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Englishman Italian Spaniard Norwegian

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Problem Statement

Four people of different nationalities live on the same side of a street in four houses, each of a different colour. Each person has a different favourite drink. We also know that :

1. The Englishman lives in red house.2. The Italian drinks tea.3. Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.4. The one living next to blue house drinks beer.5. The Spaniard drinks fruit juice.6. Tea is drunk in the blue house.7. The white house is to the right of red house.8. Milk is drunk in the second house from the right.

Questions

Who drinks milk ?What does the Norwegian drink ?What colour house does the Spaniard

live in ?Who drinks beer ?Who lives in the right-most house ?

Needs no logic and no reasoning

How does this problem look to you ?Try it out before proceeding forward.

Do you feel this problem can be done within a minute ?

There is one very minor “catch” in the problem, and if you get that – it is solvable in less than a minute.

Are you ready for it ?

Where should we start ?

The first thing to get right is the representation of the problem.

The representation is easy to visualize : A table like the following :

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality

Colour

Drink

What next ?

If you start right with the first clue, there is not much you can do. You need to start with the clues which are absolutely sure-shot

Let us start with something that is absolutely a given

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality

Colour

Drink

The Simplest clue

Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.

What can you conclude from this clue ?

How will you fill the table with this clue ?

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality

Colour

Drink

The Simplest clue - Answer

Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality Norwegian

Colour

Drink

The next simplest clue

Milk is drunk in the second house from the right.

How will you fill the table with this clue ?

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality Norwegian

Colour

Drink

The next simplest clue - Answer

Milk is drunk in the second house from the right.

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality Norwegian

Colour

Drink Milk

The next obvious ones

The Italian drinks tea.

The Spaniard drinks fruit juice.

What do these clues mean ?

How will you fill this table with these ?

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian

Colour

Drink Milk

The next obvious ones - Answer

The Italian drinks tea.The Spaniard drinks fruit juice.

Both these clues require a Nationality-Drink entry in the table.In Column I, nationality is already taken – not possibleIn Column III, drink is already taken – not possible

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Spaniard/Italian

Colour

Drink Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Now it is all a cakewalk

The Englishman lives in red house.

Where can the Englishman go ?

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Spaniard/Italian

Colour

Drink Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Now it is all a cakewalk - Answer

The Englishman lives in red house.

There is only one column with an available entry for Nationality.

Englishman lives there, and he lives in a red house.

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Englishman Spaniard/Italian

Colour Red

Drink Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Getting simpler still

The one living next to blue house drinks beer.

Which is the only possibility for drinking beer ?

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Englishman Spaniard/Italian

Colour Blue Red

Drink Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Getting simpler still - Answer

The one living next to blue house drinks beer.

There is only one column with an available entry for Drink.

That is the house where Beer is taken.

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Englishman Spaniard/Italian

Colour Blue Red

Drink Beer Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Nothing left now

Tea is drunk in the blue house.

This should be obvious

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian/Spaniard Englishman Spaniard/Italian

Colour Blue Red

Drink Beer Tea/Juice Milk Juice/Tea

Nothing left now - Answer

Tea is drunk in the blue house.

This ensures that House # II has the Italian/Tea combo.

This also ensures that House # IV has the Spaniard/juice combo.

House #I House # II House # III

House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian Englishman Spaniard

Colour Blue Red

Drink Beer Tea Milk Juice

The Last One

The white house is to the right of red house.

Nothing left to say now

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian Englishman Spaniard

Colour Blue Red

Drink Beer Tea Milk Juice

The Last One - Answer

The white house is to the right of red house.

House #I House # II House # III House # IV

Nationality Norwegian Italian Englishman Spaniard

Colour Blue Red White

Drink Beer Tea Milk Juice

It is indeed a cakewalk …

You never need to struggle with any Logical Reasoning problem

All you need to do is :Find a good representationPick up clues in the right order

Pick up a clue which can be used right now If you read a clue and it doesn’t make sense, it is

not ready to be used … Move aheadKeep it simple and keep moving …

It’s a matter of seconds …

Did you use any logic anywhere ?Did you use any reasoning anywhere ?Did you have to use any trial-and-error

anywhere ?How long would it take you to approach

the problem this way ?If you can master this trick, every Logical

Reasoning will be a whisker

Learnings

What did you learn from this problem ?How can you make your problem-solving

quick and instant ?Send your comments to

info@thecatlounge.com