Six ships - the Conch, the Cowry, the Murex, the Nautilus, the Triton, and the Whelk - recently returned from an exotic shelling expedition. Interestingly, their collective harvest consisted of the six types of shells whose names the ships bore. The shipīs captains were Caldwell, Carson, Mason, Newman, Taylor and Whitley. From the following clues, can you name each shipīs captain and tell the kinds and numbers of shells each ship brought back from the expedition?

01) The total hauls, each divisible by 5, ranged from one shipīs 50 to a low of 25.
02) Only one captainīs name began with the same letter as his ship.
03) Newmanīs ship brought back five times as many cowries as did the Murex, which brought back one fewer cowry than did the Nautilus.
04) Either two or three kinds of shells were collected by every ship but the Whelk; its haul, all of one kind, equaled the Conchīs total for three kinds.
05) No ship but Masonīs brought back any shells matching its own name.
06) Taylorīs ship brought back 12 tritons and over a dozen conch shells.
07) The Nautilus, which was not Whitleyīs ship, brought back more shells than the Cowry but not as many shells as the Murex.
08) Only Masonīs ship returned from the expedition with nautilus shells; they numbered fewer than 5.
09) Carsonīs ship came sailing back with 3 tritons; Caldwellīs ship returned with 4 tritons; but the Nautilus collected no tritons at all.
10) The Triton, which brought back no cowries, returned with equal numbers of different kinds of shells; its total haul was smaller than that of at least one other ship.
11) The Conch brought back 14 murexes; the ship captained by Whitley collected 20 murexes.
12) Only the Nautilus brought back whelks; these whelks numbered one fewer than the total number of tritons brought back by all the ships taking part in the expedition.
13) Carsonīs ship brought back more shells than did Caldwellīs ship; among Carsonīs collected shells were 7 cowries.

Captain Caldwell of the Conch caught 17 cowries, 14 murexes and 4 tritons for a total catch of 35 shells.

Captain Taylor of the Cowrie took 13 conches and 12 tritons for the smallest haul, 25 shells.

Captain Carson of the Murex collected 40 conches, 7 cowries and 3 tritons for the biggest haul, 50 shells.

Captain Mason of the Nautilus made off with 8 cowries, 4 nautiluses (sp?) and 18 whelks for a total of 30 shells.

Captain Whitley of the Triton won 20 conches and 20 murexes for a 40-shell overall haul.

Captain Newman of the Whelk nabbed 35 cowries.

How solved? That would take way too long to write out (after all, it took me so long!). I used a 5x6 table and process of elimination. And all your clues, which is nice. I like using all the clues.

P.S. is such a expedition economical? Six ships and six crews all to catch only 175 shells? I suppose the shells cost a lot but I hope they are not endangered :)

Posted by hm on 2005-09-13 17:00:31