All about flooble | fun stuff | Get a free chatterbox | Free JavaScript | Avatars    
perplexus dot info

Home > Logic
At the party (Posted on 2011-07-22) Difficulty: 3 of 5
At the party staged by 3 young couples the following leaflet was distributed among the guests:

"Who now are 3, will soon be 6
And gladly we confess it.
But how we've chosen you may know
As soon as you have guessed it.

Tom, who is older than Jim, is Dorothy's brother ,
Virginia is the oldest girl,
The total age of each couple-to-be is the same,
No two of us are of the same age,
Jim and Lisa together are as old as Bill and Dorothy together."

Who got engaged to whom?

Abridged from: 101 PUZZLES BY C.R.WYLIE Jr (1957)

No Solution Yet Submitted by Ady TZIDON    
Rating: 4.0000 (1 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
Solution solution Comment 2 of 2 |

If the match between the totals J+L and B+D were the result of Jim pairing with Lisa and Bill with Dorothy, then Tom would be paired with Virginia. But that's not possible, as the oldest girl must be matched with the youngest guy.

So let's lay out a possible order. This is the simplest:

10  -  1
 9  -  2
 8  -  3


where the numbers represent years above some baseline.

Each row represents a pairing of an engaged couple. Arbitrarily the higher numbers are for the guys.

9+1 = 8+2 so those diagonals match, and can represent J+L and B+D. As these represent, on the male side, Jim and Bill, Tom must be the 10 at the top. Dorothy cannot then be the 1, so that must be Lisa. In sum:

      Tom 10  -  1 Lisa
      Jim  9  -  2 Dorothy
     Bill  8  -  3 Virginia


    
Of course the sizes of the relative ages is just an example of the possibilities, but the pairing is as shown on these three lines.    


  Posted by Charlie on 2011-07-22 14:08:42
Please log in:
Login:
Password:
Remember me:
Sign up! | Forgot password


Search:
Search body:
Forums (0)
Newest Problems
Random Problem
FAQ | About This Site
Site Statistics
New Comments (10)
Unsolved Problems
Top Rated Problems
This month's top
Most Commented On

Chatterbox:
Copyright © 2002 - 2024 by Animus Pactum Consulting. All rights reserved. Privacy Information