T2B30

Third Tale Second Puzzle:

69b .. The Second Test. In this test, the suitor's chances (if he guessed blindly) were one out of two. Portia used only two caskets, gold and silver, and one of them contained her portrait (no dagger was used in this test). Again each casket was fashioned either by Cellini or Bellini. The caskets read:
Gold
THE PORTRAIT IS NOT IN HERE

Silver
EXACTLY ONE OF THESE TWO CASKETS WAS FASHIONED BY BELLINI

Which casket should the suitor choose in order to find the portrait?

Answer:
If the silver casket is a Bellini, then the statement is true, in which case the gold casket is a Cellini. Suppose the silver casket is a Cellini. Then it is not the case that exactly one of the caskets is a Bellini. This means that the gold is a Cellini (for if it were a Bellini, then it would be the case that exactly one is a Bellini!) Thus, whether the silver is Bellini or Cellini, the gold is surely a Cellini. Therefore the statement on the gold casket is false, so the portrait is in the gold casket.