Edril has to choose one of two closed doors. Behind one of them is a lady, beautiful, and charming. Behind the other is a tiger, vicious and hungry. In front of each door, is a guard. One of them always tells the truth, and the other always lies. But Edril doesn’t know which. Edril can ask only one question, to either one of the guards. Can he find the lady?
Is that “either” as in one question to each guard, or only one question to only one guard?
This is a variation on an old one (unsurprisingly - I’m old too)…
As far as I remember/work out…
You ask one guard “if I asked the other guard which door had the lady behind it - what would he say…?”
So, say left door is tiger and right door is lady.
(The guards know which is which hopefully)
You’ve asked the liar, that makes the other truthful.
so the liar says “he’d say the the left door” (because he knows the truthful one would say ‘right’)
You’ve asked the truthful one, that makes the other the liar.
so the truthful one says “he’d say the the left door” (because he knows the liar would by default - lie.)
Anyway - whatever the answer you get - you take the other door. Bingo - you’ve got the girl. 
Do I get a cake or something…?
I first saw that puzzle in the movie th labrynth, with David Bowie, Jennifer Connoly, and A buncha puppets that take they’re heads off N kick em around, and ride terriers and stuff. Was a good movie back in the day… but please tell me that is not where you saw this riddle 
I’m tellin’ ya it don’t work. Either must be linked by an “or” in order for it to present alternatives, or else it is no different than “each.” Like this:
“There are people on either side of the street” means there are people on each side of the street.
It has to be said like this: “Edril can ask only one question, to either one or the other guard.”
(note that I’m making this more complicated than it is to piss praxis off because he’s/she’s bugging the shit outta me in the Existentialism thread and he’s/she’s a Sartre hater)
Hah - grammar lessons from our resident maestro of the four-letter word
To the artist formally known as Détrop - You’d have been better off just answering the question and putting “pff - what an easy problem - is that the best your impoverished intellect can do… etc.”
totally right about the either/or business though.
Though I’d have said: “Edril may ask only one question, to the guard of his choice” But hey - that’s just me.
Mind you - Praxis can argue that since he specified only one question in the main clause of his sentence that this overrules any boo-boos in the auxillary.
Back to square one.
Yeah - that’s where it came from… Nice to see someone else has watched some of the awful movies that I’ve been subjected to in my time. david Bowie - great early stuff - godawful actor (perhaps not in ‘the man who fell to earth’) and he should just quit singing now as he just stinks these days.
Won’t work. In that case there would have to be two questions asked. Watch:
If Edril can ask only one question, but not ask both guards the same question, there would have to be two questions, one to each guard, which is impossible allowing only one question.
The “or” is crucial here to make any sense out of it. As the statement stands, it won’t work.
(I think this is right. I need a logician in here to make sure. Yuxia, where you at?)
I happened across this puzzle today and thought some of the people here might enjoy it. I believe it’s based on a short story by Frank Stockton called The Lady or the Tiger, an old story, perhaps as old as Tabula Rasa. Link.
I agree this could have been put clearer. I take it to mean one question, to either one of the guards.
P.S. I didn’t know I was a Sartre hater.