Three reporters were discussing the hockey results. The TV reporter said "Either Brazil won gold, or Chile won silver, but not both." The radio reporter similarly started to say "Either Argentine won silver, or Chile won …", but a sudden noise cut him off.
The press reporter, who was lucky enough to hear the complete sentence, could reason out the final order of the three countries. What was it?
The second statement must be one of the two following:
(2a) "Either Argentine won silver, or Chile won bronze" --or--
(2b) "Either Argentine won silver, or Chile won gold"
There are only 6 possibilities:
A B C (ruled out by statement 1 & 2b)
A C B (ruled out by statement 2a & 2b)
B A C (ruled out by statement 2a)
B C A (ruled out by statement 1, 2a, 2b)
C A B (ruled out by statement 1, 2b)
C B A (ruled out by statement 1, 2a)
If it had been 2a, then there is no solution (all are ruled out), so it must have been 2b.
Which means:
Brazil won Gold
Argentine won Silver, and
Chile won Bronze
Okay... I was hurried through this... I hope further analysis supports mine.
solution
