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 possible podium positions are thus
ABC
ACB
BAC
BCA
CBA
CAB
Reporter 1 says either Brazil for gold or Chile for silver hence,
B__ (Brazil in the top spot - B is the 1st letter) or,
_C_ (Chile with Silver - C is the 2nd letter)

but not both.

So, already only ACB or BAC are even possible

If reporter 2 finishes his sentence with "...bronze"
He is saying


_A_ or
_ _C

This 'statement' contradicts our possible positions (ACB since neither's right, - BAC since both are)
The reporter did not say bronze.

If the reporter finished with silver, then he is saying,
_A_ or
_C_

Now, both of our 'possible podiums' are satisfied by only one of these statements - so we can't deduce which is correct.

The sentence must have finished with "....gold" by elimination - but we'll check.

_A_ or (but not both)
C__

With this ACB is ruled out since neither are in the right position , but BAC is consistent. Argentine must therefore have won silver, Chile didn't win gold or silver and therefore bronze, and Brazil won the gold.

Final order
Brazil
Argentine
Chile

Posted by Lee on 2003-10-07 14:57:53