Look at the 5 statements below (in the column at right is the name of the person who made it):

      | A |           I tell the truth                   |   BOB   |
      | B |       JIM doesn´t tell the truth             |   TOM   |
      | C |          KEV tells the truth                 |   JIM   |
      | D |          BOB tells the truth                 |   KEV   |
      | E |            TOM tells lies                    |   LEN   |

Only one of the 5 people is telling the truth. Remove the name of the truth-teller and place the names of the remaining 4 in the same order in the next board, ie, if JIM is telling the truth, JIM will be removed and in the next board you will place the names BOB (in line F), TOM (in line G), KEV (in line H) and LEN (in line I), in the column at right.

      | F |    KEV told the truth in the grid above       |         |
      | G |    I was in position B in the grid above      |         |
      | H | The person in position F is telling the truth |         |
      | I |              I am not KEV                     |         |

Only 1 of the 4 people is telling the truth. Remove the truth-teller from the line-up and proceed as above with the remaining 3 names.

      | J |   The person in position K is telling a lie   |         |
      | K |        I was not in position G above          |         |
      | L | The person in position J is telling a lie     |         |

Only 1 of the 3 people is telling the truth. Remove the truth-teller from the line-up and proceed as above with the 2 remaining names.

      | M |   The person in position N is telling a lie   |         |
      | N |                I am KEV                       |         |

Only 1 of the 2 people is telling the truth. Remove the truth-teller from the line-up.

Who is the consistent liar ?

1st table: If JIM told the truth, there would be two truth tellers; thus, he lies, and TOM tells the truth about it, so off he goes.

2nd table: (BOB, JIM, KEV, LEN) -- LEN tells the truth at I, so off he goes.

3rd table: (BOB, JIM, KEV) -- JIM is lying at K, so BOB is telling the truth at J; away with him.

4th table: (JIM, KEV) -- KEV at N is telling the truth, so off with him too.

JIM is the all-time liar.

Posted by e.g. on 2005-11-02 10:46:14