If you really know it, then you are a smart man. The answer is very sexy

 

LOL

 

I'll give a hint: 1000 is less than 1024

 

If each man held a bottle of wine, then made each of the others taste it (but didn't taste it himself), I think the bottle could be tracked down. By doing this repeatedly, you could "trace" the deaths of the men to a single bottle of wine. If all the men died at one time (which they should), the man left standing held the bottle in question at some time. I'm not sure of the exact way to do this (I'm sort of going off the top of my head here), but I think this procedure (or something similar, by playing around with the number of people tasting, etc, etc) could produce the required result.

I'm still stumped.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JonBoy
[B]If each man held a bottle of wine, then made each of the others taste it (but didn't taste it himself), I think the bottle could be tracked down.

 

Can the answer be as obvious as I think it is...?

 

if he used 1000 men he would murder only one....because only one bottle is poisoned...why use 10?

 

Not 10...no MORE than 10...

 

Since dilution is not an issue I suggest this problem might be solved as a combinatorics exercise.

 

Second hint:

I want to be the most significant prisoner of the ten!