Four women -- April, Bella, Cara, and Denise -- and three men -- Edwin, Frank, and Gary -- play bridge, a card game for four players.
- The men and women consist of three married couples and a widow.
- The members of each married couple are never partners in a bridge game.
- No more than one married couple ever plays in the same bridge game.
One night they played four bridge games in which the partners were as follows:
Partners Partners
April and Edwin versus Bella and Frank
April and Gary versus Denise and Frank
Bella and Cara versus Frank and Gary
Cara and Edwin versus Denise and Gary
Who is the widow?
After eliminating the woman with whom each man has partnered, we know that
E is married to B or D
F is married to A or C
G is married to B or C
But F cannot be married to C, because then G must be married to B, and then two couples played in game 3. Therefore, F is married to A.
F played against A in game 1, and they are a couple, so B and E cannot be a couple. Therefore, E is married to D.
E played against D in game 4, and they are couple, so G and C cannot be a couple. Therefore, G is married to B.
So nobody is married to widow Cara.
The couples are
A & F -- opponents in Game 1 and 2
B & G -- opponents in Game 3
D & E -- opponents in Game 4
This is the only solution
Edited on December 12, 2013, 5:58 pm
Analytical solution
