At a family reunion, I met four distant cousing who are all in the US military. They each came in their dress uniforms, two from the Army, and two from the Navy. When I asked them their names, and where they were stationed, Terry and Tracy told the truth, but Lee and Loren lied. This was especially confusing because all four names could belong to either a man or a woman. Here is what they each said:

Male soldier:

1. The male sailor is Terry.
2. Tracy isn't stationed in Afghanistan.

Female soldier:

1. The female sailor isn't Terry.
2. Loren isn't the person stationed in Texas.

Male sailor:

1. The male soldier is Lee.
2. The female sailor is Loren.

Female sailor:

1. A sailor is stationed in Hawaii.
2. Tracy is stationed in Afghanistan.

Help me figure out who is who, and where they are all stationed (one is in Kuwait).

The male soldier and female sailor cannot both be telling the truth because their respective statements 2 are contradictory. By naming the male soldier as Lee, and female sailor as Loren, the Male Sailor has exposed him/herself as a liar. Therefore, the female soldier is telling the truth. Because the male soldier says that the male sailor is Terry, and we've already established the male sailor to be a liar, we now know that the male soldier is the other liar, so the female soldier is telling the truth. Working through their statements will lead to the following conclusion:

Loren is the Male Soldier stationed in Kuwait,
Terry is the Female Soldier stationed in Texas,
Tracy is the Female Sailor stationed in Afghanistan, and
Lee is the Male Sailor stationed in Hawaii.

Posted by Lawrence on 2003-09-02 02:30:56