Saturday 2 February 2013

Anthony and Cleopatra

Anthony and Cleopatra were found dead in a locked room.  A broken bowl was found on the floor next to them.  Can you explain what might have happened?

This was the riddle posed to me this afternoon over a cup of tea by a friend in Oxford.  It is a test of our mastery of Theory of Knowledge, and I think I failed predictably.

Leave your attempts at an answer in the comments below.  I'll publish the solution in a day or two.

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Update 3rd February.  See the answer in the comments below. Well done DS and indeed AK.

5 comments:

Derby Sceptic said...

I am not sure we have all the information about the puzzle, having heard this presented elsewhere.

Plasma Engineer said...

Do you need more? I'm happy to accept additional information if you know the answer.

Derby Sceptic said...

When heard before it was mentioned that neither was poisoned.

ARIADNE KORDA said...

Sadly, I've heard this one before...

and no, didn't find the answer but have heard it since.

Good exercise in lateral thinking.

Derby Sceptic said...

The usual answer is that they are goldfish, whose bowl has been knocked over by an unmentioned bird or animal. The bowl breaks and they die out of the water.