Scaffolding Tweaked
Scaffolding Tweaked
Hints
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 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
Norwegian
Brit
Swede
Dane
German
Red
Green
White
Yellow
Blue
Tea
Coffee
Milk
Beer
Water
sushi
chips
pasta
fried rice
meat
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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