This one is really kicking our butts at work. It's at http://hlavolamy.szm.sk/brainteasers/einsteins-riddles.htm. Neighbours This quiz was made up by Albert Einstein and according to him 98% will not solve it. There is a row of five houses, each having a different colour. In these houses live five people of various nationalities. Each of them nurtures a different beast, likes different drinks and smokes different brand of cigars. The Brit lives in the Red house. The Swede keeps dogs as pets. The Dane drinks tea. The Green house is on the left of the White house. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill. The man living in the centre house drinks milk. The Norwegian lives in the first house. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer. The German smokes Prince. The Norwegian lives next to the Blue house. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water. Who has fish at home? (are you one of the 2%).
OK. Got the answer in about an hour and one half. Monkeysystem: Should I post the answer, post a hint of how to solve it, or keep my mouth shut for a while?
I know the color of the bear, and that's as far as I go ^_^ (in answer to the first riddle if you follow the link)
Got it. Interestingly, I think you can still solve the puzzle without this clue: "The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer."
Seems to me that I needed all the clues to solve the riddle. I don't have the inclination to go through all the work again to see if this clue is not needed. Maybe those who have not tried to solve it can try without this clue?
Einstein I don't know the answer. This was a cry for help. :cry: :laugh: Actually, I thought I had come up with the same thing Ken did, with "The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer" not being needed. However, when I tried to plug this nasty little fact into my solution it didn't fit. That's because I had the German living in the second house and he, unfortunately, smokes Prince. Einstein was all about relativity. Maybe my assumption of a birds-eye view of the houses, with the first house being the one on the far left, starts me off on the wrong path right from the get go. Hmmmm.... Toolman1, you relativistic fellow you... is this how you solved it?
The first house is the one on the far left as you assumed. There are no trick elements in this riddle, it's all logical deductive reasoning. Einstein's mind was all about logic. That's why the rumor persists that he couldn't figure out a tax return.
We got it today We all got roped into the assumption that "neighbor" and "next to" had the same meaning. Once I proposed we discard that idea the solution came to us within minutes. Look at how "assume" is spelled. Assuming makes an ASS of U and ME.
The words "neighbor" and "next to" do have the same meaning in this riddle. The only time the word "neighbor" is used is in the last clue: "The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water". The phrase "next to" could have easily been substituted for "neighbor" and the meaning would be the same. If the word "neighbor" could mean anyone in the neighborhood then the last clue would be meaningless other than to say that "the man who smokes Blends" is not the same man "who drinks water". Like I said before, there are no trick elements in this riddle. If the guy who "smokes Blends" is not next to the guy who "drinks water" then your solution is flawed. Did you review all the clues and make sure that each fits your solution - without tricks? Another thought: Einstein I believe was a Vulcan who had his ears cropped to fit into human civilization. There is no way a human could have devised this riddle. It is the only "logical" conclusion.
Somewhere along the process, one key was narrowing down the Swede and Dane into two particular houses. Then I was able to find a reason that determined which was which. Let us know if we should give more specific hints. And, yes, the first house is on the far left, occupied by the Norwegian. I assume you have the house colors worked out already?
Linear Programing For those who do not want to use other deductive methods and are skilled in the art, this is a classic case for the use of Linear Programing. Having said that, those familiar with the use of Linear Programing are typically very good at deductive reasoning! Chips
As if described by the owners of the houses There is one more aspect that could have been interpreted differently. The sentence: “The Green house is on the left of the White house.” You can assume that it is stated from perspective of the owner of the White house (I did for some reason) or as if looked at the picture of the row of the houses. Both approaches give the same solution but the white and green houses get “switched”. Also, the approach of looking at the picture saves at least two or three steps to resolve the puzzle (and maybe that’s why Ken found one condition about smoking Blue Masters and drinking beer unnecessary, which would suggests that Einstein had meant that statement of white and green house was from the perspective of the owners). PS, MS thanks for finding this great puzzle. S. Yama
Not only do the white and green houses get switched using this view but clue #9 (The Norwegian lives in the first house) now means the Norwegian lives on the "other end" of the row. Einstein may have taken this different perspective into account since he does not use the term "left" or "right". Instead he uses "next to" and "neighbor". I agree that the solution remains the same irregardless of the perspective taken. Like I said before, there are no trick clues.
I got it If I didn't make any mistakes, which I don't believe I did, this answer was plain and there were no questionable definitions, including what "left" means. My son did this stuff in Algebra in 9th grade and it took me about 10 minutes to get this. Are we saying what we got as an answer yet? Mo Wright (Mociferous)
I Just Cheated I just went and looked at the solutions in the website myself. "Neighbor" is, in fact, used interchangeably with "next to." The Norwegian is on the left as seen from the top. Now I have to go through this thing and solve it honestly, or I'll never be able to look myself in the mirror again!
Not yet. Some are still working on the problem. Don't want to spoil their fun! Back to Einstein possibly being a Vulcan: If Einstein were indeed a Vulcan then "Roswell" falls into place. You see Einstein was brought here to usher in the atomic age. The Vulcan plan was (and still is) to give humans the power to destroy themselves after which the Vulcans can colonize earth without any loss of life on their part and ravage it's natural resources. Very logical indeed. The plan seems to be working but they couldn't get Einstein back to their home planet because the space ship intended to take him back crashed in Roswell. And there you have it. Everything explained in one short paragraph. Captain Kirk can back me up on this.
Benefit of Hindsight I finally got it, and agree with Ken. The linking of Blue Master and Beer is a red herring.
HOT DAMN. HE DID IT. The man that gave us the best riddle ever on this site has solved the problem! :cheers: .......... :band: :band2: .......... :celebrate Now Monkeysystem, since this was your baby, are we free to disclose the correct result? Your call.
Go For It! Okay, toolman, I can tell you're dying to disclose the answer. So have a ball... :1st: :celebrate :juggle:
