“Spoons” is a fun card game and at a recent party six boys: Adam, Bobby, Henry, Kurt, Malcolm and Zach and six girls: Annie, Beth, Jessica, Joann, Liz and Stephanie decided to play it. To play, players sit in a circle with a number of spoons equal to the # of players minus one in the center. Cards are then passed around and players try to formulate a four-of-a-kind. The first person who does is the winner of the round, and grabs a spoon from the middle. The other players then fight for a spoon, whether or not they have a four-of-a-kind. The person who does not get a spoon is eliminated from the game. After a spoon is discarded, a new round begins and play repeats until one person is left. Can you figure out who was eliminated in each round, as well as who was the winner of that round?

1. The first four players eliminated, in some order, were Beth, a player eliminated the round Zach was the winner of (not Annie), the player eliminated the round immediately before Stephanie was the winner of a round, and a boy (who’s not Adam or Zach).
2. The last four players remaining were, in some order, Stephanie, the person who was the winner of the round Kurt was eliminated, and two other girls.
3. The winner of the last round won three times total, but not all in a row. No one else won more than once.
4. Annie was the little one to win a round and then be eliminated the next round. Joann outlasted her.
5. These players were, in some order, eliminated consecutively, the winner of round 5, a player who was eliminated a round Malcolm won, and Liz.
6. Either no one won two rounds consecutively, or the winner of round 8 did not win round 11.
7. Henry and Kurt, both of whom won a round, fought for the final spoon two rounds after the one Jessica was eliminated.
8. Jessica won round 1; Adam lasted longer than round 3.
9. Bobby was not the winner of a round Henry won.
10. If Zach was eliminated before round 7, then Liz did not win round 6.
11. If Malcolm won round 10, then Liz did not win round 7.
12. If Joann was eliminated in round 10, then she did not win round 8.
13. If then winner of round 3 was eliminated in round 7, then Kurt did not win round 4.

For clue #9, it says "Bobby was not the winner of a round Henry won".  This is rather obvious.  Should it have said something like "Bobby was not eliminated in a round Henry won"?

For clue #1, could the "player eliminated the round immediately before Stephanie was the winner of a round" be Adam or Zach?  This is because "a boy (who's not Adam or Zach)" can be viewed as a different player.  That is, a boy who is not Adam or Zach can be eliminated in the first 4 rounds along with Adam or Zach if either happens to be the "player eliminated the round immediately before Stephanie was the winner of a round?" Or is the intent that Adam or Zach survive the first 4 rounds?  If the intent is that Adam and Zach survive the first 4 rounds then clue #8 has a redundancy, "Adam lasted longer than round 3".

 

Posted by gregg on 2006-10-11 01:41:34