Re: Riddles (was: Lateral Thinking)

From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Sat Jan 06 2001 - 22:51:50 MST


> >> of is ... well, it's just dumb -- you had two keys to one of the boxes?
>
>>Of course. How else would I get two locked boxes each containing the
>>other's key in the first place?
>
>This is a *flabbergastingly* uninteresting `solution'. Why not just say you
>used a teleport machine? Why not say that the keys were tailored paramecia
>(one older than the other) that oozed this way and that? Why not say both
>locks opened with the same key? Several other proffered solutions
>(including both of mine) strike me as far truer to the spirit of the puzzle
>than this fudge.
>
>Damien Broderick

That's why I like to develop more than one answer to riddles. Often
better answers are found than the original.

My solution would be this:
Each box would be a networked unix box. The contents inside would be
encrypted e-mail files. The keys are public/private encryption keys
(like PGP). The contents of each box can only be unlocked with the
key from the other box.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom <HarveyNewstrom.com>


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