Can you solve the cheating royal riddle? - Dan Katz

Practice more problem-solving at brilliant.org/TedEd/
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You’re the chief advisor to an eccentric king who needs to declare his successor. He wants his heir to be good at arithmetic, lucky, and above all else, honest. So he’s devised a competition to test his children, and ordered you to choose the winner. The future of the kingdom is in your hands. Can you find the worthiest successor? Dan Katz shows how.
Lesson by Dan Katz, directed by Artrake Studio.
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[@NxVernxual]

First to reply

[@bishalgaire735]

wow it was great

[@jaximations9793]

3rd to reply

[@yufendyyufendy8964]

alexa

[@pvvineet1722]

Ok... I just realised... This is my 2nd straight win... I got last riddle right, and now this one too... Edit: to be fair... Out of all the riddles this was the simplest

[@Imamotherfreakingavocado]

Plot twist: Cassandra doesn't care that she didn't get to be queen because she's so lucky that she ends up walking into Paul Rudd whenever she goes anywhere.

[@brunonotthemars7856]

She should play lottery.

[@EGRJ]

Is that Paul Rudd?

[@lakshshergill9637]

you are motherfreaking avocado

[@Blanabaman]

I think it might be

[@zoesy952]

ur pfp 😳

[@minhaiqbal8096]

Draco's father will hear about this.

[@paepapig]

But the king is his father...

[@aditimuthkhod1252]

Nice one😂😂

[@blueeye2281]

Brother is that u?

[@Handsome_Thanos]

Lucius!

[@minhaiqbal8096]

@@blueeye2281 Reunited at last.

[@itsonlyafleshwound9024]

So, just a reminder: Draco would have won if he had picked 420

[@justanelk2096]

o-o

[@Tino7100]

nice

[@Cheerios100]

or 425. Edit: Nvm.

[@joei2649]

@@Cheerios100 You missed the joke

[@Cheerios100]

@@joei2649 Oh I just realized what he wanted to say.

[@dizzy_jump]

90% of comments are about cassandra, so they're disqualified.

[@mathguy37]

cassandra exists, so they're disqualified.

[@Mona-ni6jx]

My sanity exist, so it's disqualified

[@johnhenryjones4887]

Charles Blow got Pepe le Pew banned from future projects,so he is disqualified

[@RichRBLX]

@@johnhenryjones4887 i exist, so i am disqualified

[@spamtongspamton9900]

WHAT IF THEY HAVE [green eyes]?

[@wyrmshard]

Everyone expecting the Kingdom of PI to be RATIONAL is asking for the impossible

[@clairenakisitu5620]

But it can't be terminated

[@scribbler_crowe]

@Max Wang The kingdom of 3 sounds good too

[@medexamtoolsdotcom]

Who needs to be rational, when you are transcendental af.

[@adathecheeseburger8490]

Well, they are quite an odd bunch over there...

[@scribbler_crowe]

@@Randomuser-dl5mx I'll make it happen

[@lukasi6688]

If Cassandra did, in fact, play fair, she would be the unluckiest luckiest person ever. Imagine you win fair and square in a 1/13 nonillion chance just to be disqualified because someone isn't sure whether you cheated or not.

[@BladeNgames]

Marko Gjakovski that isn’t completely true. There are more permutations to achieve a sum of that but only one such set of numbers that add to be 700. Therefore, 385 is more common

[@EntertainmentBooster]

*IF* Cassandra was TRUE, *THEN* she was : - Good at *Arithmetic* (Addition) - *Lucky* (To get Least Possible Number) - Honest But, again *UNLUCKIEST LUCKY*

[@PaoloGame450]

@@mihir1181 oh god, it ACTUALLY DOES

[@Longy04]

If she did get a score of 700 she was damned either way. Either she tells the truth and no one believes her, or she lies and gives a lower score (in which case she's dishonest). The smart thing to do would have been to make up some score that was possible (i.e. a multiple of 5 between 100 and 700) that is greater than 400 (the expected value, and therefore being deemed lucky), but not so high that it would have

[@jalapenogaming9740]

Well she was not lucky then

[@WERTYUIO821]

After this riddle, Cassandra lives a luxurious, yet depressing life with no meaning as she won 13 lottery tickets in a row, met a perfect husband that she doesn't know if she loves her for who she is or money and has perfect children that stop visiting after she destroyed them in every game they played when they were young(can not lose even when she wanted)

[@akisa7865]

DJ Cassandra: Suffering from success

[@TunaBear64]

She should have played Chess, no luck involved in that.

[@mrTvguyman]

@@TunaBear64” huh wait is that a bomb omg it just sent all our pieces flying and now you have a checkmate on me”

[@isavenewspapers8890]

“Upon inspection, most of these scores are concerning.” Hilarious line. No idea why, but it’s comedic gold. Incredible.

[@antarakmit4114]

Psuedobulbar effect.

[@user-ci3zb7wp9q]

XD

[@TheVoicesOfTheBeyond]

The deadpan way it was said is just *chef's kiss*

[@darkflix1766]

Plot twist: The king wanted to test you. You are: 1. Arithmetic 2. Honest and 3. So lucky that you spotted Paul Rudd randomly twice.

[@aloserdontsubscribe485]

Yes, I am arithmetic

[@backspace7909]

Are you a mathematician? No, but I am arithmetic

[@burhmoment6850]

Ah yes, I'm an arithmetic

[@wr.en.]

Guys, this is a simple mistake. S/he meant to say good at arithmetic.

[@thatnike2604]

@@wr.en. what are you talking about? I'm definitely arithmetic

[@Emma-zz2jz]

I feel like Cassandra did actually roll a 700 just because her name is Cassandra, like the Cassandra from Greek mythology who was cursed with having accurate prophecies that no one believed

[@madhir1716]

May be thats why the character is named cassandra

[@ondrejvolecek7215]

Whaaaat!

[@annaliu2746]

whoa that’s a really good point, great observation!

[@NapaCat]

@@zoe1701 Percy Jackson isn't canon to the Greek mythology.

[@ntm4]

@@NapaCat Technically there is no canon for Greek mythology.

[@musiccollection5484]

alexa was unlucky with the dice but she was "lucky" that everyone else disqualified. (king wanted heir to be lucky)

[@marcusscience23]

And honest

[@Mona-ni6jx]

And good at math

[@bobguy4855]

Ye but Cassandra was even luckier yet she got eliminated

[@marcusscience23]

@@bobguy4855 using the same logic as Alexa, Cassandra was lucky with the dice but she was ‘unlucky’ that she got disqualified

[@alexawongziyi6641]

My name is Alexa

[@nyanSynxPHOENIX]

Remember! The rules wasn't just about luck, it was about logic too. Even IF Cassandra played fair and got 700, she would have OBVIOUSLY known that it is an unbelievable number, and faked it to a lower one. The only real rule was to get a number that is the highest multiple of 5 that stays within the general bell curve of the probabilities of the total score. Picking 495 would get you an easy win. Even picking 425 instead of 423 would've won.

[@ShockRox]

hey, you're right!

[@circleluff7384]

@Sohanur Rahaman the thing is you need to be 90% sure they cheated, if it’s below that and is a reasonable answer then even without honesty you can win.

[@circleluff7384]

@Sohanur Rahaman yes

[@sparkyshore3543]

No, the real thing to do is halfway through your rolls exit and say "hey, I keep getting 35, I think there's something wrong with the dice!"

[@dragorn3212]

I used z-distribution to approximate though, the probability of getting 700 or more is around 1/trillion squared. You haved better chances of winning the megalotterly 3 times in a row. Anything above 470 would have less than 1% chances. best chance to win would be to fabricate 435 based on z score

[@unrellated]

Cassandra's score is still more likely than finding Paul Rudd in Mali, and then finding him again in Brazil five seconds later.

[@shen144]

As of right now that’s impossible since you can’t travel from anywhere on Africa to anywhere on South America in 5 seconds.

[@Marshall.R]

@@shen144 Yes congratulations on figuring out what Mark Sommerville said in his comment

[@perakojot6524]

@@shen144 Why, it's certainly physically possible, light can make that distance in well under a tenth of a second? :D

[@stinkybean1]

@Shen, teleporter comin right up!

[@Alfa-uu7zb]

Pera Kojot the problem is that we have to carry around our mass...

[@mattskord9178]

Please make Paul Rudd a recurring character

[@Liz-lq8hw]

This got liked by Ted, so I think it might just be possible

[@casparvoncampenhausen5249]

Yes please

[@Longy04]

Someone should get in touch with him, I'm sure he'd be willing to make a cameo appearance in one of these.

[@Scientificmethods]

I'm Paul Rudd, I say it's fine.

[@maheshpatel7691]

It is recurring number

[@CarolineGorman-yb2oc]

I'd like to add that Alexa revealing her TRUE SCORE, no matter how low it was comparatively, shows great honesty. She could've easily brought it up a few digits in the hope of beating her siblings for the highest score, but she was honest with the value she earned, even when it was the lowest of all.

[@pawncube6787]

Either that or she intentionally picked a low multiple of 5 knowing 3 of her siblings would try to cheat.

[@crazyman7615]

Or maybe she got an absolutely horrible score and bumped it up

[@dragorn3212]

The highest score you can get away with is 435. So if by luck you got 450 you should lower this. I calculate using z-score approximations

[@stinkytoby]

As a programmer, I thought "I'll just simulate this instead of thinking about it logically" On my first run of 20 rolls, I got 385 as a result, and I was pretty sure I knew the answer from then.

[@bluejay9638]

The way you could have solved this in like 3 minutes but bro was really like "no no no, let me think about this"

[@pustota7254]

Programming moment

[@dragorn3212]

As a low level stats student i use z distribution to approximate and find that 435 is the highest score that gives more than 10% p-value. 470 for example is less than 1%

[@lisahenry20]

​@@bluejay9638why spend 5 mins on a task when you can spend 30 mins writing a program that will do the task for you

[@parkerdude5682]

Imagine the advisors just going: “ Too high, too improbable, not a multiple of 5, and your the only one left standing.”

[@schwa6275]

Hopefully, they'd know to say "you're" and not "your."

[@parkerdude5682]

PastaSauce 7 thank you

[@nemo6261]

*𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈*

[@skhooldays6075]

@@schwa6275 i swear to mother hacking hen no one cares that they made a grammar mistake

[@schwa6275]

@@skhooldays6075 I mean, they're advisors to royalty. They should know better.

[@Say_Tin]

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo to say perfectly true prophecies but be ignored by everyone. Perhaps her name and her "false" score were not coincidentally given...

[@zack-ronald259]

that would be genius

[@skywarslord4680]

Epic

[@_H0X]

Now, this is a 500 iq move by TedEd

[@sumitjadhav3112]

Ohh my ❤️ this is great

[@shreayyy9473]

Omfg

[@4ncientGu150]

Honestly, it's not the worst method of selecting a heir. It picked out three people who for various reasons, shouldn't be rulers.

[@divergentlife493]

Wrong. Cassandra for life. She got 700. She should go to war if Alexa don't abdicate. Cassandra was higher.

[@madnessstudios5950]

@@divergentlife493 I can tell you are a glupi idiota

[@treehugger0241]

@@divergentlife493 Even if she did legitimately get 700, it's still unlucky that she got a high enough score to be suspected of cheating. So eliminating her was still valid.

[@Kizaco]

@@divergentlife493she should have realized that it’s not believable.

[@benjaminmclaren8782]

​@@divergentlife493 did you know the probability for flipping a coin and getting heads is 50%? And did you know the probability for flipping 100 coins and getting heads 100 times is also 50%? But I can assure you, if people saw someone flip a coin 100 times, and every time was a head? Those people would riot. No one would believe that was not rigged.

[@firephoenix7788]

This is a theory that Cassandra is not faking. At 2:43, you can see Cassandra changing her smile in a seemingly anticipated way when the narrator says "That's theoretically possible". This indicates that she knows how absurd the odds are, and is hoping that they might believe her. And we know that Cassandra can hear the narrator speaking, because, at 4:39, unlike the rest, Draco is doing a facepalm, indicating that he knew he was close, and the only thing he needed to do was to be good at math. Also, at 3:43, she seems genuinely sad. Like in a "Nobody believes me!" sad. But the biggest piece of evidence is in Greek mythology. Cassandra is a prophet who was blessed by Apollo when Cassandra was in a relationship with him. When Cassandra decided to break up with Apollo, he cursed Cassandra to speak true prophecies, but nobody believes her. And as the saying goes, history repeats itself, so coincidence, I THINK NOT!

[@MrH4nky]

Chill, my dude, it's just a Number Theory video D:

[@firephoenix7788]

@@MrH4nky Yes, I am looking way to deep into this, lol.

[@ericd1022]

You put an insane amount of energy into this one comment and i just wanted to say that i see you

[@IsAnInstrument]

Cool theory man, I like it!

[@lukiwei9468]

@@firephoenix7788 Can I get a SIMP in here?! Come on, everyone, with me now!! S I M P

[@fulerage9514]

After the event, Cassandra goes to a cassino, win everything. Then buys a lottery ticket, that she also wins. She may be not the Queen but she owns most of the kingdoms net worth 👍🏻

[@joaquinm9148]

Good ending

[@yourself9525]

with the luck she had, I think she would be extremely unlucky for the rest of her life.

[@richardgibson8403]

Cassandra then went on to get the wr on Minecraft. possibly.

[@yummyshape3908]

And then Casandra beat every speedrun possible with the best rng ever.

[@aperson8077]

After that, the king begs for all of her riches, and even says she could be the queen if he had all of the money. Cassandra agrees, making her the queen. Due to this, the whole kingdom is lucky, and keep surviving meteors, tsunamis, tornadoes and hail with minimal damage and no deaths while doing absolutely nothing

[@Hanlb]

Cassandra stans be like: "1 in 13 nonillion is still possible."

[@fal4thought]

Lmao

[@DeathnoteBB]

Cause I mean yeah, it is. Humans seem to think improbable is impossible.

[@saulmoment4008]

It's possible but the feasibility is what really matters. If you win a lottery thrice in a row in a week, everyone will likely believe that you did something behind the scenes

[@fora1924]

@@DeathnoteBB Just because it's possible doesn't mean you will get jt it's like guessing a number i'm thinking between 1- 1 trillion Sure it's possible but the chances of guessing correctly is so unlikely that it may as well be impossible

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@fora1924 But my point is if it ever happens, that was always a possibility.

[@quicy4209]

Imagine being Cassandra: You actually get 700 with absolutely insane luck then get disqualified for being too lucky which is literally what the king is looking for in an heir

[@Peter_File69]

But he looked for honesty above all, and since the probability of Cassandra not being honest was very high, it’s understandable why she was disqualified

[@catkid3456]

Also if she was disqualified, she’s not the luckiest. Alexa is.

[@dragorn3212]

Only way to get 700 is 35 on every roll, which have 1/36 probability per roll. (1/36)^20 about 1/100 trillion squared. Better chances of winning mega jackpot 4 times in a row and getting struck by lightning in one month than that. But i'd put 700 just to troll them

[@BigHH88]

​@@dragorn3212it's still not impossible

[@ConfusionUwU]

@@BigHH88 the rules never said that they only get disqualified if it was impossible, it only said that they'd be disqualified if you can reasonably say that you're 90% sure they cheated

[@angelomulara9316]

Think the servent dude should be heir. Man was lucky, can do math like a mad man and was honest about who he thinks should be heir. Easiest riddle of my life. Lmao

[@justanelk2096]

dynasty shift

[@thegamergirl6164]

ya

[@pustota7254]

Yes

[@karizake]

As punishment for cheating, Cassandra was sentenced to execution by firing squad. But all the guns kept jamming.

[@orihallmark]

HAHAHAH

[@MagyarGaben]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqW8eYCld8efpac

[@cedriccox9480]

Funne Ace Attorney

[@OrsonKrennic57]

Hahahaha

[@winnersduplicate554]

Cassandra went on to become the heir due to her luck in every single execution attempt and early life.

[@fictionfan0]

Plot twist: None of them played fair; Alexa just picked a random number that just happened to be the most reasonable compared to everyone else.

[@danielyuan9862]

Or you could just roll the dice and get a random number that way.

[@fictionfan0]

@@danielyuan9862 Wow, way to miss the joke.

[@msolec2000]

@@fictionfan0 Still, you can't be 90% sure she did that. So she wins.

[@fictionfan0]

@@msolec2000 😧

[@MalekitGJ]

1. She was smart, knew the other would cheat. 2. She knew math, since also calculated the probabilities. 3. She was lucky, was the only one left.

[@Christopher-jp5zo]

Eliminating Cassandra is still fair according to the rules of the King, since he said you had to be above 90% sure, and Cassandra’s result was extraordinarily unlikely. So even if she was honest and got 700 she still fairly lost because the kings rules were that you had to more than 90% sure

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Not to mention that getting disqualified simply because no one could be sure whether she was honest would make her unlucky anyway!

[@chazzerine7650]

If I had the logician skills of Amaro, Bart, Charlotte, Daniel or Elisa, I’d write down a number like 565 or something.

[@hello_i_exist_uwu]

Smort

[@blookarakal4417]

There still is a less than 10% chance of getting at least that. 440 is the best roll. It's the highest total that has an ever so slightly higher probablity of coming up.

[@kohikappu]

@@blookarakal4417 Actually, 500 should be safe, or 450.

[@JWNimble]

there is around a 90% chance that the score is less than 440.

[@pyqshawn9449]

Casandra: *:(* Casandra: *Oh its Paul Rudd. Again* 👁👄👁

[@TaylanKapcik]

LMFAOOOOOOOOO

[@janicedsilva16]

Advisor: Uh............ Maybe u are too lucky.

[@-ana_banana-2098]

DAMMIT, PAUL, I WANTED CHRIS PRATT

[@bluebod2264]

Haha funny emoji face lolololllllllllll

[@catitse2]

Mike lol

[@wakietrash2686]

Draco is like: I took a risk, but damn. I'm bad at math.

[@lauren9536]

"The risk I took was calculated." "But man," "Am I bad at math." ~Draco

[@cameronballz6154]

"I'm doing several equations in my head and they're all wrong!"

[@qwertyuiop.lkjhgfdsa]

"I'm good at quick math." 'Ok, whats a possible number from the criteria in the video.' "423" 'That's wrong.' "But it was quick."

[@PeterLarge_6]

Plot twist: Draco forgot to roll the red die on one of his turns

[@BiyanLintang]

Ha ha

[@lillithplays6514]

If only Draco had decided to be memetic and go with 420, he would've gotten away with it.

[@tkienjoyer]

dream: 1 in 7.5 trillion odds cassandra: *hold my juice box*

[@ultragamer4514]

Lol 😂 tru

[@AbhishekGupta0710]

"All hail Queen Alexa" "My queen, play despacito"

[@realm0dev515]

@@brighterblack6546 self promotion

[@priyaarti]

I snorted and now my dads looking at me weird- 🤣😂

[@dimasramadhan8955]

Lmao 🤣

[@Kiddocarus]

Hehe

[@cozyflurry]

Lol

[@KartheekTammana123]

Fact: Even if you picked Paul Rudd a 3rd time, that's still about 30 times more likely than getting a score of 700.

[@mrbetboxer7551]

What’s the math tho. Just curious

[@rithikguntur]

7,500,000,000^3 = 421,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 which is 30 times less than 13 nonillion.

[@mrbetboxer7551]

nice

[@falkorornothing261]

The heir was supposed to be picked based on arithmetic, luck, and honesty. We know Alexa isn't lucky and might not be good at math. But she is honest. Cassandra is good at arithmetic and the odds are she is luckier than Alexa. But probably not honest. The only way Alexa wins is if honesty was the only factor.

[@Jepsonduel]

@@falkorornothing261 She wins because of the 90% rule.

[@ZeroIsMany]

I struggled deciding between A and C, specifically because being lucky was considered important, but the whole statement of 90% sure kind of dictates that incredibly good scores are no good.

[@prcervi]

to good to be true is the phrase, plausible but utterly improbable

[@dragorn3212]

the 90% means that from random chance there's still a 30% chance probability that someone gets disqualified even if everyone plays fair. The best strategy would be to play the number 435 no matter what

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

​@@prcervi *too good

[@Eledan13]

What's more likely: Cassandra's rolls or tripping and falling through a foot of stone floor by having all your atoms sync up with the atoms in the floor and phase through? (btw due to quantum physics both are technically possible lol)

[@Idontwantahandle11]

Cassandra's roll

[@marcusscience23]

The atoms one is basically impossible because atoms never touch they push back. Even if your atoms align they will push back and stop you from falling through.

[@frost_co]

what's more likely: cassandra rolling 700 700 times or the universe randomly collapsing (both are possible) ps: this is pretty easy to answer ngl

[@NullWes10]

That's some backrooms type stuff right there

[@Eledan13]

@@NullWes10 I didn't know backrooms existed when I made that comment but you are right.

[@tanercaslaman]

Everybody gangsta until Cassandra hires an mathematician who has PhD in astrophysics.

[@baguettegott3409]

I still can't believe he actually did that. The whole controvercy was by far the funniest youtube drama I have ever witnessed

[@yuutsukariyuzuki6904]

damn this is good

[@blatantslander]

This is SO GOOOD

[@icewing202]

@@baguettegott3409 wait what is this referring to

[@baguettegott3409]

@@icewing202 this guy called dream, a very popular Minecraft KZbinr, had a bit of a controversy a while ago where he was accused of cheating at speedrunning Minecraft. The issue was, like with Cassandra in this video, that he was being wayyyy too lucky to be mathematically plausible. So some people wrote a big maths paper to accuse him. And he, in turn, hired an anonymous astrophysicist to mathematically prove his innocence. He was not innocent though. The maths was pretty clear, despite the astrophysicist, and eventually he also admitted to cheating I think. (He lied and said it was somehow an accident or something, but he did admit that the speedruns weren't legit)

[@Daro-Wolfe]

“Dracos score looks reasonable,” It’s Draco. He is lying.

[@trenaka9430]

“My father will hear about this!”

[@idkhonestly7163]

13 nonillion points to Gryffindor

[@Drklra]

Aye don’t diss on my favorite wheels in rocket league

[@yingo4098]

@@trenaka9430 lol

[@zahranikpour3886]

IdkHonestly Snape: 14 nonillion points *from* Gryffindor

[@TachyonKing]

If Cassandra did honestly score 700, she would not just be lucky, she would transcend the metaphysical principle of possibility. She could beat an omniscient, omnipotent being at a game of poker with royal flushes with every hand; she would be born with a genetic mutation that makes her immortal; she could deflect a comet hitting the Earth with a feather; she would not only be a queen but an empress of humanity itself, billions worshipping her as a goddess for all eternity.

[@samyakbankar5022]

King : wants his children to be honest and good at maths Also king : we will decide by a game of chance

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

Also lucky. Also the game of chance required extensive arithmetic and tested honestly by being easy to lie about your score you get during it.

[@samyakbankar5022]

@@youtubeuniversity3638 it's a joke

[@ZOCCOK]

You can win the competition to get the Throne Or *You can just eliminate the competition to get the Throne*

[@its_secret5375]

*Yeah* *this* *is* *big* *brain* *time..*

[@CheshireCad]

Or, in this case, just depend on your siblings being both dishonest, and bad at math.

[@suzanneclark7706]

Egypt has entered the group chat

[@haeretean9012]

It is indeed a Game of Thrones?

[@cl9596]

CGP Grey agree

[@muhammetkuruoglu896]

Comments be like: "Who let's their heir be chosen by a random dice roll?!" Actual Kingdoms: "Let's choose the heir by who got lucky and was born first!"

[@asheep7797]

Im guessing they were quadruplets and escaped being slain by the king’s guards.

[@TotallyNotBrad123]

Strange take on succession

[@dsamurai4725]

Well there's still a chance you can become a king without being the oldest so it's fairer

[@RafaelMunizYT]

@@dsamurai4725 killing your older brother

[@TotallyNotBrad123]

@@dsamurai4725 You misunderstood- I'm saying the idea that he thinks that "the eldest gets the throne" was a popular method of succession, historically, is strange.

[@cassandra_classic]

The real winner is the advisor. Only someone with outstanding arithmetic can figure out that 3/4 of them cheated, and that the only one that likely didn’t cheat got the average score. Plus, he was very honest, not lying about the math to pick someone he wanted to win.

[@the_void805]

Imagine getting disqualified because you’re just bad at maths

[@megarockman]

I mean, a big part of running a kingdom (or any large organization) is making sure the bookkeeping is done right.

[@franzicoy]

If you're bad at maths, your people are gonna have to tank the consequences. Assuming you haven't died already.

[@jordanhelaine]

got this right bc i have a bias towards ppl named alexa🤪

[@NowNormal]

They must be good at addition, the rules say.

[@billyquan7341]

Plot twist: Draco was the honest one but he is just not good at math so he miscounted

[@notrowerz4654]

Yeah but the king specified that they have to be good at arithmetic so it doesn't matter whether he was honest

[@tpose8280]

@@notrowerz4654 yeah

[@yasminlakeman8017]

@@notrowerz4654 That is true, although it complicates it since it said they need to be "above all honest", thus his honesty would be more important than his arithmetic skills

[@scarletfever3086]

@@yasminlakeman8017 howeverrrrr you are wrong about it being complicated. the three qualities were honest, good at arithmetics, and lucky. honesty was above all else so we can assume arithmetic skills and luck are even in his book. _both_ alexa and draco were honest so the advisor had to look at the other attributes. alexa was good at arithmetics, although unlucky. draco was bad at arithmetics and.... we have no idea how lucky. so alexa wins.

[@yangnicole904]

@@notrowerz4654 true

[@spmagic9083]

Shouldn't you be his successor, doing all this math and all? The advisor fits the conditions perfectly!

[@vari1535]

You're not one of his children though

[@leosong829]

@@vari1535 lol

[@EGRJ]

You can be the Grand Vizier or Chancellor. The real power in the kingdom. Or maybe you and Alexa just make a highly-competent team. Who knows?

[@spmagic9083]

@@vari1535 There are instances like that where the king can appoint someone who is not his child.

[@adityamohan1773]

Another life ruined by Nepotism.

[@maxischew514]

Step 1: Confirm you have green eyes Step 2: overthrow the king and declare yourself as the new king.

[@kahootking7367]

Step 4: put blue egg in dispenser

[@livesports6325]

Step 5: betray player 2 and your owner as the spy

[@aurorawizard7045]

Step 6: Choose the Noether 9000 and banish the other heirs to a mountain

[@NotPythagoreas]

I feel like the green-eyed puzzle is the most common riddle to make comments on other riddle videos

[@NotPythagoreas]

Step 4: trap the king with length 43 wall segments

[@Handles-Suck-YouTube]

Genuinely can't believe how stoked I was at getting this right. I think this riddle just single-handedly rekindled an interest in mathematics my middle school teacher killed stone dead 17 years ago.

[@gauravnegi4312]

Poor cassandra, she may the luckiest person alive but her the luck was beyond our logic so she got disqualified. Someone now write a book named cassandra's Redemption.

[@daviddoesstuffandthingigue966]

"DrEaM dIdN't ChEaT hE wAs JuSt VeRy LuCkY"

[@mslilymadeline]

but think this way, if she was the luckiest person... she would've won the competition

[@marcusscience23]

She was UNLUCKY fro getting disqualified when she would have won. So, she doesn't meet the criteria anymore

[@drippychoco3057]

@@mslilymadeline she is the luckiest person, but not just not smart. now if she showed them her rolling the dice again 20x, I’m sure they would then know she didn’t cheat. But she wasn’t smart

[@marcusscience23]

@@drippychoco3057 What if she rolls a 100 (FYI, it's equally as rare but the lowest possible total instead of the highest)

[@ShauryaSingh-ts2oc]

Cassandra : OMG I scored 700 now I can show father how capabl- Me: _DISQUALIFIED_ *Sad Cassandra Noises*

[@monitor4984]

Since she got an unlikely score, she's unlucky be the terms of the contest ;)

[@zahranikpour3886]

The unluckiest unluckiest person

[@random20000]

@@zahranikpour3886 the unluckiest luckies person alive***

[@zahranikpour3886]

Ragini Omg You mean, the unluckiest unluckiest luckiest person alive 😌

[@syingxi]

The unluckiest luckiest person 😉😌

[@chacenakamura8112]

Plot twist: Draco forgot to add the 2 when he rolled a 3 and 2

[@keeganrasmussen977]

Usually the odds are the number of sides, plus 1, times the number of dice, all times the number of rolls... But in this test, draco is obviously a wizard and a Slytherin at that... We all know who won

[@JTD_64]

Who doesn't answer the riddles and just watches it and be like "hmmm very interesting"

[@alexanderjoseph5380]

That's me most of the time, but I actually got this one.

[@pageturner2958]

Yeah...

[@randombanana640]

not me

[@JTD_64]

I feel like the odd one out D:

[@theamazingcatwizard3654]

I just had a mega brain moment and new it would be Alexa just from looking.

[@emeraldsstudio8352]

If Cassandra was just so lucky that she actually got a 700 but because of how unbelievable it is she is disqualified. DJ Khaled - Suffering from Success

[@marcusscience23]

Emerald's Studio that makes her unlucky and not meeting the criteria Edit: she was unlucky from being disqualified, not from getting a score of 700.

[@yashtheandroid3855]

@@marcusscience23 wtf is your logic that makes her super lucky

[@potatoman8609]

@@yashtheandroid3855 Because she was unlucky to get disqualified from being lucky.

[@winnersduplicate554]

@@potatoman8609 no, it’s logic.

[@lucykitsune4619]

I mean at that point you can always be dishonest and make your score 400. If you're smart enough to calculate the highest possible score you should be smart enough to calculate the expected average score if you repeat this dice-rolling infinite times...

[@Vladimir5024]

I mean, this is actually a very good way to choose your heir. It tests literally everyone. King is the real insanely inteligent person there.

[@rajtagore6047]

2:33 the smiles on those kids while showing their bogus numbers

[@arleneazurin]

Tbh, the adviser should’ve been the King if he was that good at Math, that lucky to be the King’s Chief Adviser and that honest to the King.

[@gpaderx6105]

so, it means, it's you.

[@gpaderx6105]

this comment should be on top too.. lol..

[@marowakcity3727]

Yeah, but, y’know *Nepotism*

[@ptgram24]

@@marowakcity3727 more like *monarchy*

[@littlekuribohimposte]

Advisor is a safer posotion. If things go bad the people don't want the advisor's head on a pike outside the Bastille.

[@wilbraley1660]

Man i chose Cassandra because she was the only one that kept her eyes steadily on the screen at 2:00 and thus wasn’t lying like the rest of her shifty-eyed siblings

[@PtylerBeats]

That’s not how tells work lol

[@bronxbombers1314]

I’ve gone through 4 videos now and I’m so happy I finally got one right! Even if it was a tad easier than some of the others it made me feel smart lol

[@the4ofus716]

Imagine you were Cassandra and actually got that score, I would be so MAD

[@marcusscience23]

You would be UNLUCKY to be disqualified so you wouldn't be so lucky after all

[@cloroxbleach7554]

I feel bad for Cassandra. Next time they should install CCTVs into the rolling rooms and have a close up recording of the dice.

[@cursedgame3874]

@Burning Rubbish I agree.

[@nathanjohnpalaogaming4872]

@Burning Rubbish windows would work.

[@daryfitrady7590]

This reminds me of a certain standupmaths video

[@daryfitrady7590]

@Burning Rubbish Sure is, the advisor found Paul Rudd

[@yuichitwong9629]

I have a feeling that it was the king who was lying. This test is meant to pick out the most able advisor, not heir.

[@kaijuhunter7458]

Minecraft speedrunning mods: Dream had a one in 140 billion chance to get RNG this good, he's obviously cheating Cassandra's dice: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

[@LegitSiForNow]

knew this would come up, good job snatching the chance

[@DeathnoteBB]

I was looking for this comment. Thank you

[@pepper4632]

Still 1 in 140 billion is still a lower chace than pulling Paul Rudd twice

[@Ripurlife]

@@pepper4632 it's 7.5b multiply with itself, not 7.5b multiply with 2

[@saulmoment4008]

"iT's sTiLL a pRobAbiLiTy sO iT's pOsSiBLe dReAm diDn'T cHeAt bRo biLL nYe cOnfiRmEd iT"

[@calvinwilkins6233]

This is the first Ted-Ed riddle that I've ever solved. I'm totally cool with watching them and living with the fact that they don't make sense, but this one made me proud.

[@user-hn1ip3zc3v]

The best number to pick in my opinion is 630 as this is 90% of 700 and therefore the highest number you can have and be within the 90% confidence interval. The adjudicator may disbelieve you (as I would) but he isn’t allowed to disqualify you according to the rules.

[@SocialistNerd]

But the 90% confidence is based off advisors personal opinion

[@sirnikkel6746]

Plot twist: This was a trick of the king for testing you as a trustable advisor.

[@Sonofsun.]

Its good test

[@Sonofsun.]

Its a pretty good test for selecting an adviser

[@user0724-Taiwan]

Imagine Draco's result was 425 but he wrote it wrong and so he lost the throne .

[@Hewhoroamstheinternet]

But they have to be good in arithmetics.

[@Someonew-hs8zg]

@@Hewhoroamstheinternet Huh, that's true!

[@scarfedblade]

he should've had 420 man

[@nyanSynxPHOENIX]

@@anishmitra8567 It didn't say they have to be the closest to average, but they had to be believable. Even 500 would be within a 90% probability.

[@superdivinus987]

The second riddle that i was able to solve. It feels so good. I love your riddles, they are so good

[@zacherychapman8474]

*Narrator:* "All hail queen Alexa!" *The Alexa on my counter:* I accept your fealty.

[@thursdaythursd]

Imagine, Cassandra did in fact play fair but you thought she was lying, she goes on to get orphaned and adopted by another royal family and rolls the exact same and that royal family also thinks she is lying then orphaned again but adopted by a normal family, she goes on to get struck by lightning and gets superpowers then gets a lottery ticket and wins.

[@zyxasry]

Wot?

[@nadian848]

SOMEONE- SOMEONE WRITE THIS

[@thursdaythursd]

Nadia N I did

[@nadian848]

Ella McNoname like- a book. I want a b o o k . You wrote a book?

[@thursdaythursd]

Nadia N it was a very short one in the comments of this video, it’s the one we’re replying to.

[@Beefman.0]

Nah I’m gonna take the chance that Cassandra is literally the luckiest person alive, can you imagine having someone like that in charge of the country?

[@asheep7797]

She probably used up all her luck points, so there’s probably going to be a civil war the day after she is crowned.

[@soulreaverable]

@Roselle's Fantasies hol up

[@milk-om7ll]

She luckiest in getting the rarest number but also unluckiest for getting the least believable

[@tyrannicalmuffin1442]

Improbable is not impossible

[@filipfilip1507]

@Roselle's Fantasies you need to expand on this

[@Michael-rx7ff]

This is the first (and only) TedEd riddle I’ve been able to solve!

[@CorgiusLord]

I'm actually really excited I got this right in actually pausing the video. Draco got me to actually consider the math.

[@spiderFern]

You know, all this heir selection does is pick either the most honest candidate, or the one who's best at lying, and it's way more skewed toward those better at lying. Bertram made an unbelievable lie, Draco made a more believable but still impossible lie, Cassandra either told the truth and was really lucky or didn't quite lie well enough, and Alexa either told the truth and was slightly unlucky or was the best liar of the heirs. Considering how many of the others did or probably did lie, Alexa lying and picking a smaller, reasonable, and more probable number would actually make her way more likely to become queen if she had any idea that the others would lie.

[@Cysfer]

Ummm. Yes

[@annettesnyder3451]

"All hail Queen Alexa" "My queen, play despacito"

[@numbernumber25]

Yup, Alexa and Cassadra are only ones that could be telling truth as both have numbers within the realm of possibility. But there is no sure way that we would know that either of them is lying so we would go with the most likely odds, even though luck could have given Cassandra the edge on hitting the highest score or giving Alexa the odds on hitting a reasonable score. Or the way their luck is seen is that the luck will get the person to win rather than just a highscore. Either way this really could go two ways, just one more likely than another.

[@jammer523691aj]

Or they could just actually roll their dice. Alexa would have no real reason to spend time making up a reasonable number when she could generate a legitimately reasonable number in a few minutes. With the premise that she would know the others would lie, it would actually be very detrimental to lie.

[@BartixShieldsmen]

Alexa would still be the best candidate as she is both least likely to lie since she chose to fake a score below average and second because she either had the arithmetic to figure out the average score and that the answer must be a multiple of 5 OR she actually rolled the dice.

[@sour__casm]

Even if Cassandra did really get 700 and then got disqualified because the advisor felt she was cheating then that makes her unlucky and so she doesn't meet the criteria to be the next ruler.

[@matyan5170]

thats ingenius man

[@greywaren6034]

Not really, the adviser didn’t decide wether to disqualify Cassandra by flipping a coin, he used logic. Anybody else would have been disqualified, not just Cassandra.

[@ConnAndTheThings]

I got this but for a different reason - I added up all the dice numbers for 120, times by the number of rolls for 2400 and divided by the number of sides on a side for the likelihood each side would show - 400, and 385 is the closest to this average

[@UsernameNotTaken2]

Meanwhile, poor Casandra who got picked by the god of luck to be queen and is genuinely amazed at her own luck is feeling cheated in the corner.

[@user-mo8no7ko1n]

Bertram achieving 840 is like that one time as a kid I was playing a card game and announced that I had "5 aces" before promptly being called out for it, LOL

[@poisonedmaple6874]

I mean, if its one of those decks you find at a school that are really screwed up then...

[@xlsfd]

That depends if it is a game played with more than one deck or not.

[@loveslycooper]

First time I played liers dice, I said that I had 72. To be fair, I was quite drunk.

[@frankydman]

“Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony!” “Well, I suppose we could roll some dice...”

[@bravomike4734]

"Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!"

[@IrvingIV]

@@bravomike4734 (Transforms you into a jpeg, reduces quality, and reuploads you.)

[@bravomike4734]

"Did you see that? Did anyone see that?"

[@iamhub2736]

but what if its an African swallow

[@omaralawadhi6903]

@@iamhub2736 then we will be rolling coconuts

[@spamtongspamton9900]

I LIKE HOW THE “[at least 90% sure]” PART IMPLIES YOU CAN CONVERT [[sureness]] INTO [[percentages]]

[@AstroCharts]

i really love the way of teaching this mathematical problem/stuff, All the education system should follow this style.

[@nqh4393]

Plot twist: Cassandra was the luckiest human ever who would discover a cure-all drug for human-retated diseases by pure chance had she been made queen, so you just missed out big time.

[@TheGreatDrake]

But the very fact she rolled a 700 and was disqualified because of it means she wasn't the luckiest she was the least lucky so yeah she would of created the cure all drug and then accidentally spilled it all over her notes destroying them.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@@TheGreatDrake *would have

[@yummyshape3908]

@Fernando the Boomer Knarmd Then by pure chance it was flammable and it got burned into ashes

[@emanueltheodorus1056]

That's also what happened to Cassandra in Greek myth who was curse with telling true prophecy but will be ignored by everyone.

[@ashn7146]

Plot twist: the king was unluckier than Cassandra was lucky because he made the rule to find the luckiest child, but accidently disqualified his luckiest child instead for his least lucky child.

[@captive-audience]

My favourite part of this riddle is Paul Rudd.

[@OfficialBaconFam]

Supprisingly, this was easy! Lucky: The child should roll the dice with the highest numbers 20x in a row cauculate the highest score u can get for 1 roll and multiply it by 20 and honest will follow along

[@allenson321]

I had acually solved this on my own, the first too exactly as he had described. The last one, the 423, I used a formula to prove it was impossible. A2+B7+C12+D17+20=E with the condition of A+B+C+D=40. When thrown into a calculator correctly you can see all of the possible outcomes WITH what numbers rolled and how many. For those that may inquire about the red dice numbers, that is what the +20 covers as each red dice number is just 1 more then the closest blue dice number. So we can understand that a red dice is functionally the same as a blue dice +1 so with 20 red dice rolls thats +20.

[@-M-0-T-H-]

Bro just explained what my math class expected us to learn in 1st grade

[@mmmmmmmmmmmmm]

by number theory that's impossible even without the condition that they sum to 40

[@WlngDlngBat]

No one will believe Cassandra anyway. And Draco’s father will hear about this, obviously. 😂

[@xxx_these.flightless.wings_xxx]

Ah yes I was waiting for this comment

[@funtm7]

yeah, Draco's father is the king.

[@Baby1234Blue]

@@funtm7 Ummm... You don't get the reference.

[@hilal_younus]

HP reference ;

[@WlngDlngBat]

@@brazenRenascent, its cause he thinks it matches his eye color. ;D

[@pierrei.4203]

Is Cassandra named this way because nobody believes her score, in reference to Greek mythology? (I have understood that her name must begin by C of course ...)

[@leorettie2252]

You've cracked the code

[@siegfried1422]

I spy with my little eye The Izzet League

[@leorettie2252]

@@siegfried1422 yay another magic nerd

[@siegfried1422]

Dang right

[@rxlu]

Izzet True?

[@nathangraber8447]

That was really cool, I was able to calculate out that the average expected score would be 400, but realizing that possible answers had to end in a multiple of 5 totally went over my head! Number theory is like magic.

[@StarSpark3071]

I applaud you for still figuring some of it out

[@claudiusflavius2493]

Imagine the lottery never cashing out because the winner is always too lucky.

[@jacopocongiu6917]

Ted-Ed: Can you solve the- Me: Not a chance, but I'll watch it anyways

[@Irondragon1945]

For once, I tried the riddle and got it right!

[@shikhasinha736]

@@Irondragon1945 You are too dangerous to be left alive

[@Irondragon1945]

@@shikhasinha736 _good luck i am hiding behind 500 more riddles_

[@chiragcrao160]

this was one of the easiest puzzles

[@microz0258]

This one is actually easy 😃 unlike some of their older ones 🤩🔪

[@shmoovinfast4326]

Cassandra and Dream should both have a party and win the lottery together.

[@lucinda_null]

Lmao

[@gokaytaspnar1355]

Lol

[@marcusscience23]

Cheat it to beat it

[@xhqrry-san]

LOL

[@peterkaymakcian]

Yo this video was awesome! Thank you

[@Willbo-ft6oy]

This is the first Ted Ed riddle I've been able to solve. My life is now complete

[@bobthebuilder2789]

The easier answer: Step one: Check that you have green eyes Step two: Ask the cheating children to leave

[@rania9534]

What?

[@sellin8483]

I found the reference!

[@iamhub2736]

no talking about eye colors!!!!!!!!

[@sellin8483]

@@iamhub2736 that's the way we do it here

[@underrated1524]

@@rania9534 Let me fill you in on the in-joke here. One of the earlier featured riddles on this channel boiled down to: "There are 100 prisoners on an island and all have green eyes. Any one can ask to leave at any time; if they have green eyes, they will be freed, but if they do not, they will be executed. None of them know their own eye color, none of them can check their eye color or communicate with each other, and none of them are willing to risk leaving unless they know for certain their eyes are green. What one statement can you make to the 100 prisoners that results in their escape *without* giving them any new information?" So the in-joke is to apply the "green eyes are a free ticket to leave" logic to every other riddle in some form or another.

[@Panda_Roll]

King: "I want my heir to be lucky" Royal Vasir: Nope, can't have that!

[@currystud]

I finally got one of these riddles before watching the answer!!

[@lunashasharma1074]

Plot twist: Cassandra actually played fair and got lucky while Alexa just picked a random number that turned out to be the most reasonable

[@WilliamJohnson-xk2fk]

An interesting question to ask might be "what is the highest score a contender might present that would fall within the 90% confidence interval?"

[@snehathomas8110]

English Please

[@WilliamJohnson-xk2fk]

@@snehathomas8110 In other words: from a statistical perspective, given an infinite number of games whereupon a contestant follows the rules provided, what would be the threshold at which 90% of scores would be at or below. Put simply, but less accurately: if 10 people play the game, what would be the average of the 1st and 2nd place scores.

[@31.vaishanavikurup20]

Well I just took 90% of 700 lol it's 630 so ig it's around that score

[@loveslycooper]

@@31.vaishanavikurup20 That's not really how it works, though. It's probably somewhat of a normal distribution, with scores around the middle being relatively common, and scores close to 700 being essentially impossible.

[@rondameravella2885]

@@snehathomas8110 That was English...

[@user-jd4so3hr3t]

What's so fascinating about their riddles is that at first, it seems so complicated with many restrictions and requirements, but as the video progresses, the problem gets simplified more and more and more until a point you go: "God, it's so simple, why didn't think of that earlier?" That's what keeps you clicking on their riddles again and again, even though you know you won't get it right. That's the magic of riddles.

[@pazarposeti1649]

Meanwhile in a realistic scenario, the servant hears the results and chooses the one who will benefit him the most.