Last Issue’s Brain Teaser:
Problem:
GREMMIE’S
Pages
Edited by Gerald Muus
A Case of Whodunit
As Assistant Editor of Discover Smith Moun-
tain Lake, “Gremmie” loves to get mail. Here
she is, busy at work, looking over the entries in
our puzzle competition.
If you care to drop her a line, send it to:
Gremlin theWonder Cat
Assistant Editor
Discover Smith Mountain Lake Magazine
P.O. Box 880
Moneta, VA 24121
Or via e-mail at:
Solution:
There are a few different ways to resolve this puzzle.
Perhaps the simplest one was chosen as the winner:
Each speaker makes one true, and one false statement
There is a single perp.
Eric said: “It was Derek. It was Alan.”
One statement MUST be true; it was Derek or Alan.
Derek said: “It was Charles. It wasn’t Alan”
Since the perp must be Derek or Alan the statement
about Charles must be false, and the statement about
Alan must be true. Thus it wasn’t Alan. Thus it must be
DEREK.
Bill Hartko
Congratulations to Bill Hartko for that very simple
answer. Another way to solve it would be to note that
Brian’s and Derek’s statements contradict one another.
Since there is only a single suspect, both can’t be guilty.
This eliminates both Alan and Charles as suspects,
because both statements, taken together, force us to
conclude that neither of them is guilty.
If Alan is guilty, and Charles is not, then both of Brian’s
assertions are true... but one must necessarily be false.
If Charles is guilty, and Alan is not, then both of Derek’s
assertions are true. Again, we know that one must
be false. Since there is only one
guilty party, the only acceptable
conclusion is that neither is guilty.
Similarly, Eric and Brian get
eliminated as suspects, as the
statements of Charles and Alan
also are contradictory. By the same
logic, we know that it couldn’t
possibly have been Eric or Brian.
That leaves us with only Derek
who has not been crossed off the list.
After burglary at a local marina, five suspects were being interviewed.
Below is a summary of their statements.
Police know that each of them told the truth in one of the statements and
lied in the other.The evidence clearly shows that it was a one man job.
From this information can you tell who
committed the crime?
Brian said:
“It wasn’t Charles, It was Alan.”
Derek said: “
It was Charles , It wasn’t
Alan.”
Charles said: “
It was Brian, It wasn’t Eric.”
Alan said:
“It was Eric, It wasn’t Brian.”
Eric said:
“It was Derek. It was Alan.”
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Fall 2014
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