, B, and C, are condemned to die in the morning. But the king decides in the night to pardon one of them. He makes his choice at random and communicates it to the guard, who is sworn to secrecy.... Read more

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