Math Is Fun Forum

ajibola

Guest

math puzzles

help me answer "who owns the crocodile"

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,626

Re: math puzzles

hi ajibola

Welcome to the forum.

Puzzles like this occur in lots of puzzle books and you are given a grid like this:

You could try making up a suitable set of grids but there are a lot of 'fields' required.

My own method involves using a spreadsheet.

I started with the position numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5 and then a column for each field. (eg "pets")

I copied the information into a text box which I pasted alongside my rows and columns.

I then put in information; systematically line by line; deleting each line as I added it to the sheet.

A fact like "Lucy is the first on the left" can go straight in as she must be in position 1.

A fact like "The person who eats Milky Bars owns a horse" canot be put in a position yet so it gets its own line further down my spreadsheet.

But "Hannah eats Dairy Milk" and later on "The person in the middle eats Dairy Milk" have enabled me to put those two bits of information together on my sheet. 

Note how I entered the information "Jessica is on the left of Georgina".

Here's my progress so far:

Clearly, I've got some way to go but I find with these puzzles that everything gradually gets into place. As only four pets are mentioned, whoever is left out must own the crocodile*.

Bob

*This forum does NOT recommend keeping crocodiles as pets and can accept no responsibility for any injury resulting from you ignoring this advice!

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

Mark Dater

Member

Registered: 2021-07-23

Posts: 12

Re: math puzzles

Give a complete problem statement

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,626

Re: math puzzles

hi Mark Dater

Welcome to the forum.

ajibola didn't say where the puzzle came from but I guessed it was on the main MathsIsFun website.  Here's a ink:

https://www.mathsisfun.com/logic_puzzle2.html

Good luck solving it.

Bob

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob