Mr. and Mrs. Astor, Mr. and Mrs. Blake, Mr. and Mrs. Crane, and Mr. and Mrs. Davis were seated around a table as shown:
+---+
| 1 |
+---+ +---+ +---+
| 8 | | 2 |
+---+ +---+
+---+ +---+
| 7 | o | 3 |
+---+ +---+
+---+ +---+
| 6 | | 4 |
+---+ +---+ +---+
| 5 |
+---+
1) Mrs. Astor was insulted by Mr. Blake who sat next to her on her left.
2) Mr. Blake was insulted by Mrs. Crane who sat opposite him across the center of the table.
3) Mrs. Crane was insulted by the hostess who was the only person who sat between a married couple.
4) The hostess was insulted by the only person who sat between two men.
Who insulted the hostess?
Clue 4, that only one person sits between two men allows only two (ignoring rotations) permuations of males (1) and females (0):
11100100 corresponds to Jacki's solution and the reverse of Charlie's answer (he has Mrs A on the wrong side of Mr B). which are essentially the same and are in fact the only solution.
BCDbcAda.
In this layout B can only be in position 1 with women opposite and to HIS right. This places c in position 5 and a in position 8.
The hostess insulter X is in position 2.
BX10c10a
The hostess, h, is in position 4, 5, 7 or 8.
Placing the remaining people we have 12 possibles,
Only one passes the (only person between married couple) test with X = C and h = d.
BCDbcAda (only d between couple) (the answer above)
11011000 is the other possiblility
In this layout B can only be in 4. This places c in 8 and a in 3. The hostess insulter x is in 3.
11aB100c
However the 12 possibilities fail either because there is not exactly one person between a married couple or that person is male.
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Posted by goFish
on 2005-10-26 10:23:38 |