Here are some of my favorite kind of puzzles: logic puzzles. Click 'Submit' (at the bottom of the page) if you'd like to suggest a logic puzzle to be added.
(All of the following are solvable with the amount of clues provided; I have independently solved all logic puzzles here.)
Five Ph.D.s teach in the English department of the local university. Each is a recognized authority on one of these famous authors: Browning, Dickens, Faulkner, Hawthorne, and Keats. Each doctor's last name is the same as one of these writers, yet no teacher's surname is the same as the author in his field of study. From the clues below, can you determine each man's first and last name and his area of expertise?
1. David and Dr. Dickens did graduate work at the same university.
2. Dr. Browning is not the authority on Faulker.
3. Bruce's last name is neither Dickens nor Hawthorne.
4. The Hawthorne expert and the Keats expert have offices on the first floor of the English building. Dr. Faulkner, Bruce, and Chad have offices on the second floor. (Note: All five men are mentioned here.)
5. Eugene is not the authority on Keats.
6. Dr. Hawthorne is neither David nor Allen.
7. Three of the men are Eugene, Dr. Dickens, and the expert on Hawthorne (who is not Dr. Browning).
2. The Reformed Safecrackers
A small fortune in jewels recently disappeared from the safe of the Countess d'Orsay, and the London police rounded up Fred and four other suspects for questioning; all five (Nichols, Berg, Silva, Malone, and Masters) had at one time or another demonstrated a special talent for opening safes, not always with the owner's permission. Although the police made little headway in solving the crime, they were pleased to learn that all of the suspects are now honestly employed. From the following clues can you determine each suspect's full name, former underworld nickname (one was known as "the Spider"), and present occupation?
1. "The Owl," as he was known in the underworld, and Pablo had their first encounter with the police while removing the contents of a safe in a jewelry store; their lookout was known as "the Frog" and he was also caught.
2. Nichols, who is not Fritz and who always worked alone, is now a consultant for a safe-manufacturing company.
3. Malone was known in the crime world as "the Jackal."
4. Norma is now a travel agent.
5. The suspect formerly known as "the Squid" is now a chauffeur.
6. Pierre, who was not known as "the Owl," is now a gem appraiser for an insurance company; he is not Silva.
7. Berg is now a night watchman in a chemical plant.
3. The Producers
Last Saturday night, one of the national television networks presented five highly publicized shows in four and one-half continuous hours; one of them was called the Extravaganza. From the following clues, can you determine the order which the five shows were telecast, the full name of each show's producer (one's last name is Grande), the name of his show, and its length? (Note: You may assume that all the shows' lengths were in multiples of thirty minutes.)
1. Bill Hugo was the producer of one of the shows.
2. The first show, which wasn't Bob's, was one hour long, the third show one and a half hours, and the fifth show one-half hour.
3. Jim's show was longer than the Special, which was longer than Largo's show.
4. Biggy's show was one hour longer than Joe's show.
5. Bob's show was not the Special.
6. Largo, who isn't Joe, did not produce the fourth show.
7. The Gala was longer than John's show; the latter was not the fifth show.
8. The Spectacular was longer than the Gala.
9. Grosso did not produce the Gala or the Super Show.
#
First Name
Last Name
Length
Show Title
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
4. Bachelor Binge
One week, five bachelors (Andy, Bill, Carl, Dave, and Eric) agreed to go out to eat every weekday evening. It was understood that Eric would miss Friday's meal because of an out-of-town wedding at which he fervently hoped to catch the bride's garter. Each bachelor served as the host at a restaurant of his choice on a different night. One chose a mexican restaurant, one chose a seafood restaurant, etc. Use the clues below to determine which bachelor hosted the group each night and what food he selected.
1. Carl hosted the group on Wednesday.
2. The fellows ate at a Thai restaurant on Friday.
3. Bill, who detests seafood, volunteered to be the first host.
4. Dave selected a steak house for the night before one of the fellows hosted everyone at a raucous pizza parlor.
5. John's Kitten Contest
John has five sisters that are married and each has one daughter. In May, John's five nieces came to visit for his annual beautiful kitten contest. Each of his nieces has a different last name, and each brought a different kitten (one is named Willy). Two of the kittens are female (Bootsy and Mitsy). Each kitten likes a different kind of food (one likes sardines), and each likes to play with a different toy (one plays with a slipper). John declared all the kittens a tie for the winner and gave a trophy to each. With the following clues, can you match each niece with her surname, her kitten's name, and the kind of food and the type of toy each kitten likes best?
1. John's niece surnamed Worl brought in a male kitten.
2. Betsy's kitten is either the one who plays with yarn or the one who plays with ribbon.
3. The one male kitten who likes fish especially enjoys tuna.
4. Anderson was not the surname of the girl whose male kitten tugged the pink ribbon through the grass.
5. Midnight does not play with yarn.
6. Samantha owns a male kitten.
7. The ball and the catnip belong to male kittens, but not to Tabitha or the girl surnamed Fitch.
8. The person surnamed Buel rode to Uncle John's with Betsy and the owner of Midnight while the girl surnamed Zenner rode to Uncle John's with the girl whose cat likes tuna.
9. Midnight (who does not belong to Tabitha or May) likes beef.
10. The kitten who plays with the ball likes either beef or tuna.
11. May (whose surname is Fitch) and Betsy both serves a kind of fish to their kittens.
12. Jocko does not play with catnip or the ball.
13. Samantha, whose surname is Zenner, is not the owner of Jocko. Nor is Betsy.
14. Anita does not give her kitten catnip to play with.
15. The kittens that play with yarn and ribbon do not eat chicken and duck.
16. A female kitten likes chicken.
17. The person surnamed Anderson does not own Bootsy.
First Name
Last Name
Kitten's Name
Food
Toy
Anita
Betsy
May
Samantha
Tabitha
6. Pack Rat Problems
When he arrived back at his mountain cabin, Perry discovered that pack rats had been to work. In addition to making a mess of the entire cabin, five small items had vanished (a gold pen, a key, his lucky dime, his pen knife, and his compass). After hours of clean-up work he found each item in a different location (under the bed, in the stove, in the trash, in a nest, and in the outhouse) and at different times (9:00 am, 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 noon, and 1:00 pm). Can you determine which item was found in which place and at what time?
1. Perry discovered an object hidden along with sticks and mattress stuffing in the stove sometime before noon.
2. The shiny brass key was not the item hanging over the hole in the outhouse.
3. It was two hours after he found his lucky dime that Perry found his key.
4. Perry didn't search the outhouse until after he ate lunch.
5. Neither the key nor the pen were found under a huge pile of chewed paper in the trash. Neither the compass nor the knife were found in the huge nest made out of stuffing torn from Perry's pillow.
6. Perry found his lucky dime before he found his gold pen, but found the dime after he found his pen knife.
7. Searching under the bed some time after 11:00 am, Perry found one of his possessions.
8. Perry did not find his pen knife lying in the dust under his bed, nor did he find it in the spider-ridden outhouse.
9. Perry ate lunch after finding his pen at 11:00 am.
10. The search of the pack rat's nest took place later than the search of the trash, but before the search of stove.
Time
Item
Location
9:00 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
12:00 pm
1:00 pm
7. At The Alter Altar
Five weddings took place on the same day in Perplex City, capital of Alter, where the Alternatives live in a state of permanent uncertainty. The local newspaper reported the marriages in true Alter fashion. From the extracts given below, can you work out the full names of all the parties involved and say which individuals were married to each other?
1. Either Clara or Dorinda became Mrs. Harley.
2. Dale's last name is either Darley or Farley; Primrose was either Miss Wicks or Miss Dicks.
3. Either Sandra or Miss Dicks married Reuben Marley; neither of them became Mrs. Darley.
4. Marilyn was either Miss Rix or Miss Wicks, and she married neither Joel nor Mr. Darley.
5. Neither Benny nor Clyde is Mr. Barley, who married either Marilyn or Primrose.
6. Benny married either Miss Dicks or Miss Hicks; Clara was either Miss Rix or Dale's bride.
7. Miss Nix married either Joel or Reuben.
8. Dorinda married neither Dale nor Clyde; her maiden name was either Dicks or Rix.
Groom First
Groom Last
Bride First
Bride Last
Benny
married
Clyde
married
Dale
married
Joel
married
Reuben
married
8. Multiple Level Living
The land of Falor is small and has a large population. Because of limited space, multiple-level residential buildings are very common. In one building, six inhabitants each occupy a different floor in a six-level building. Based on the following clues, determine which inhabitant lives on which floor.
1. Mary does not live above the third floor.
2. Neither Opus nor Ramon lives above either Polly or Simon.
3. Simon does not live below Mary or Nolan, and does not live above Polly.
4. Ramon does not live below Nolan or above Mary.
Floor
Person
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
9. Metropolis Professionals
Five people, (Fred, George, Hal, James, and Larry), work in a metropolis doing five different jobs: airplane mechanic, corporate executive, engineer, nutrionist, and doctor. Using the given information, list each person from oldest to youngest (no two are the same age) and what job each has.
1. The corporate executive is not younger than any of the other four.
2. James is not as old as Fred and not as young as George, who is not as old as the engineer, but not as young as Hal.
3. The airplane mechanic is not younger than the doctor, who is not younger than the nutritionist.
4. Hal is not the youngest of the five.
10. Jousting Tournament
Six knights, each endeavoring to become known as the best jouster in the land, entered a tournament. Each knight has his own style (as is evidenced by their individual title (one was known as "the Fierce"), AND the six different colors AND shapes of their shields, AND the different colors of their horses), but each is a respected and accomplished jouster. Based on the following comments made by spectators, discover how each of the knights finished in the competition, as well as which title each knight has, and which color and shape describes the shield they each use, and the color of the horse each one rides.
1. The knight with the brown horse and the knight with the triangular shield both came in either first or last place. The knight known as "the Brave" came somewhere in between. Sir Damon dislikes all three; he only really gets along with the knight with the black shield. He can also tolerate the knight that came in third place.
2. I liked how the winner held his red shield high above his head to signify victory.
3. If Sir Balthus is "the Daring" then the knight with the round shield did not get second place and the knight with the gray horse did not get third place, but the knight with the gold shield did get fifth place. If not, then the opposite is true.
4. From where I was sitting, I could only tell that the black shield was either round or oval-shaped.
5. Sir Damon would never ride a gray or white horse and he never uses a silver or white shield. "The Noble," however, would use only those colors.
6. Sir Harold carries an oval shield and has a very nice spotted horse.
7. I noticed that no knight's shield is the same color as his horse.
8. Sir Caspar has the square shield. Sir Balthus carries a blue shield.
9. The golden horse did not finish first.
10. My favorite shield is the gold rectangular one, but my favorite knight is the one known as "the Just."
11. I think it is very appropriate that the knight known as "the Pure" uses a white shield. Too bad he finished last.
12. The knight with a blue shield has a white horse, and the knight known as "the Daring" does not have a black horse.
13. The knight with a diamond-shaped shield rides a brown horse.
14. The knight with a black shield does not ride a golden horse.
15. I knew that Sir Almeric would either get first or second.
16. "The Just" is not Sir Almeric nor is he Sir Jules.
11. On The Beach
Five children were playing on the beach (one was gathering shells). From the information given below, identify each child by their first and last names, their ages, and what they were doing.
1. The Smiths' daughter is two years older than her brother, who did not build the sand castle.
2. Kevin is not the seven-year-old and his last name is not Hill.
3. The 9-year-old went paddling in the sea.
4. There are two eight-year-olds. Wayne is one of them; Angela is not the other.
5. The child whose last name is Robinson, who spent the morning catching crabs, is not the six-year-old.
6. Susan's last name is Dale, and the boy who buried his father was not Darren.
First Name
Last Name
Age
Activity
Angela
Darren
Kevin
Susan
Wayne
12. Extracurricular Activity
Last Friday, six kids (two of which were William and Heather) were each picked up from a local elementary school by one of their parents (two of which are James and Angela). Each then went to a different after-school activity (one of which was karate class). Each child was picked up in a specific order, and in a specific type of vehicle of a specific color. From the clues, determine the first and last name (one of which is Campbell) of each parent and child, the color (one was blue) and type of vehicle used, the activity that each child took part in, and the order in which each child was picked up.
1. Anthony did not go bowling. A girl went to her piano lesson.
2. The pick-up truck arrived before the van.
3. The Harris child got picked up second.
4. The silver vehicle did not arrive 5th or 6th.
5. Neil drives a brown vehicle. Both the sedan and the van are not black.
6. A woman took her daughter to ballet class. A different woman arrived 5th.
7. Kim's mom picked her up last. Her last name is not Taylor.
8. Mrs. Jones drives a green SUV, while Michelle drives a sedan.
9. The black vehicle arrived before Sarah got picked up, but after Kevin's mom took him to baseball practice.
10. The Anderson boy got picked up to go to his bowling lesson; the girl that got picked up in the green vehicle is jealous of him.
11. The woman that took her daughter to swimming lessons has been Michelle's next-door neighbor for 20 years.
12. Mrs. Davis, who does not drive a black vehicle, picked up her child just before Simon arrived to pick up his son.
13. One boy's father picked him up with his brand new yellow motorcycle.
14. The driver that arrived first picked up his daughter in an old station wagon.
15. Sharon Taylor's daughter is an only child.
