The situation

1. There are 5 houses in five different colours.

Hints

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 green house's owner drinks coffee

the person who eats sushi rears birds

the owner of the yellow house eats chips

the man living in the center house drinks milk

the Norwegian lives in the first house

the man who eats pasta lives next to the one who keeps cats

the man who keeps horses lives next to the man who eats chips

the owner who eats fried rice drinks beer

the German eats meat

the Norwegian lives next to the blue house

the man who eats pasta has a neighbor who drinks water

Einstein wrote this riddle this century. He said that 98% of the world could not solve it.

The solution

Solution to the Riddle

How did I solve it?

The possible nationalities are:

Norwegian

Brit

Swede

Dane

German

The possible colors are:

Red

Green

White

Yellow

Blue

The possible beverages are:

Tea

Coffee

Milk

Beer

Water

The possible foods are:

sushi

chips

pasta

fried rice

meat

The possible pets are:

Dogs

Birds

Cats

Horses

Fish

The Deduction

Well, we know there are five houses. We'll assume they're all in a row, and are numbered
from left to right. We know the Norwegian is in the first house:
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Natl

Norweg

Bevg

Eats

Pet

Since the Brit lives in the red house, the Norwegian can't. We also know the Norwegian lives
next to the blue house, so his house isn't blue. We also know that the green house is to the left
of the white house; the Norwegian can't live in the white house since there is no house to the
left, and can't live in the green house because his only neighbor, the one to the right, is known
to live in the blue house. Therefore, the Norwegian lives in the yellow house.
We also know the owner of the yellow house eats chips, and that the Norwegian has a
neighbor with a blue house (the Norwegian only has one neighbor, to the right.)
So here's what our matrix looks like now:
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Natl

Norweg

Bevg

Eats

chips

Pet

The man who keeps horses lives next to he man who eats chips; so the horse owner lives in
the blue house. The center house's owner drinks milk, the green house's owner drinks coffee,
and the green house is to the left of the white house. Since we know the left two houses are
the yellow and blue houses, the only position for the green and white are green as the fourth
and white as the fifth, since the middle (third) drinks milk and the owner of the green house
drinks coffee. The middle house has to be red, and therefore is the Brit's. So now this is what
we know:
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Brit

Bevg

Milk

Coffee

Eats

Chips

Pet

Horse

The owner who eats fried rice drinks beer; since we know what houses #3 and #4 drink [and
neither are beer] and we know what house #1 eats [and its not fried rice], the only
possibilities are houses #2 and #5. Keep this information in mind. Since it is evident house #1
cannot drink beer (only house #2 or #5 can), the only possible beverages for house #1 are
water and tea, but since the Dane drinks tea, house #1 drinks water. The man who eats pasta
lives next to someone who drinks water; the only house next to #1 (the water-drinking house)
is #2. The man who eats pasta lives next to the one who has cats; so the cat-house is #1 or #3.
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Brit

Bevg

Water

B/T?

Milk

Coffee

B/T?

Eats

chips

pasta

Pet

Cat?

Horse

Cat?

Since the Dane drinks tea, he must live in either house #2 or #5. The Swede and German
could live in house #2, #4 or #5.
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

D/S/G?

Brit

S/G?

D/S/G?

Bevg

Water

B/T?

Milk

Coffee

B/T?

Eats

chips

pasta

Pet

Cat?

Horse

Cat?

We know the beer-drinker eats fried rice The only houses that could drink beer are #2 and #5,
but since we know that #2 eats pasta, #5 must be the house which drinks beer and eats fried
rice, and #2 has to be the house that drinks tea and the house of the Dane. We can eliminate
the possibility of the Dane's residence being house #5.
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Dane

Brit

S/G?

S/G?

Bevg

Water

Tea

Milk

Coffee

Beer

Eats

chips

pasta

Fried rice

Pet

Cat?

Horse

Cat?

We know the German eats meat. Therefore, he could not live at house #5 and therefore has to
live at house #4. The Swede must live at house #5; we also know house #5 raises dogs since
we know the Swede raises dogs, and that house #4 eats meat since the German eats meat
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Dane

Brit

German

Swede

Bevg

Water

Tea

Milk

Coffee

Beer

Eats

chips

pasta

meat

Fried rice

Pet

Cat?

Horse

Cat?

Dogs

The only possibility for house #3's eats sushi; all of the others are taken. We know that
whoever eats sushi raises birds; so house #3 raises birds, and house #1 therefore has cats,
since the only houses which could have had cats were #1 and #3, and #3 has been eliminated.
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Dane

Brit

German

Swede

Bevg

Water

Tea

Milk

Coffee

Beer

Eats

chips

pasta

sushi

meat

Fried rice

Pet

Cat

Horse

Birds

Dogs

The only remaining pet is the fish, which must be owned by the German. We now know who
owns the fish, and have solved the puzzle.
The completed matrix of data is as follows:
House

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Color

Yellow

Blue

Red

Green

White

Natl

Norweg

Dane

Brit

German

Swede

Bevg

Water

Tea

Milk

Coffee

Beer

Eats

chips

pasta

sushi

meat

Fried rice

Pet

Cat

Horse

Birds

Fish

Dogs

Q.E.D.
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