Can you steal the most powerful wand in the wizarding world? - Dan Finkel

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The fabled Mirzakhani wand is the most powerful magical item ever created. And that’s why the evil wizard Moldevort is planning to use it to conquer the world. You and Drumbledrore have finally discovered its hiding place in a cave, but the wand is hidden by a system of 100 magical stones. Can you figure out how to get to the wand before Moldevort? Dan Finkel shows how.

Lesson by Dan Finkel, directed by Igor Coric, Artrake Studio.

This video made possible in collaboration with Brilliant

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[thetux]

Forget the potion, having solved the logic behind the riddle, the correct choice of action is just to take the keystone. Our stated goal isn't to use the wand, just to keep it out of the villain's hands while not dying in a cave-in.

[willmcquistan]

Moldrvort: Did you stop them from getting the wand?
Henchman: Yes. I stuck a random gem to a random pedestal. They now might accidentally cause a cave-in.
Moldevort: Wait... how am I supposed to get the wand now?
Henchman: ...
Moldevort: ...
Henchman: ...
Moldevort: Kavada Edavra!

[carltonleboss]

If only the Elder Wand was hidden as securely as this...

[herculesatan]

Hold it!

Nowhere in the rules does it state that I have to place the stone down, only that a random pedestal will light up. If I keep a pen and paper on me, I can track exactly where the stones need to be placed, and which ones potentially overlap.

Let’s say you have a ten by ten grid, and mark down each one with I for just one stone, and II for the overlap. The overlap tells you two things in particular: One, the previously placed stone didn’t take the winning spot, so you still have a chance; and Two, this means you have two pedestals left, effectively narrowing it down to one coin flip.

However, we can rig this flip in our favor; recall how the henchman only sealed the gem to a pedestal rather than using the spell to find it’s true home. The placement spell only works once per stone, and since this stone hasn’t had the spell cast on it, you can check then and there where it was supposed to go, putting the superfluous stone in that spot and securing your victory. This turns a 50/50 coin flip into a 99% victory chance, with the only way you could fail being if the henchman had put the stone on the winning pedestal, netting a loss. A 1% chance on their end.

That is how I would go about solving this puzzle. Thoughts?

[notfunny]

I love the fact that you named the wand Mirzakhani

Really cool, maybe name everything and everyone after underappreciated scientists and artists. It would another layer to your videos and it would be cool to Google some of them and find amazing stories that people just don't talk about.

[_.nastou._]

I love how Ted ED shows us that Mathematics are so important it can literally destroy the world.

[ehtacoguy]

1: Take the keystone so moldevort can't get the wand.
2: Confirm you have green eyes
3: Ask the guard if you can leave
4: Steal the secret sauce recipe
5: Lick the male frog
6: Pick the Churrozard disk
7: Cheat death
8: Get your guitar from the drumset box
9: drop the worthless egg from story 34
10: Separate the Fire dragons from the Ice dragons
11: Write down the jousting tournament scores
12: Ask "If I had a burrito for lunch, would you say Ozo"?
13: Light all of the giant's birthday candles
14: Put in the charged batteries in the giant iron
15: Stop going on youtube because you watch WAY too much Ted-Ed riddles.
16: Have a nice day!
Edit: 17: MOM COME OVER HERE I'M FAMOUS.

[alexanderstar]

i would totally watch a movie with Moldevort and Drumbledrore in it. Oh wait a minute....

[eclipture]

_“This isn't magic—it's logic—a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever.”_

*_Hermione_*

[Anish_Deshmukh]

Step 1: Give one coin to Charlotte and Eliza to secure their vote!
Step 2: Make the Janitor and the Scientist cross the bridge together
Step 3: Lock Moldevort in the Magical chess board
Step 4 : Choose the Bannekar and skip the first turn
Step 5: Say at least one of you have green eyes
Success!

[wjzav]

If Moldevort wants the super-wand so badly, doesn't it go against his plans to sabotage the cave so it can potentially never be found?

[shinyagumon]

Finally a riddle I understand! Of course you can only pick the switched pedestal or pick the one the Keystone should be one, every other number just delays the inevitable.

Thankfully Drumbledraw knows the secret to win against any odds: Cheat🤣

[tekuaniaakab]

Finally understood the plot of “Mary Plotter and the Deadly Platforms”

[irakyl]

What if you casted the spell on all 99 stones, without placing any of them? That would more intuitively show where the possible keystone spots are, and you don't have to worry at every step wether or not the stone you just placed is correct or will mess up the whole process.

[vengefulfalcon]

I was so madly writing a comment on how wrong the calculation is at 4:00 because it seemed like you're forgeting the elimination of any number being picked between 1-100 but then I realised it doesn't matter. Probability and possibility is always so hard man 😭

[gdfreezerburn]

Step 1: say at least one of you has green eyes
Step 2: wait 100 days for the gems to confirm they all have green eyes
Step 3: all the gems leave the island all having asked to the night before
Step 4: miss your shot on purpose
Step 5: wait for either of the wizards to be turned into either fish or stone
Step 6: coat the outer layer red
Step 7: profit

[LunaMoonArt]

Child: I want to watch Harry Potter!
Parent: We have Harry Potter at home, sweetie.

Harry Potter at Home:

[flyingbicycles]

You don’t need to place all the extra stones after you drink the luck potion, just place the keystone on the platform you vibe the best with. The incredible luck the potion brings will either guide you to the right pedestal, or you were already screwed

[mathgaming]

Or you could cast a spell on the stone that was already placed and see where it's supposed to go. Then you cast spells on all of the other stones and see which pedestal lights up twice. One of those two belongs where the first one was placed, so it goes where the first one was supposed to go, leaving you with the one you need the keystone to be placed on.

[Skully]

Well worth the wait, I love ted-ed riddles, I do wish they were more consistent though, they are always banger videos every time 😎👍🏻🔥