One day, you are kidnapped by a strange creature that drags you into its lair.
Awaiting you is 7 lit candles arranged in a circle and a note. The note explains that you must extinguish all 7 candles to escape. But of course, there is a catch!
When you blow out one candle, two candles either side of it will also go out. Blowing on an extinguished candle will relight it. Extinguished candles next to ones you blow on will also relight.
So, in essence, when you blow on any candle, it will change from lit to unlit, as will the candles either side. Of course, the difficulty here is posed by the fact there are 7 candles.
How do you extinguish all 7 candles and what is the least number of moves required?
Actually, this brainteaser works because it urges us to overcomplicate things. In reality, simply blowing on each candle only once will extinguish every candle.
So, the minimum amount of times you need to blow on candles is 7. It really is that simple!
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