Brain Teasers
The Murder in the Dressing Room
Heather, a performer in a play, was sadistically murdered in her dressing room by one of the other four actors: Edgar, Frank, George, and Hans. Each actor had his or her own dressing room; rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5:
Room 1 is small and borders rooms 2 and 4.
Room 2 is large and borders rooms 1, 3, 4, and 5.
Room 3 is large and borders rooms 2 and 5.
Room 4 is large and borders rooms 1, 2, and 5.
Room 5 is small and borders rooms 2, 3, and 4.
Here are some facts:
1. The murderer's room and Heather's room border the same number of rooms.
2. Heather's room borders Edgar's room and Frank's room.
3. George's room and Hans's room are the same size.
4. Frank's room does not border George's room.
Who killed Heather?
Room 1 is small and borders rooms 2 and 4.
Room 2 is large and borders rooms 1, 3, 4, and 5.
Room 3 is large and borders rooms 2 and 5.
Room 4 is large and borders rooms 1, 2, and 5.
Room 5 is small and borders rooms 2, 3, and 4.
Here are some facts:
1. The murderer's room and Heather's room border the same number of rooms.
2. Heather's room borders Edgar's room and Frank's room.
3. George's room and Hans's room are the same size.
4. Frank's room does not border George's room.
Who killed Heather?
Answer
Edgar murdered Heather.From fact 1, Heather couldn't be in room 2, and from fact 4, neither Frank nor George could be in room 2. This leaves only Edgar and Hans.
Suppose Edgar was in room 2. From fact 3, George and Hans are either in rooms 1 and 5 in some order, or in rooms 3 and 4 in some order. The same will be true for Heather and Frank. But in either case, Heather's room does not border Frank's room, contradicting fact 2. So Hans must be in room 2.
From fact 3, George is in either room 3 or in room 4. If George is in room 4, this leaves rooms 1, 3, and 5 for Heather, Edgar, and Frank. But room 1 does not border either of the other two rooms, so this contradicts fact 2 and George must be in room 4.
Now we need to put Heather, Edgar, and Frank in there respective rooms. We are left with rooms 1, 4, and 5, room 4 being the only one that borders each of the other two, so Heather must go there. From fact 4, Edgar must be in room 5 and Frank in room 1. And from fact 1, Edgar murdered Heather.
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Comments
The logic is sound. The setup is needlessly violent.
A lot of the mystery and situation teasers are pretty morbid. But logic teasers can be gory too. One of my other teasers involved a murder within a family.
This teaser might be easier to solve now that I posted my "lead actor" teaser.
This teaser might be easier to solve now that I posted my "lead actor" teaser.
A lot of the mystery and situation teasers are pretty morbid. But logic teasers can be gory too. One of my other teasers involved a murder within a family.
This teaser might be easier to solve now that I posted my "lead actor" teaser.
This teaser might be easier to solve now that I posted my "lead actor" teaser.
Fun and interesting. Pretty tough to do in your head. I suspect WimpyKid is finding these puzzles and presenting them to Braingle rather than creating them from scratch. I apologize if that is not the case. Themes are fairly standard for puzzles like this. If they are "found" puzzles, is it better to take the logic and rewrite it into a new theme, or is it respectful to present the puzzle as originally created? I don't know how I feel on that.
I know I'm very happy that these puzzles are shared with me.
I know I'm very happy that these puzzles are shared with me.
This is an optimization problem that can be solved with scip.
The model I used can be found at
https://gist.github.com/saska-gist/
35f9ad81938a9b63ba9290d93da3aebf
The model I used can be found at
https://gist.github.com/saska-gist/
35f9ad81938a9b63ba9290d93da3aebf
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