This post was contributed by Jingu Chong, who is one of our sponsors.
A nobleman is throwing a party in 24 hours, and he wants to serve wine from 1000 casks in his cellar. Unfortunately, an assassin has poisoned one of these casks. The poison takes 23 hours to take effect, and it shows no symptoms before causing death. The nobleman has servants who are “willing” to taste the bottles.
What is the least number of servants the nobleman needs to correctly identify the poisoned bottle, and what is his strategy?
The solution is here