Are you in the 98% or 2% of the population? Version:puzzle

shinyknight · Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 51

Einstein said "only 2 percent of the world's population can solve it".
*Please do not cheat.

There are five houses.
The Englishman lives in the red house.
The Spaniard owns the dog.
Coffee is drunk in the green house.
The Ukrainian drinks tea.
The green house is immediately to the right of the ivory house.
The Old Gold smoker owns snails.
Kools are smoked in the yellow house.
Milk is drunk in the middle house.
The Norwegian lives in the first house.
The man who smokes Chesterfields lives in the house next to the man with the fox.
Kools are smoked in the house next to the house where the horse is kept.
The Lucky Strike smoker drinks orange juice.
The Japanese smokes Parliaments.
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
Now, who drinks water? Who owns the zebra?
In the interest of clarity, it must be added that each of the five houses is painted a different color, and their inhabitants are of different national extractions, own different pets, drink different beverages and smoke different brands of American cigarettes. One other thing: In statement 6, right means your right.

mockingbird · Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: 38

Probably a lot more than 2% of people can solve it if they have enough patience.

emmarie · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 31

farisee · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 48 Location: Upper MidWest

Okay, I think I've got it. How do I check it? Not sure I want to post what I think the answers are as not to be a spoiler.
_________________
In good health,
Eric

emmarie · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 31

What I'd like to see Eric is your method of coming up with the correct answers. You know, "show your work". The answers are all over the internet. One place to find them is on Wikipedia where they discuss the fact that the puzzle may be falsely attributed to Einstein. Another one of those urban myths?

I started to create a chart by hand, but it quickly became too large to fit on an 8.5x11 inch sheet, in pencil in my handwriting. So then I tried excel and wound up with a huge chart, printed it out and proceeded to cover any blank part of the border with scribbled notes and put x's and dots in boxes - but before long I got too tired and had to go to bed. I figured I'd get back to it, but as I'm sure was the case with a few of the 98%, I got bored and lazy before I completed it. Putting the chart together was much more fun for me ;p

-em

farisee · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 48 Location: Upper MidWest

I made a spreadsheet that was similar to the logic puzzles I've done in the past. It took me about 4 tries until I got the final one. I posted it here:
http://ez-files.net/download.php?file=87f6ee05b56807706c0922cf8db7ae95

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_________________
In good health,
Eric

heyburma · Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Delaware, USA

I LOVE logic puzzles but this one has so many elements and drawing the grid is irritating!!
Whenever I get a puzzle-book it's a logic one so I really tried to do this one, but it ain't happenin'. So, who drank water and who had the zebra?
_________________
Burma L Griffiths

DMighty · Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 99

wlashack · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 5

everything is ok, the puzzle has a solution. i got it. Smile

but it took me more than half an hour. Smile

DMighty · Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 99

wlashack · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 5

ok, the solution is (houses from left to right):
Yellow - Norwegian - Water - Kools - Fox
Blue - Ukrainian - Tea - Chesterfield - Horse
Red - Englishman - Milk - Old Gold - Snails
Ivory - Spanish - Juice - Lucky Strike - Dog
Green - Japanese - Coffee - Parliaments - Zebra

wlashack · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 5

the solution of this puzzle is not so difficult. you have to start solving the parts that are absolutely clear from the indices. after you do all these, you go through all the indices again and try to find some other partial solutions. and finally when no other possibility is clear, you have to pick one possible step and try if it leads you to a solution. if you come to a conflict, go back and change the starting opiton. it takes only several tries to find the right combination.

DMighty · Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 99

JhonnySilk · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 17

i was going to finish this,but i got bored!!

Sgt York · Joined: 04 Nov 2009 Posts: 23 Location: Oz

The thing is.
Einstein was so far above our league that if our league exploded he would not hear the bang for 3 days [best moviequotes #126]

"In understanding reality, imagination is far more important than intelligence"
Contradicts, or shows that it is not of import, this 2% thingy [lol]
He cast a line to see how many guppies took the bait.
or dont you think he might have been mischievious enough?
I think in his way he was playing a small and humble joke.. and you fall in the pit..led by your ego

I have spent 40 years of my adult life pondering the implications of his time dilation aspects of special relativity.
I have imagineered enough situations to write a dozen hard SF novels well in the league of Banks/Brin.
How he imagineered time dilation is almost spooky. It;s so far above 'the norm of thought in 1905' as to be a gift from a creator. Yet he did it...And in doing became a searchlight in a world of sputtering candles
This is why he should be held above all others on this planet as an avatar of what we can be if we try. Much has been said about how few will make the effort to think
'People will die before they will think.. and many do'
The smart kid at school was not the looser.. the smart kid wins by default.

--edit-- if i want to hone the mind with puzzels give me such as Machinerium on PC. Its a story too and a bookmark to what the gestalt of human thought and 'machines' creates.
One day machines will look back and say..wow. were we really so funny mom?
Its magic

Sarge