Einstein's riddle

245

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 100
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by iMac David

    Clue?



    Of what abomination are you speaking of?



    The name is Cluedo.




    Only in Yurrup.



    --B
  • Reply 22 of 100
    clue, as in the board game, someone murdered someone in a room of a big old mansion... if i remember correctly... i strill have that in my room i think anyone care to play????
  • Reply 23 of 100
    hardeeharharhardeeharhar Posts: 4,841member
    I reduced the number of solutions down to require one assumption. Assumed right the first time... that is got a self-consistent chart that would not have been possible if I assumed incorrectly. Shouldn't have been necessary but it was.



    5 min.



    Einstein was wrong about the 98%... Look at why they got rid of the logic section of the GRE...
  • Reply 24 of 100
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hardeeharhar

    I reduced the number of solutions down to require one assumption. Assumed right the first time... that is got a self-consistent chart that would not have been possible if I assumed incorrectly. Shouldn't have been necessary but it was.



    5 min.



    Einstein was wrong about the 98%... Look at why they got rid of the logic section of the GRE...




    nice, 5mins? congrats
  • Reply 25 of 100
    eric_zeric_z Posts: 175member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ragingloogie

    nice, 5mins? congrats



    Same time here, if you use a pen and paper, see where to start (it's not that hard), and recognice the assumption that has to be made to roll it all upp, it's really quite easy.



    (That propably sounds more impressive then it really is btw)
  • Reply 26 of 100
    i know its not hard i didnt have any trouble w/ it, after i got 2 or 3 people w/ the color house, brand cigar, and pet, and beverage, i was able to piece together the rest of the puzzle and come out w/ 1 person...
  • Reply 27 of 100
    imac davidimac david Posts: 286member
    Yurrop - where the game was invented. So Cluedo it is!



    Those who solved it - do you agree with my description of the fish owner? Like some have mentioned, at one point you end up with a choice of two paths. I guessed the first, and everything else fitted logically. I didn't bother going back and trying the other path to see if that too fits.



    Cheers,



    David
  • Reply 28 of 100
    ijerryijerry Posts: 615member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by iMac David

    Yurrop - where the game was invented. So Cluedo it is!



    Those who solved it - do you agree with my description of the fish owner? Like some have mentioned, at one point you end up with a choice of two paths. I guessed the first, and everything else fitted logically. I didn't bother going back and trying the other path to see if that too fits.



    Cheers,



    David




    I never had to guess, or assume, it all worked out logically...
  • Reply 29 of 100
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by iMac David

    Yurrop - where the game was invented. So Cluedo it is!



    Those who solved it - do you agree with my description of the fish owner? Like some have mentioned, at one point you end up with a choice of two paths. I guessed the first, and everything else fitted logically. I didn't bother going back and trying the other path to see if that too fits.



    Cheers,



    David




    I agree. You can see the complete answer list at the website linked way up in the thread.
  • Reply 30 of 100
    i never saw it liked that or looked at any websites, i just made a chart and worked out that way
  • Reply 31 of 100
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Agreed, there was no guessing involved on my behalf, just a lot of hiding my papersheet from my project managers...
  • Reply 32 of 100
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by New

    Agreed, there was no guessing involved on my behalf, just a lot of hiding my papersheet from my project managers...



  • Reply 33 of 100
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ragingloogie

    - now, its obvious that the answer can be found on the web, however, how many of you can solve it w/out looking it up before you try to figure it out, and how fast can you do it??? i had an old friend do it in 20minutes... it took me 15minutes.... counting the coffee i was drinking while figuring it out. have fun



    You bastard! How dare you deprive me of sleep like this?



    This puzzle is very interesting. Firstly, there is debate as to whether Einstein actually came up with it, and also regarding the 98% claim. Some interesting discussion about these 'facts' can be found here.



    Secondly, the correct answer should only take about 30 seconds to work out: warning! spoiler. However, I reckon that most people consider this so-called 'correct' answer but then make the necessary assumption in order for the puzzle to be well enough defined to be a challenge.



    Thirdly, there are a couple more assumptions that people make when solving this problem. A few places on the web suggest that you have to make an assumption about the clue "The green house is on the left of the white house" in order to solve the puzzle. However, I did not make any assumptions about this clue and came up with two distinct solutions that in my view perfectly satisfy the stated conditions. Another assumption people make is that the houses are in a line, rather than four being in a circle with the fifth (the 'middle' one) in the middle of the circle, or all five being in a circle. I do not know if the alternative orientations for the houses produce even more solutions, I'm too tired to find out!
  • Reply 34 of 100
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. H

    Secondly, the correct answer should only take about 30 seconds to work out: warning! spoiler. However, I reckon that most people consider this so-called 'correct' answer but then make the necessary assumption in order for the puzzle to be well enough defined to be a challenge.



    Well in that case, I solved it in about 1 minute. I brushed "that assumption" off very early, noticing "something" was "missing".



    Now I don't feel so bad.
  • Reply 35 of 100
    hardeeharharhardeeharhar Posts: 4,841member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. H

    You bastard! How dare you deprive me of sleep like this?



    This puzzle is very interesting. Firstly, there is debate as to whether Einstein actually came up with it, and also regarding the 98% claim. Some interesting discussion about these 'facts' can be found here.



    Secondly, the correct answer should only take about 30 seconds to work out: warning! spoiler. However, I reckon that most people consider this so-called 'correct' answer but then make the necessary assumption in order for the puzzle to be well enough defined to be a challenge.



    Thirdly, there are a couple more assumptions that people make when solving this problem. A few places on the web suggest that you have to make an assumption about the clue "The green house is on the left of the white house" in order to solve the puzzle. However, I did not make any assumptions about this clue and came up with two distinct solutions that in my view perfectly satisfy the stated conditions. Another assumption people make is that the houses are in a line, rather than four being in a circle with the fifth (the 'middle' one) in the middle of the circle, or all five being in a circle. I do not know if the alternative orientations for the houses produce even more solutions, I'm too tired to find out!




    There is no middle to a circle... The clue wouldn't make any sense, nor would anything being to the left or right of...



    I assumed nothing to begin with except that there was a fish...
  • Reply 36 of 100
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hardeeharhar

    There is no middle to a circle... The clue wouldn't make any sense, nor would anything being to the left or right of...



    I assumed nothing to begin with except that there was a fish...




    Hence my suggestion that one configuration of houses is four in a circle with one in the centre of said circle, which one could easily argue could be referred to as the "middle" house. Why would this configuration cause the terms "left" and "right" to be meaningless? Even when the houses are in a straight line, you must assume that left and right mean your left and right as you are looking at the house. Who says houses have to have straight walls?



    If you really, truly believe that you have made no assumptions (excluding the houses being in a straight line), you should have been able to find two distinct answers.
  • Reply 37 of 100
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hardeeharhar

    There is no middle to a circle... The clue wouldn't make any sense, nor would anything being to the left or right of...



    I assumed nothing to begin with except that there was a fish...




    i agree.. in a cirlce, there would be diagnoals, and acrosses, and such...
  • Reply 38 of 100
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ragingloogie

    i agree.. in a cirlce, there would be diagnoals, and acrosses, and such...



    So? That doesn't make left and right meaningless. It just makes the problem a lot harder or maybe have an infinite number of solutions (because some of the clues may no longer be constraining). I don't know which because I don't want to make my head hurt thinking about it.



    edit:



    I've just realised that I may be talking bollocks (regarding the circle thing) due to tiredness.
  • Reply 39 of 100
    hardeeharharhardeeharhar Posts: 4,841member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. H

    Hence my suggestion that one configuration of houses is four in a circle with one in the centre of said circle, which one could easily argue could be referred to as the "middle" house. Why would this configuration cause the terms "left" and "right" to be meaningless? Even when the houses are in a straight line, you must assume that left and right mean your left and right as you are looking at the house. Who says houses have to have straight walls?



    If you really, truly believe that you have made no assumptions (excluding the houses being in a straight line), you should have been able to find two distinct answers.




    Your argument is a semantic one, and truly, the only assumption I made was that there was a solution to the question...
  • Reply 40 of 100
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hardeeharhar

    The only assumption I made was that there was a solution to the question...



    I believe that you have assumed that the green house is to the immediate left of the white house. If you do not make this assumption then there is a solution where the green house is indeed to the left of the white house, but not its immediate left. This solution results in a different nationality person owning the fish.
Sign In or Register to comment.