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Hat Men

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Some men are on an island. A genie comes down and gathers everyone to­gether and places a magical hat on some people’s heads (i.e., at least one person has a hat). The hat is magical: it can be seen by other people, but not by the wearer of the hat himself. To remove the hat, a person (and only those who have a hat) must dunk themselves underwater at exactly midnight. If there are n people and c hats, how long does it take the men to remove the hats? The men cannot tell each other (in any way) that they have a hat.

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