Six witnesses gave conflicting descriptions of the suspect.
Each witness had exactly one item correct. Each correct value appears at least once.
What would be the correct description of the suspect?
|
Hair
|
Jacket
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Shirt
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Pants
|
|
Brown
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White
|
Red
|
Gray
|
|
Red
|
Blue
|
Pink
|
White
|
|
Black
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Purple
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Yellow
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Blue
|
|
Blond
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White
|
Not Yellow
|
White
|
|
Brown
|
Purple
|
Green
|
Gray
|
|
Gray
|
Blue
|
Orange
|
Blue
|
This can be solved analytically without trial and error.
From Mensa Puzzle Calendar 2017 by Mark Danna and Fraser Simpson, Workman Publishing, New York. Puzzle for May 12.
Exactly two items must be correct twice, and by inspection they must be the Jacket and the Pants.
And the shirt must be Yellow, because otherwise two people are correct about the shirt. So the jacket cannot be purple and the pants cannot be blue.
If the jacket is white, then the pants cannot be gray or white. Since we already know that the pants cannot be blue, this means that the jacket is not white.
So the jacket must be blue. The pants, which then cannot be white must be gray.
So the hair must be blond.
Final and only answer:
HAIR JACKET SHIRT PANTS
Gray
Blue
Yellow
Blond
Gray
Blue
Analytical Solution (Spoiler)
