Brain Teaser #98

davilla

I heard this one a while back:

A Hungarian community of married mathematicians has the following tradition: should any man determine that his wife cheated on him, he shall hang himself at noon. The townsfolk being rather introverted, there is little gossip except when there is an affair. In such case everyone in the town hears about the infidelity by nightfall excepting, of course, the cheating couple's spouses. So if a man were to hear gossip but were not told of any affiar, he would determine, being the logical mathematician that he is, that his own wife was involved, and would thus hang himself at noon the next day.

On one particularly steamy summer day, nine women break their vows with other men. What is the result?

Gokul43201

Nine heads hang, on the ninth noon following that steamy summer day, and none before.

Gokul43201

Wait, I can make that a little more alliterative, and perhaps poetic (but still maybe wrong) :

Nine necks in nine nooses, nine noons after, and none ere that.

davilla

Gokul with the point!