Every Friday afternoon, the committee of the Hardleigh Bothering Women's Institute meets in the village café for tea and scones. The committee members are Mrs Black, Mrs Brown, Mrs Green and Mrs White.
On this particular occasion, each lady wore a hat.
"What a coincidence!" said Mrs White.
"What is?" said Mrs Green, suspiciously.
"The colours of our hats are the same as our names!" Mrs White said. "One black, one brown, one green, and one white!"
"True, but my hat isn't the same colour as my name," Mrs Brown pointed out, sipping delicately from her teacup.
"No, but you are wearing the hat whose colour is the name of the person who's wearing the hat whose colour is the name of the person who's wearing the hat whose colour is your name," said Mrs Black.
There was a silence while the other members of the committee digested this convoluted remark.
"True," Mrs Brown finally conceded, her voice muffled by scone and jam. "And the same goes for you, Mrs Black."
"And for Mrs White," said Mrs Green. All the ladies nodded their agreement.
What colour was Mrs Green's hat?
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The answer
You can solve this by trial and error, or as follows: imagine each lady is holding her own hat in her left hand, and the hat which is the same colour as her name in her right hand. Mrs Brown is then part of a closed ring of only three ladies. Mrs Black and Mrs White also belong to a ring of three ladies, so they are in the same ring as Mrs Brown. Mrs Green is left out, holding her hat with both hands, so her hat must be green.
The winner is Sriram Chari, London SW13
