Monday, March 25, 2013

logic puzzle: extreme sports—who, what, where

The following comes from Original Logic Problems, October 2002, Penny Press. Enjoy. The puzzle took me a million years to solve, and I still haven't seen the official correct answer, but I'm pretty sure I've solved it correctly: I worked it twice and got the same results both times.

I wouldn't have known about the puzzle had it not been given to Kristi by my lovely coworker Lily (not her real name). If I recall correctly, Lily has mentioned that she enjoys doing these sorts of puzzles in her spare time. I find them about as pleasant as listening to country music while anally impaling myself on a cactus, but once I start such a puzzle, my inner pit bull takes over and I can't stop worrying it until I've either solved it or tired myself out. Happily, I can report that this particular puzzle proved eminently soluble; if I can do it, stupid as I am, I'm positive that you, Dear Reader, can untangle it just fine on your own.



GOING TO EXTREMES

Manuel and four of his friends like to live life on the edge and often engage in thrill-seeking activities. Currently, each person is planning his or her vacation around a different exhilarating sport and is traveling to a different exotic country (one is Paraguay) to indulge his or her thirst for excitement. While their spouses are content to relax in their hotels or explore local cultures, these daredevils insist that you haven’t fully experienced a country until you’ve risked your life in it! From the information provided, can you determine the full name (one surname is Kenning) of each daredevil, the activity in which he or she will engage while on vacation, and the country to which he or she will travel?

1. The five adventurers are (a) Jennifer (who isn’t the one who plans to paraglide), (b) Nikki, (c) the person going skydiving, (d) the one surnamed Stanton, and (e) a person who is not surnamed Firdusi.

2. The person surnamed Dacia is going base jumping. The one surnamed Firdusi is traveling to Greece for his or her vacation.

3. Neither Oberton (who is going bungee jumping) nor the person surnamed Nijinsky is the one going to Nigeria. Heloise (who is heading to Malaysia) isn’t surnamed Nijinsky.

4. Manuel has arranged a hang-gliding trip; he isn’t the person who is going to Bulgaria.

Note: A statement such as “Neither Oberton . . . nor the person surnamed Nijinsky is the one going to Nigeria” means that Oberton isn’t going to Nigeria, that the person surnamed Nijinsky isn’t going to Nigeria, and that Oberton isn’t the person surnamed Nijinsky.

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You'll need the following charts to help you visualize your progress through the logic. The smaller of the two charts will be, once you've filled it in, your final answer:






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4 comments:

SJHoneywell said...

I'm pretty sure I got it, but I don't want to spoil the puzzle for anyone else.

Kevin Kim said...

Well, you can lay your answer out in the comment section if you want. The best I can do, at this point, is check your answer against my own, knowing that my answer might be wrong. I'll need to ask Lily for the answer key so we can have official arbitration/confirmation.

daeguowl said...

I reckon:
Heloise Kenning Skydiving Malaysia
Jennifer Dacia Base jumping Nigeria
Manuel Nijinsky Hang gliding Paraguay
Nikki Firdusi Paragliding Greece
Oberton Stanton Bungee jumping Bulgaria

Kevin Kim said...

Paul,

For what it's worth, that's exactly what I got.