T2B26

Second Puzzle:
Portia's suitor chose correctly, so they married and lived quite happily-at least for a while. Then, one day, Portia had the following thoughts: "Though my husband showed some intelligence in choosing the right casket, the problem wasn't really that difficult. Surely, I could have made the p r o b l e m h a r d e r a n d g o t t e n a r e a l ly c l e v e r h u s b a n d . " S o s h e forthwith divorced her husband and decided to get a clev­ erer one.
This time she had the following inscriptions put on the caskets:

Gold
THE PORTRAIT IS NOT IN THE SILVER CASKET

Silver
THE PORTRAIT IS NOT IN THIS CASKET

Lead
THE PORTRAIT IS IN THIS CASKET

Portia explained to the suitor that at least one of the three statements was true and that at least one of them was false.
Which casket contains the portrait?
Epilogue _________________
As fate would have it, the first suitor turned out to be Portia's ex-husband. He was really quite hright enough to figure out this problem too. So they were remarried. The husband took Portia home, turned her over his knee, gave her a good sound spanking, and Portia never had any foolish ideas again.

The Answer:

If the portrait were in the lead casket, then all three state­ ments would be true, which is contrary to what is given. If the portrait were in the silver casket, then all three state­ ments would be false, which is again contrary to what is given. Therefore the portrait must be in the gold casket (and we have the first two statements true and the third one false, which is consistent with what is given).