During an uneventful period on the open sea, Captain Lafoot and his four mates decided to try their skill with muskets. They placed a target behind the forecastle and, keeping score they took turns shooting at it.
Based on the following statements, determine how each of five men ranked in the scoring.
- Captain Lafoot did not rank third unless Red Beard ranked fifth.
- If Long John ranked second, then Black Jack did not rank either first or third.
- If Will Kidd did not rank first, then Red Beard ranked second and Long John ranked fourth.
- If Black Jack did not rank first, then Long John ranked second and Captain Lafoot ranked fourth.
- If Black Jack did not rank second, then neither did Captain Lafoot nor Red Beard, unless Will Kidd ranked fourth.
Looking at (2) and (3), we can see that either Will Kidd or Black Jack finished first, because we cannot have two persons finishing 2nd.
Assume that Black Jack finished 1st. Then, from (3), Red Beard was 2nd and Long John 4th. This contradicts (5), so Black Jack did not finish 1st.
Therefore, we know that Will Kidd finished 1st. From (4), Long John was 2nd and Captain Lafoot was 4th.
From (2), Black Jack was 5th, so Red Beard must have been 3rd.
Final Answer:
1 Will Kid
2 Long John
3 Red Beard
4 Captain Lafoot
5 Black Jack
And clue (1) was not needed, making it the Red Herring in this problem
Red Herring
