You've Just Won A Fortune ......

[Gizmonster]

....... and as such, the king is giving you the opportunity to marry one of his 3 daughters.
All 3 of his daughters are identical in EVERY way, except for:
the youngest sister ALWAYS tells lies;
the eldest sister ALWAYS tells the truth;
the middle sister just randomly tells the truth and lies whenever she pleases.
Remember, they are identical in looks and everything else that matters, apart from the truth telling, etc.
The king allows you to ask one (and only one) of the sisters one question only. The only problem is, you don't know which of the sisters you're asking the question to. Now ideally you'd like to marry the truth teller; although marrying the liar wouldn't be too bad - at least you'd know where you stand .... you must avoid marrying the middle sister at all costs.

What one question do you ask, in order to avoid choosing the middle sister ??

[pixie373]

Sorry, giz. I was checking after auntflo's answer, but you confirmed it at the same time.

[Gizmonster]

DTC - who are you asking the question to - are you asking it to sister number 1 ??

[pixie373]

Maybe ask one "who tells lies?" and go for the one they point at. Then you wouldn't get the middle sister.

[Gizmonster]

... but what if you ask the truth teller. The other 2 sisters both tell lies - which one would they point to ??

[Jeza]

PLEASE. Put us out of our misery and tell us the answer.

[Gizmonster]

Sunny Dave's answer is very close ... it just needs modifying slightly. I think 1 or 2 others wok as well .... just need to check ....

[pixie373]

Truth teller will point to liar. Liar will point to truth-teller and middle one (which you don't want) will choose one of the other two. Change it to "who is the biggest liar?" then. The OP says only avoid the middle one- truthful one and liar are fine.

[pixie373]

I'm right! Lol:-)

[sir.prize]

Name the daughters X, Y and Z.

Ask daughter X the question: ‘Is daughter Y older than daughter Z?’ If daughter X is the middle daughter, marry either of the other two.

If daughter X is the eldest, then marry the one she says is younger. If daughter X is the youngest, then marry the elder of the other two, which means marrying the one she says is younger.

So if the answer is yes, then marry daughter Z, and if the answer is no, then marry daughter Y.

[Gizmonster]

.... and you have the best answer Pixie.
Simply ask, "who is the biggest liar out of your 2 sisters" and choose the one they point to.
If you ask this question to the truth teller, they'll point to the liar.
If you ask this question to the liar, they'll point to the truth teller.
If you ask this question to the middle sister, it doesn't matter what they answer, you'll choose the one they point to ... and because they can't point to themselves, you'll end up with either the liar or the truth teller.

[pixie373]

Thank you:-)

[Barmaid]

Are you all daft?! Clearly if you have just won a fortune, you dont need to marry anyone. Shag the prettiest on the pretext of marriage and then go start spending. Duh!

[sir.prize]

Barmaid - goodness gracious. Each of the daughters is identical - in prettiness too.

Are you suggesting a foursome!

[Barmaid]

I missed the bit about them all being identical. I saw the words "fortune" and "marry" SirP and my mind went a bit doolally.

[Gizmonster]

Sir prize - your question implies that you know which is the oldest and which is the youngest.
You are correct in a way ... the question can be done the same with ages.
Ask one of the sisters, "which of your other 2 sisters is the youngest" and choose the one that they point to .... explanation is identical to the other one:
The liar will point to the truth teller;
The truth teller will point to the liar;
it doesn't matter which one the middle sister points to .....

[DTCwordfan]

Shoot the sisters and shag the king.........

[berniecuddles]

^^^^LOL