Canada, Mexico and the United States each sent three swimmers to a North American swim meet. The scoring was that the first place finisher would get 8 points, the second place finisher 7 points, and so forth, down to no points for ninth (last) place.
The first two Mexican swimmers to finish were the two swimmers whose times were closest to each other among all the contestants, and last place, with no points, was one of the Canadians.
When the three nations' scores were totaled, it was found that each team had the same total score.
What was the order of finish, by team?
POSSIBLE SOLUTION :
Canada: 1st 5th and last 8+4+0
Us: 2nd 6th and 7th 7+3+2
Mexico: 3rd 4th and 8th 6+5+1
NO OTHER WAY IS POSSIBLE, SINCE CANADAS 12 POINTS ARE EITHER 8+4+0 OR 7 +5+0 THE LATER LEAVING NO POSSIBLE PARTITION FOR THE MEXICAN TEAM