Mark:
COINS
Probably not the answer you're looking for...
Since neither knows which coin is unfair, pick either one of the coins, and let one person select heads or tails. If the unfair coin is selected, the person selecting heads or tails has a 50/50 chance of giving himself an advantage or disadvantage.
You are right
But it works!
A variation on the theme:
The cleanest solution has the priest flip one coin and the pirate flip one coin. If their coins match, the priest goes, if not the pirate goes. It's straightforward to check that each outcome occurs exactly 50% of the time.
Each flips both the coins. Whoever gets more heads wins. If they tie, they flip again. Neither coin needs to be fair.
One other "solution" deserves to be mentioned, for its entertainment value if for no other reason. Have the priest put both coins in one hand and put both hands behind his back. If the pirate guesses which hand holds the coins, he goes.
Good to see you back TTH; did you have a nice trip?
You were right to back Mark!
I didn't know Thoh was into art!
Ps > There is a fabulous El Squid Roe jacket on eBay going cheap that might fit! :wink:
Twenty-seven identical white cubes are assembled into a single cube, the outside of which is then painted black.
The cube is then disassembled and the smaller cubes thoroughly shuffled in a bag.
A blindfolded man (who cannot feel the paint) reassembles the pieces into a cube.
What is the probability that the outside of this cube is completely black