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.

Caldwell's captain of the Conch with 17 cowries, 14 murexes and 4 tritons, totaling 35 shells.

Taylor's captain of the Cowry with 13 conch and 12 cowries totaling 25 shells.

Carson's captain of the Murex with 40 conch, 7 cowries, and 3 tritons totaling 50 shells.

Mason's captain of the Nautilus with 8 cowries, 4 nautilus, and 18 whelks totaling 30 shells.

Whitley's captain of the Triton with 20 conch and 20 murexes totaling 40 shells.

Newman's captain of the Whelk with 35 murexes.

I hadn't tried a logic problem in years. It was good fun.

Posted by Michelle Sherrell on 2005-09-18 07:43:32