The path was blocked by two guards. "One of us always tells the truth and the other always lies," they said. "You may only ask one question." "If I asked the other guard if I was valid and worthy," I asked one, "what would they say?" "They would say 'no'." Satisfied, I left.
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I think that's why asking what the other guard would say is the right choice, both for the in story guard not ignoring the difference, and helping the reader who isn't familiar with the puzzle.
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(In the Pyramids of Mars case, it was an artificial logic puzzle in story, and a robot programmed to answer with a strict logical negation makes more sense than a human liar doing so. That still went with "ask what the other guard would say".)
End of conversation
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