Can You Solve This Sock Puzzle? Find the Minimum Draw for Matching Colors!

Here's another from my bank of Lateral Thinking skills.

There are 10 socks of each of the following colors in a drawer: blue, green, red, yellow, and white, for a total of 50 socks. The socks are distributed in the drawer in the following permutation:
- red:green = 2:7
- blue:brown = 5:3
- red:blue = 6:7
- green:brown = 9:2
- red:brown = 11:9
- green:blue = 6:10

You are blindfolded, what is the minimum number of socks you must draw from the drawer in order to be certain that you have at least 2 socks of the same color? Explain your logic (HINT: this can be solved in less than 20 seconds, believe me).

Let's see who gets this right this time...!!!

Regards,
Himanshu

Hi,

I think it's 11. There are 10 socks of each color. The 11th one has to be the other color. I guess in that way we have two colors.

Jhuma

Here's another from my bank of Lateral Thinking skills.

There are 10 socks of each of the following colors in a drawer: blue, green, red, yellow, and white, for a total of 50 socks. The socks are distributed in the drawer in the following permutation:
red:green = 2:7,
blue:brown = 5:3,
red:blue = 6:7,
green:brown = 9:2,
red:brown = 11:9,
and green:blue = 6:10.

You are blindfolded, what is the minimum number of socks you must draw from the drawer in order to be certain that you have at least 2 socks of the same color? Explain your logic (HINT: this can be solved in less than 20 seconds.. believe me).

Hi Himanshu,

6 socks!!!
Since there are 5 different color socks, the first 5 socks will be of the given colors, and the 6th sock will definitely be a repetition of one color, thereby giving 2 socks of the same color...
Right??? 😁

Deepa

I think picking up 3 socks from the first drawer should be sufficient since the ratio of red to green socks is 2:7. Thus, if we pick up 3 socks from this drawer, 2 are bound to be of the same color. Please mention the right answer!

Deepti

Deepa's answer sounds right. Five different colors, so you pick at least six socks to ensure there is a repetition :)

The correct answer is 6 socks: the logic is that there are 5 colors, and the sixth one would be a duplicate of any of those 5 colors, giving you a pair.

Deepa, good work. You got it right.

Learning: In life, we come across situations where a lot of junk is given to us (like the permutation of the socks in this puzzle) to confuse us. But we should use our brains, concentrate on facts and information, cutting the junk out. This would give us a logical and holistic vision to tackle problems, issues, and would make our lives easier.

Regards,
Himanshu