Can you solve the rogue submarine riddle? - Alex Rosenthal 

Well, this is definitely one of our most difficult riddles! Did anyone manage to figure it out? Let us know how you did it ⬇️

I was scuba diving one time in the Indian Ocean and I saw a submarine with minions and a nuclear weapon being launched. I watched this video and was able to stop it. Thanks Ted Ed

I think the real question is “Why would you secure 2 nuclear lock codes with a single digit?”

That boss should have thought twice before giving the codes to minions who are “expert logicians”

Normally once they explain how to solve the riddle, I'm able to follow along and go "Oh, that makes sense." This one, I'm still just as lost as when I pressed play.

So the boss didn’t want the minions to know each other’s code, but then nonchalantly tells them how to find it?

1:36: "6. The minions are expert logicians." Then why are they stuck as minions?

"Can you solve the rogue submarine riddle?" I know I never can. I just enjoy the video.

I got a little confused with the “two or more whole numbers” and went with two or more digits per code. Still had fun!

Difficulty level: master Ah yes, becouse all of the other riddles are just too easy

Hears the question: **confusion** Hears the solution: **even more confusion**

This is only the baby version of the riddle. The original one goes like this: Two perfect logicians, S and P, are told that integers x and y have been chosen such that 1 < x < y and x+y < 100. S is given the value x+y and P is given the value xy. They then have the following conversation. P: I cannot determine the two numbers. S: I knew that. P: Now I can determine them. S: So can I. Given that the above statements are true, what are the two numbers?

I love that I've watched enough of these to recognize that the minions being able to figure out each other's answer is actually useful information. Still can't solve it, but I'm interested to see how it works in the solution.

The real genius here is B, he understood what A's number was in no time. He should get a rise and become the BBEG of the sequel to this video...

*Puts gun to head pointblank* "What's the code? Don't make me ask twice." *Nuclear unarmed, world saved.*

"Can you solve this riddle?" Of course not, but I'm going to watch this anyways

*Boss after his integer explanation* A:that’s oddly specific boss… B:Yeah really specific… Boss: at least my name parents didn’t name me A or B! A+B: *SADNESS*

When Ted-Ed adds the difficulty level to the riddles, I know I am up for the challenge to solve them.

The big boss is the true definition of *”When the villain talks too much about their plans”*

I was confused by what it meant for an integer to have 2 elements, when it actually meant that the set had 2 elements. And later the explanation didn’t clearly distinguish between the reasoning would lead to B knowing, and the reasoning would lead to B not knowing; I thought it was a single line of reasoning, and then suddenly we’re left with 4 options, whoa!

"I don't know if two one-digit launch codes really make logical sense as security." "Well, remember, B, we know that we're perfect logicians, but the boss might not be."

thank you youtube for recommending this to me based on recent events

I got lost a little. The boss says he chose numbers less than 7, but did he specify that the sum and product must also be less than 7?

Plot twist: the boss was not perfectly logical, did a miscalculation, and now you're locked out.

Step 1: Confirm you have Green Eyes Step 2: ask the minions for the 2 pass codes

I love how everyone in Ted-ed's puzzles are expert logicians, who can solve multi step processes within minutes mentally.

I think I solved the riddle in about ten minutes. Wasn't timing it, so we'll never know if I could've saved the world.

Ted riddles are like: "so, a duck is falling from the sky into a fantasy lake that will start a chain reaction and set the world of fire, but if you manage to shout out the numeric sequence that god was thinking at the time of creation you can prevent it. Here are some incredibly random clues about said number, can you save the world?"

Boss: "I can't let my minions be able to launch the nukes on their own. I must ensure the security of my assets!" Also boss: *makes the password to launch the nukes 2 one digit numbers."

These stories are always so outlandish and unrealistic :D It's obvious that someone finds or comes up with a riddle and then the storyline is forcibly shoehorned around it. But it's super funny to me. The riddles and the animations are always superb and the seriousness of the presentation makes the "story" very enjoable. And of course it makes it all easier to grasp too.

I'm blessed with a perfectly timed upload of ted ed

i love how it's incredibly complicated and takes A LOT of steps more than you think it would, when you were just playing with SUCH SMALL NUMBERS

I love how they removed the "Difficulty: Master" part of the title

Ah yes, now I know not to give minions a one-digit code next time. I'll give them a 2 digit one :D

1:00 just your everyday conversation with your boss

Don't worry guys I solved this and now imma go save those people

being brought back here after a certain something really makes me laugh

Mr Ted, in future I would greatly appreciate if in puzzles like this the characters were named something more specific than "A" and "B", and maybe if they had contrasting character designs. It's easier to follow along with the explanation if I can tell who thinks what

I like how the laptop is RGB, the little details

I think I've got another solution by thinking about missing numbers from the set of (1,2,3,4,5,6) instead. - If the boss choose (3,4,5,6), then A has 18 and B has 360. - A will not be sure if (1,2) or (3) are missing, while B will not be sure if (1,2) or (2) are missing. - However if only (2) is missing, A would have had 19 and A would immediately know the boss set. (There is only one set that sum is 19.) - After A stated that 'I don't know', B now knows that (1,2) are missing and A got 18. - After A knows that B knows, A is now certain (1,2) are missing and B got 360. - Because if (3) is missing instead, B would have got 240, which means B are not sure if (1,3) or (3) are missing, which means B are not sure if A has 17 or 18, but each number does not have unique set like 19; 17 could be (1,2,3,5,6) or (2,4,5,6) while 18 could be (1,2,4,5,6) or (3,4,5,6).

There are difficulty levels now?! I probably still can't solve baby difficulty riddles...

I misunderstood the riddle. I thought the sums and products could be greater than 7, but the numbers comprising the sums/products couldn't be greater than 7. I might have made it harder on myself. Oh well, too late, I looked at the answer.

Is this puzzle has a bug or someone has the answer ? Why can't A=6 and B=5 be the second answer ? Since 6= 1+5 or 2+4 or 1+2+3 and now switch it to B's side, 2*4=8 and 1*2*3=6 (Which 8 :"" 1*2*4 or 2*4 "" and 6: "" 1*2*3 or 2*3 ""can't be B's answer. Because if they are B's answer then he wouldn't sure what A got) Therefore, the moment B says "I know your answer" A can figure out B's answer is 1*5=5.

Rule 1 REALLY needs to be reworded. I needed to see part of the explanation and then re-read it a few times to link it as a "set with at least 2 elements". Initially, I was trying to figure out how the numbers "had" 2 elements and what those "elements" even were. I was also confused as to what subject the "In other words" was rewording - the whole rule or the "elements" part. Either keep only the "In other words" or change it to "chose at least 2 distinct positive integers".

I don't think this is explained well by the video, so let me see if I can do better. First, let's look at things from Minion B's perspective. The only ways Minion B could definitively know Minion A's code is if his code only had one set of factors below 7 (that doesn't have repeating numbers). In other words, Minion B would automatically know Minion A's code if Minion B's code was any of the following: 2 because 1x2 is its only set of factors without repeats. 3 because 1x3 is its only set of factors without repeats. 4 because 1x4 is its only set of factors without repeats. 5 because 1x5 is its only set of factors without repeats. All other codes which Minion B code have: 6, 8, 10, 12, etc. all have multiple sets of factors without repeats, and thus Minion B's code were one of these, he would not automatically know Minion A's code. For example, 6 has 1x2x3 and 2x3. 10 has 1x2x5 and 2x5. Now, let's look at it from Minion A's perspective. There are some codes which Minion B can't ever have, and Minion A knows this. For example, Minion B can't have a code of 7, because the only set of factors for 7 is 1x7 and 7 is not a valid element (as the rules say all elements must be distinct and below 7). Since 3 can only be gotten by adding 1+2 (as all elements must be distinct, positive, and whole), Minion A would know Minion B's code is 2 if Minion A has a code of 3. Since 4 can only be gotten by adding 1+3 (as all elements must be distinct, positive, and whole), Minion A would know Minion B's code is 3 if Minion A has a code of 4. Given the above information we determined from Minion B's perspective, they would both be able to figure out the other's code without any input from each other in either of these scenarios. By Minion A saying "I don't know whether you know my number", he is really saying "It is possible you already know my code because my code is the sum of adding 1 to either 4 or 5. However, it is ALSO possible you don't already know my code because my code can be the sum of adding OTHER numbers, too!" or simply "My code is 5 or 6." If Minion A's code was 5, it could be gotten by if the elements were 1+4 or 2+3. Minion B's code would then either be either 4 (1x4) or 6 (2x3) respectively. If Minion A's code was 6, it could be gotten by if the elements were 1+5, 1+2+3, or 2+4. Minion B's code would either be 5 (1x5), 6 (1x2x3) or 8 (2x4) respectively. In other words, we know that Minion B's code is 4, 5, 6, or 8. Minion B then begins his response with: "I know your number..." Minion B would NOT know Minion A's code if Minion B's code was 6, because both possibilities for Minion A's code are still possible in that scenario. Thus, Minion B's code is either 4, 5, or 8. If Minion B's code was 4, it only could be gotten by if the elements were 1x4, and Minion A would have a code of 5 (1+4). If Minion B's code was 5, it only could be gotten by if the elements were 1x5, and Minion A would have a code of 6 (1+5). If Minion B's code was 8, it could be gotten if the elements were 2x4 or 1x2x4, and Minion A would have a code of either 6 (2+4) or 7 (1+2+4). In other words, we have 4 possibilities: A=5, B=4 A=6, B=5 A=6, B=8 A=7, B=8 Minion A already covertly indicated his code was either 5 or 6, so the last one is eliminated. Minion B ended his response with: "...and now I know you know my number too." If Minion A's code was 6, the second and third options would both be possible, and Minion A would not know Minion B's code. Since Minion B indicated that Minion A knows his code, we can deduce that the first option must therefore be the correct option. A's code is 5, B's code is 4.

Too bad people on the Titan submarine didn't know such override code

This editing is crazy good. Also I love the narration, and the riddle is very hard, not for casuals like me. If only I had green eyes...

Thank you Ted-Ed for believing I ACTUALLY have the ability to solve this riddle. I failed by the way, but I mean it was fun to watch.

The piece where the boss comes and tells the information needed by the protagonist reminds me of so many films ;)

Teacher: The test isn't that hard The test: 1:30

Alright so I'm gonna be honest here chief these are usually fun little brain teasers but right now I've heard the thing explained to me about 4 times already and the only thing I'm feeling is my brain dripping out of my ears.

In my opinion, when B says "I know your number, and now know..." it implies that he knew A's number before A said anything. This makes sense if B has the product 4 or 5 but does not make sense if the product was 8. If A had the sum 6 and B had product 8, he would be able to infer that A has 6 only after A has spoken and indicated that the sum must be 5 or 6. In this case, B would have said "I now know your number, and...". Therefore, A having the sum of 6 and B having the product 5 is also a valid solution as A will know that the product cannot be 8 based on the wording.

Oh hey, a new riddle! Not that I can solve it on my own, I just like to see the story behind each one lol

This is probably the hardest solution I’ve heard from these riddles. Like I usually understand the solution when explained but I’m even more confused now after hearing it.

Everybody's talking about how the boss spelled out the solution for finding out the launch codes for his minions, but can we talk about that both launch codes were single-digit numbers?

This one is actually hard, one of the few on this channel that I didn't managed to solve right away (but I did get very close). I have a feeling that the number must be very small and there is only 2 number in the set (otherwise there will be way too many cases to consider). Then, I realize that the set must have 1, because otherwise B wouldn't possibly know the answer even if it can be factored (i.e, if B's number = A x B, the set could be (1, A, B) or (A, B), which result it different sums). After this, I only tried found (1, 5), and it seems to be working. After watching the solution, I know (1, 4) works, but I still don't understand why (1, 5) does not work. A's statement is quite self explanatory: when A knows he has 6, B could have 5 (1x5), in which he knows A's number (even before A say anything). B could also have 8 (2x4, 1x2x4) or 6 (2x3, 1x2x3), in which B cannot tell A's number. So A knows that depending on B's number, B could know the underlying set, which gives A's number, or B could not. So he said "I don't know if you know". B's first part also works if B has 5=1x5. However, B knows A will know the underlying set after he said "I know your numbers". This is because he knows A has 6, which can has product of any of 5, 6, 8, and B has 5 is the only possibility that B would know the set (and thus A's number). This means if we separate B's statement (i.e., suppose B said 2 sentences and A comprehend them sequentially), it actually works.

this follows the same sort of logic as the bonus harry potter "how many times did you watch the titanic" riddle!

This is probably one of TedEd's hardest puzzles, and yet I figured it out in about a single minute (and lying in bed before sleep), yet I had failed to figure out dozens of much easier puzzles before this. Funny how our brain works! The clue for me was that the boss's two original numbers were distinct, so 1 and 4 are good numbers because their product (4) can only be made in a single way (since 2 and 2 are duplicates). 1 and 5 would add up to 6 which could, however, also be a factor of 2 and 3 so the other minion wouldn't have been able to narrow it down like he did. So the originals must have been 1 and 4.

This riddle requires you to know what *"the elements of an integer"* means, which I do not know and this video did not explain.

I think this is the first time that I was both unable to solve the riddle, _and_ unable to grasp how the solution was deduced

The rules for this one did not mention that the numbers the boss provided were under 7, they only mentioned that the elements of the numbers were under 7, not the actual product or sum. This led me to see that the only way they could each know which number they had was 21 and 720. Because in the scenario described you can have at least 2 elements. So the only way to be certain is to have all of the elements under 7 non repeating. Something like 123456.

I have a much simpler solution: 1. Confirm you have green eyes 2. Get into House Minotaur 3. Escape the 3 alien overlords 4. Confront the 2 minions & challenge them to a wizard duel 4.5. Use the worst wand available & miss 5. Once defeating the minions, ask them to stop the missile for you

I’m so happy :))) This is the first Ted riddle that I managed to solve in my head without the use of scratch paper!

Question: Why would the boss even consider that random fact about the numbers to be worth sharing or considered as “funny story”?

I'm upset. I interpreted the rules to mean each minion had at least a 2 digit code based off the boss's secret number, and I spent a few minutes reasoning from their responses that the code would then have to be based off of three digits: 6, 5, and 2. Minion A's code was 13 and B's was 60. There must be a better way to word this riddle, or maybe show examples first.

This was probably the most confusing riddle I've ever watched on this channel

Hits different in 2023

I love how the big boss was just rambling x2 speed about math-related stuff and I couldn’t understand a single thing, but minion B was like: “Oh now I know your number and you know mine too!”

I was quite close, but tripped up by 1:20 "B thinks this over." If B's product is 4, then the information A presents is actually irrelevant -- B immediately knows A's number, as 1x4 is the only possible way for this to be the product, and 5 must therefore be the sum. But B "thinking this over" got me into the headspace that A's information was NECESSARY for B to know A's number. I came down to 5 & 4 or 6 & 8, but went with 6 & 8 because of this trip-up. Argh...

Honestly, the only good riddles on youtube

This did not age well

In fact, there are two valid solutions to this puzzle. A set of at least two distinct positive integers that are less than 7 means that pairs, triplets, sets of 4, sets of 5 and a set of 6 are considered (1,2,3,4,5,6). These add up to 57 possibilities for the set chosen by the boss. When A says: I don't know whether you know my number, that eliminates only 2 possibilities (1,2) and (1,3) (as per the video) When B says I know your number, basically, they say the product of the numbers in the set is unique, that is 1, 2 ; 1, 3; 1,4 and 1,5. The first two have already been eliminated at the previous step, therefore the remaining ones are valid solutions: 1,4 and 1,5. Why is 1, 5 valid? The video states that if A had 6, they wouldn't have known that B had 5 or 8. But that's not correct, because after B says I know your number, A knows that there are only two possibilities left, and A also knows their own number (which we do not), meaning that if A had 5, they would now know B had 4; and if A had 6 they would know B had 5. In other words, B's statement "now I know you know my number too" is valid whenever there are distinct options available (in this case 2) So the valid codes are (A,B): (5,4) and (6,5) meaning that unfortunately we would have to make a guess with 50% probability of success to crack the code.

Step 1 : Confirm you have green eyes Step 2 : Ask the green minions to give you the code I'm Sorry

someone: how did you stop a nuclear missile launch? me: I watch TED-ed.

Ah yes 1 digit nuclear code

Step 1: Tell the minions that at least one of them has green eyes Step 2: Ask the minions to ask the boss to leave

This was tough, especially the part about decoding "I don't know whether you know my number"!

One thing that I found ambiguous was B saying "I know your number", instead of "I NOW know your number." Because "I know your number" could also mean conversationally that B knew A's number before A's statement. But given either interpretation was able to solve!

I solved this using excel (to be quicker). Listed all the possible combinations of numbers 1to 6 without repeating digits (there's 57 combination), then calculated the sum and product of the digits. Looked for the non duplicate values in the product column that had a duplicate value on the sum column, and voila the sum is 5, the product is 4 and the seed digits are 1 and 4.

These riddles be like: You see Godzilla ridning a rocketship flying at you, the only way to stop it beat this random guy in checkers…

It is worrying that 2 perfect logicians agreed that launching nukes to cause chaos was the correct thing to do

It's very simple: 1. Confirm that all minions have green eyes 2. Unplug the computer 3. Use the time you got with this tactic to guide the missiles with a gps spoofer into the Nevada desert

Bad time to reccomend this RU-vid, bad time

The statements are equivalent to "The sum fits at least one product with multiple possible sums, and also fits exactly one product with just one possible sum. The access code is the one where the product fits just one possible sum." I think it helps to list the possible products on one side and possible sums on the other and connect those that fit.

5:55 wait... did i just kill minions A and B? rip

AH yes I hate being in a vent while a mafia boss explains a crucial part of a riddle to his minions

Is it just me or their boss wanted to be a mathematician, but ended up in the criminal world?

I misheard and thought it had to be EXACTLY two factors, and got 7 and 10 for the codes. 1. A has 7, which could be 1+6, 2+5, or 3+4. 2. B has 10, which can only be 2x5 (with the restriction of exactly two factors) so he knows A has 7. 3. A knows that 6 could be either 1x6 or 2x3, and 12 could be either 2x6 or 3x4, but 10 can only be 2x5. Of course, throw in the possibility of, say, 1x2x5 and the whole thing falls apart.

By the way Ted ed Team it’s been ages since you uploaded riddles🌺you should release them more often, thanks🤩

2 and 5 also work with the code being 7 and 10. 1+6 2+5 = 7 3+4 With the numbers 1-6 the only way to get the product 10 is by 5x2. The other 2 have multiple possibilities like 1x6=3x2 and 3x4=6x2. 5x2 is the only one of those 3 sums that only have a single possible product so A now knows B’s number

The problem formulation is for a different problem than the solution. The formulation says the numbers in the set must be less than 7, the solution is if the sum and product are less than 7.

This puzzle could've been so fun to solve if it was worded better. The wording of the first rule made it very confusing in my opinion.

Step 1: Confirm you have green eyes Step 2: Ask the minions to tell you their numbers.

When you don’t understand the problem. Watched it. And had yet to understand it anyway.

I solved it. The possibility of 1 being one of the numbers in the set poses a problem for B: he can not know if 1 is there or not UNLESS the set consists of 2 integers and one of them is 1. In all the other scenarios 1 could be a factor in B’s product without B having any information about it. B would not know if A’s number is X or X+1. But B does know: therefore set is 1 and one other integer.

To be fair, if all of the minions are expert logicians and normally a boss is smarter than its goons, i don´t see them dominating the world as a bad thing.

Normal perfect logicians: Oh I know, your code is 5 and mine is 4! Minions: I don't know what your code is, but you know that I know that you don't know what my code is.

Step 1: Confirm you have green eyes. Step 2: You have blue eyes, and now they will never find you.

me at 3 am: Just one more video *whips out notepad and pen at 1:38 *

I had to look up "positive integer" which was clear enough. I looked up what a "math set" was too but it wasn't very clear how to use that in the problem. The greatest issue I had solving this (which I didn't), was not realizing that both A's and B's final number had to be lower than 7. I thought the numbers they were working with had to be lower than 7. The closest I got was that they used all the numbers (1 through 6), so that A had 21 and B had 120, but I knew it was wrong because A would figure out what B's number was with a sum of 21. I was too confused after that to figure out what to try next, so I gave up and watched the explanation. It didn't explain why a prime number was an obvious choice. But I think it had to do with no number being duplicated??? Dang. I know I'm reasonably smart, but it's a lot harder when you don't understand the terminology.