chris (10/20/82)
I remember seeing the following solution only weeks ago. Was it on ARPA, or was it mentioned in reference to a seminar at MIT? Anyway, the suggestion I saw said that a moderator would be chosen in any manner that seemed appropriate. The moderator would then slowly move a knife from one end of the candy bar towards the other. Whenever any person thought that 1/n of the candy had been covered, he or she could yell out "stop." The piece would be cut there, and whoever had yelled would get that first piece. The moderator then continues and people shout when they think that 1/(n-1) of the remainder has been covered. If the people involved are carefull, and know how much they think is fair, then everybody should be satisfied, since each piece is taken by the person willing to take the smallest one at that point. The piece left at the end should satisfy whoever is left, since that last person thought that all of the preceding pieces were smaller than 1/n.