Really cool logic puzzle! Check it out.

[slugg]

I have a really cool professor... After bothering him a bit with a few logic puzzles that I found interesting, he gave me this one. It's pretty cool, although long. I just got it like 20 minutes ago, so I'm still working on it, lol. For those of you who like logic puzzles, enjoy



Who Owns the Zebra - a logic problem by Dr. Albert Einstein.

The object of this puzzle is to determine:
- Who owns the zebra?
- Who drinks water?

The given values for the puzzle:

Five men of different nationalities live on the same street, in consecutive houses. Each house is of a different color. Each man has a different occupation. Each man owns a different pet. Each man enjoys a different drink.

Clues:
1. The Spaniard owns a dog
2. The Italian drinks tea.
3. The green house is on the right side of the white house.
4. The photographer breeds snails.
5. The Englishman lives in the red house.
6. The diplomat lives in the yellow house.
7. Milk is drunk in the middle house.
8. The Japanese man is a painter
9. The violinist drinks orange juice.
10. The Norwegian's house is next to the blue house.
11. The fox is in the house next to that of the physician.
12. The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.
13. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
14. The horse is in a house next to that of the diplomat.

 

[brikis98]

this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

 

[daveshel]

I'm having an LSAT flashback.

 

[OdiN]

Well just by looking at that...I can tell you that they all drink water, as otherwise they would die.

The zebra must therefore be owned by the Japanese dude.

 

[CPA]

I know who drinks the water, but having a tough time with the zebra.

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: brikis98
this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

That was a good way to kill some time. Pretty easy, though. I have a hard time believing that 98% of people can't figure it out.

 

[chorb]

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: brikis98
this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

That was a good way to kill some time. Pretty easy, though. I have a hard time believing that 98% of people can't figure it out.

I think that 98% statistic includes people that just give up after 5 minutes because its hard. I bet that number would be way lower if there was an incentive to finish it.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: chorb

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: brikis98
this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

That was a good way to kill some time. Pretty easy, though. I have a hard time believing that 98% of people can't figure it out.

I think that 98% statistic includes people that just give up after 5 minutes because its hard. I bet that number would be way lower if there was an incentive to finish it.

Remember, the vast majority of people in this world do not have the education we've been lucky enough to receive in our developed nations.

On people giving up:
People don't know how to solve it fast and efficiently because they were never taught how to solve this sort of problem in basic math. You can solve many parts of the problem by using matrices and simpler logic. From there, it's relatively simple to finish it off.

I'm sure the matrix solution can be found either online or in a previously posted thread.

To further irritate people, where does it say anybody owns a zebra? It says you're looking for someone who does, but who says the remaining person owns it and not some other animal?

 

[slugg]

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: brikis98
this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

That was a good way to kill some time. Pretty easy, though. I have a hard time believing that 98% of people can't figure it out.

Yea, Einstein's an idiot.

 

[Special K]

It took me awhile (longer than I would have expected), but I solved it using the matrix method mentioned above. For me, the key was to reapply all of the given pieces of information every time I made a new deduction or elimination in one of my matrices.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Just want to check if I got it right. This was a lot of fun. Thanks!

WARNING!! DON"T READ THIS POST IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW THE POTENTIAL ANSWERS...MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS:















Order of houses from the left:

Yellow: Norwegian, diplomat, zebra, water
Blue: Italian, physician, horse, tea
White: Japanese, painter, fox, milk
Green: Spaniard, photographer, snails, coffee
Red: Englishman, violinist, dog, orange juice

So the answer to both questions is the Norwegian? Based on my logic it works. Did you guys get the same answer?

 

[soulcougher73]

****SPOLIER**** maybe


I came up with Norwegian drinks water, and the Japanese owns the zebra?

order of houses from the left:

yellow, norwegian, diplomat, WATER, fox
blue, italian, physician, tea, horse
red, english, photographer, milk, snails
white, spaniard, violinist, orange juice, dog
green, japanese, painter, coffee, ZEBRA

Think that is right.

 

[soulcougher73]

Originally posted by: Ultrasonic
Just want to check if I got it right. This was a lot of fun. Thanks!

WARNING!! DON"T READ THIS POST IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW THE POTENTIAL ANSWERS...MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS:















Order of houses from the left:

Yellow: Norwegian, diplomat, zebra, water
Blue: Italian, physician, horse, tea
White: Japanese, painter, fox, milk
Green: Spaniard, photographer, snails, coffee
Red: Englishman, violinist, dog, orange juice

So the answer to both questions is the Norwegian? Based on my logic it works. Did you guys get the same answer?

You missed #1 "Spaniard owns a dog"

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: soulcougher73
****SPOLIER**** maybe


I came up with Norwegian drinks water, and the Japanese owns the zebra?

order of houses from the left:

yellow, norwegian, diplomat, WATER, fox
blue, italian, physician, tea, horse
red, english, photographer, milk, snails
white, spaniard, violinist, orange juice, dog
green, japanese, painter, coffee, ZEBRA

Think that is right.

This is what I got as well.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

tagged for later, thanks

 

[deepred98]

did this in my psych class with a partner. my partner tried to do it while i made two random guesses...

guess who was right... hell yeah!

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: deepred98
did this in my psych class with a partner. my partner tried to do it while i made two random guesses...

guess who was right... hell yeah!

What exactly does that prove? That you made a lucky guess?

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: deepred98
did this in my psych class with a partner. my partner tried to do it while i made two random guesses...

guess who was right... hell yeah!

What exactly does that prove? That you made a lucky guess?

wasn't trying to prove anything, just thought i'd share

what does your post prove? that your a pompous prick? jk

 

[Journer]

Originally posted by: brikis98
this puzzle is old as hell, but a fun one to solve the first time around. here is the more classic version that i've always seen.

it took be about 25 minutes and an excel sheet to help organize it all, but i got it right!

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: daveshel
I'm having an LSAT flashback.

:laugh: That's the first thing I thought as well.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Although you can gather the information from the clues, it would help if you listed out each option for each category, like the Drinks are (a, b, c, d, e). by doing that, we can set up our grids much quicker as opposed to hunting down what each individual thing is for each category.

 

[BudAshes]

Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
Although you can gather the information from the clues, it would help if you listed out each option for each category, like the Drinks are (a, b, c, d, e). by doing that, we can set up our grids much quicker as opposed to hunting down what each individual thing is for each category.

That is part of the fun.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Thanks, soulcougher73. I messed up. I got it now, though.

Here's a colorful screenshot with the solution, in case anyone is interested: link

After creating that chart, I realized that instead of doing it through the matrices as mentioned above, you could have taken the color coded pieces and moved them through absolute positioning. Sort of like color coded lego pieces that move together as a group. This way, it becomes a visual jig saw puzzle. The greys in the diagram are immovable pieces and are givens. So after you put something like that together, the only thing left to determine is who owns the dog, horse and zebra. It would probably be even quicker than the above mentioned methods.

 

[OdiN]

You're all wrong. They all drink water.

 

[palswim]

I just spent way too long figuring that out. But yet, I do have a sense of accomplishment.