Anne fails to learn anything from the ducks’ responses

Anne does not seem to have any strategy for identifying which team of ducks is lying.

She begins by asking duck number 8 (a truth-telling, red duck) if it is “something beginning with ‘G’”, and receives a single quack in response (yes), but she assumes that it’s lying. She then asks duck number 7 (a lying, blue duck) if it is “something that starts with ‘GO’”, and receives two quacks in response (no), which just confuses her, leading her to say that she feels like she’s in a parallel universe.

Anne then asks duck number 5 (a lying, blue duck) whether it is number 5, and receives two quacks in response (no), but doesn’t realise that this tells her that the blue team are the liars. Tom Cashman tries to help her slightly, questioning whether the last response might have actually been helpful. When Anne states that she’s trying to work out who’s lying, Tom tries again to help her by asking how many quacks she’d receives in response to her last question, but she doesn’t even remember.

She decides that the blue ducks might be the liars, but has no idea how that helps her identify the goose. Apparently on a whim, she then decides to accuse duck number 10 of being the goose, and then bangs the gavel.

Anne accuses the incorrect duck after asking just five questions, so she is disqualified from the task.

(Written by Will G and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected and adjusted by: David Fuller)