British puzzle creator Hubert Phillips invented this genre of puzzle in the 1930s.

I have slightly modified a puzzle attributed to H.P. (a.k.a. Caliban).

One of five people is a murderer.
Here are their statements:
Bernie: Becky didn’t do it.
Benny: Betty did it.
Bella: Becky is innocent.
Betty: Becky did it.
Becky: I did not do it.

Can you identify the killer?

Given k people, including the killer, lied – provide your answers and reasoning for all possible values of k.

If Bernie is the killer, then he told the truth. Since the killer lied, Bernie did not do it. Similarly, Bella is innocent. If Benny did it, then he and Betty lied. If Betty did it, then she is the only liar. If Becky did it, then everybody except Betty lied. Therefore, k=1, 2, or 4.

Posted by Math Man on 2016-06-25 07:00:41