Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/101 - Twenty Questions

by : $101$

 * Twenty Questions
 * I am reminded of an interesting old game I used to play as a bachelor.
 * Somebody thinks of an object -- say, or ...
 * You have then to discover the object, by putting not more than $20$ questions, each of which must be answered by "yes" or "no".
 * You have to word your questions discreetly, because if you ask, for example,
 * "Is it animal, vegetable or mineral?" you might get the unsatisfactory answer "Yes," and so waste a question.
 * We found that the expert rarely failed to get an exact solution, and I have known some most remarkably difficult cases solved by the twenty questions.


 * A novel limitation of the game is suggested to me, which will call for some ingenuity, and the puzzle will doubtless be attacked in various ways by different persons.
 * It is simply this.


 * I think of a number containing six figures.
 * Can you discover what it is by putting to me twenty questions,
 * each of which can only be answered by "yes" or "no"?
 * After the twentieth question you must give the number.