After the second formal dance the friends had attended, they got ready for this dance, which was based on an article called "Miraculous Melons".

The four friends looked in their closet and decided that they wanted to mix things up. They each picked out one shirt, tie and suspenders from what the four had accumulated. (They had accumulated red, blue, green and white of each.)

When the four friends decided to meet at the dance, they all arrived at slightly different times, and as a result some people got to the dance earlier than others.

After the dance, the old fifth friend (called A) came to visit and asked someone who went (called B) about the dance. Based on the conversation, can you figure out what shirt, tie and suspenders were worn by each person, and in what order they came in?


A: When did everyone arrive at the dance?

B: Well, I know that the only person that came in between the person with the red shirt and the person with the green suspenders (in no particular order) was wearing a white tie.

A: What else did you notice about the time people came in?

B: Well, I know that the person wearing the green shirt came in just before the person wearing the red suspenders, and he came in just before the person wearing the red tie.

A: What did they do do when you were at the dance?

B: We took a picture of all four of us. It showed three of us standing: the person with the blue shirt on the left, the person with the blue tie in the middle, and the person with the white suspenders on the right. The other person was sitting down in the middle because he arrived last of all four of us.

A: I have one more question. I heard that you took off your green tie and gave it to a girl you liked. Did anything happen?

B: I am planning on taking her and I hope to wear the same shirt as I did this year. It was a red or blue shirt, I don't remember which.

A: I have to go now, bye!

(In reply to re(2): solution by stewards)

Stewards, your question regarding whether B's knowledge of the order of arrival came from personal observation or hearsay is an excellent one and critical to the solution of the problem. You are on the right track. When I first considered that question I was concerned that the author may have been imprecise or ambiguous in his language and left us without sufficient clues to solve the problem. However that is not the case. If you look closely at the language used by A and B, paying particular attention to words connoting the certainty of his knowledge, the source of his knowledge, and the perspective from which he derived it, you can answer your own question. No reason for sadness, yours is a bright inquiring mind benefiting from healthy exercise. Neither is ignorance your problem, if that were the case you would not be interested in a site like this. The point is to have fun, make a few new neuron connections in the brain, and hopefully improve our deductive reasoning. Good luck and enjoy.

Posted by cogitater on 2004-01-29 03:17:25