Friday, August 05, 2005

Whose Fish?

My brother found this today (don't ask me how) and sent it to me today from Coudal Partners. I have no idea who they are or what they do, but I found this interesting and challenging. Try it out and see what you come up with. You can look at it on their page, and submit your answer. If you are right, you might be a lucky winner. If anyone actually reads this, and then figures it out, post your answer in the comments. My brother and I both came up with the same answer, which at least means we think alike ... even if we think wrong. If you want to try it, don't look at the comments until after you try it. It took me about forty-five minutes or so (unless you do it faster, in which case it took me less time).

Anyway, give it a shot ...

Whose Fish?

By Albert Einstein (maybe)

This brainteaser, reportedly written by Einstein is difficult and Einstein said that 98% of the people in the world could not figure it out. Which percentage are you in?

There are five houses in a row in different colors. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The five owners drink a different drink, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet, one of which is a Walleye Pike.

The question is-- who owns the fish?

Hints:
  1. The Brit lives in the red house.
  2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
  3. The Dane drinks tea.
  4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
  5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
  6. The person who smokes Pall Malls keeps birds.
  7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
  8. The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk.
  9. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
  10. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
  11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the one who smokes Dunhills.
  12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
  13. The German smokes Princes.
  14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
  15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
There are no tricks, pure logic will get you the correct answer. And yes, there is enough information to arrive at the one and only correct answer.

If you get the correct answer, congratulations, you are one of the exclusive group of 121,348,731 people in the world who can.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just as a side note, it only took me 10 minutes . . . The answer lies in not trying to solve the question but getting it set up to solve everything else. The answer will just be there when you know everything else.

Andy Efting said...

This is a great little puzzle. I've seen and solved this before but it still took me 16 minutes to do it again tonight.

The German.

Patrick Berryman said...

It took me a week. First, I had to find a neighborhood that allowed green, blue, yellow and red houses. Then there was the challenge of finding a place that would allow people to keep horses. Being politically correct, I could not figure out how to determine someone's ethnicity until I heard them speak. Even then, I had no idea what language they speak in Norway (apparently Norway has its own language, but it's very similar to Danish and Swedish). And of course, the toughest question is why would someone keep a walleye pike? So, the obvious answer is Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a lead pipe. It was obvious to anyone that paid attention.

Larry said...

Very good, Pat ... I was out of town for the week and just read your response. My brother saw it first and busted out laughing. I had to pull it up.

The reason you keep a Walleye is so that your fishing trips are never zeros ...

Anonymous said...

One of the best puzzles i have ever read.
thanks