TED-Ed: Can you solve the Trojan War riddle? | Dennis Shasha

The Trojan War has lasted 10 years with no clear victor. A divine intervention offers a chance for peace if a truce lasts 10 days. The battlefield is a grid of Greek and Trojan camps, and peace requires connectivity within each side without one surrounding the other. Camps can be swapped to achieve this, but a rival god disrupts the peace. The fates reveal the meddling Trojan camp's location, and strategic swaps are made to maintain peace for the final days.

What is the consequence if the truce between the Greeks and Trojans is broken?

• The war will end immediately.

• The war will continue for another 10 years.

• The Trojans will surrender.

• The gods will intervene to stop the war.

What is required for the peace to prevail between the Greeks and Trojans?

• The Trojans must surrender.

• The Greeks must surrender.

• Any Greek camp must be reachable from any other Greek camp without passing through a Trojan camp.

• Both sides must completely surround each other.

How many pairs of camps can be swapped to maintain peace?

• Five pairs

• Four pairs

• Six pairs

• Seven pairs

What is the main challenge in connecting the Greek camps?

• Ensuring all camps are moved diagonally.

• Swapping camps more than once.

• Avoiding the creation of isolated Trojan clusters.

• Surrounding the Trojan camps completely.

What is the rival god's plan to disrupt the peace?

• Destroy the Trojan camps.

• Destroy the Greek camps.

• Convince a Greek camp to swap with a Trojan camp.

• Convince a Trojan camp to swap with a Greek camp.

Where is the meddling Trojan camp likely located?

• At the bottom of the battlefield.

• At the top of the battlefield.

• Within four grid spaces of the perimeter.

• In the center of the battlefield.

What is the strategy to thwart the rival god's interference?

• Move a Greek camp diagonally.

• Move a Trojan camp to block Greek connectivity.

• Make strategic swaps to maintain Greek connectivity.

• Surround the Trojan camps completely.