hard
Logic Reasoning
12 min

The Stairway to Heaven

The Puzzle

Two stairways lead to Heaven or Hell. Three guards stand before them: an Angel (truthful), a Devil (lies), and a Human (unpredictable). You don't know who is who. You can ask two yes/no questions total (to any guards). Each guard knows the others' identities. How do you find Heaven's stairway?

Choose your answer:

Ask each guard if they're the Angel
Use meta-questions to identify the Human first
Ask about the stairways directly
It's impossible with just two questions

Need a Hint?

Solution

Related Puzzles

Three Villagers: Angel, Demon, or Human?

easy
5 min

In front of you stand three villagers: One is an Angel (always tells the truth), one is a Demon (always lies), and one is a Human (sometimes tells the truth, sometimes lies). Each makes one statement: A says: 'I am not the Angel.' B says: 'I am not the Demon.' C says: 'I am not a Human.' What are the true identities of A, B, and C?

The Three Boxes Challenge

medium
7 min

There are three boxes: one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. Each box is labeled, but ALL labels are wrong. You can pick one fruit from one box. How can you correctly label all three boxes?

What Day Is Today?

medium
8 min

Seven colleagues are discussing what day today is. Each makes one statement: A: 'The day after tomorrow is Wednesday.' B: 'No, today is Friday.' C: 'That's wrong, tomorrow is Wednesday.' D: 'Today is neither Monday, nor Wednesday, nor Friday.' E: 'Yesterday was Thursday.' F: 'Tomorrow is Thursday.' G: 'Yesterday wasn't Saturday.' Only ONE person is telling the truth. What day is it?