Einstein's Riddle

[Boris Popov]

"Gregory Jorgensen" <gregj at pobox.com> wrote in message
news:UdSq6.2184$54.2166 at www.newsranger.com...
> The 2% that can solve it must be psychic or deranged. The riddle as posed
is not
> solvable.
>
> We are told of five houses anf five people. The hints mention five colors
(red,
> green, white, yellow, blue), five drinks (tea, coffee, milk, beer, water),
five
> smokes (Pall Mall, Dunhill, Blends, Bluemaster, Prince), and five
nationalities
> (Brit, Swede, Dane, Norwegian, German). But only four types of pet are
> mentioned: dogs, birds, cats, horse. We have no evidence that any of the
five
> owns fish.
>
> More telling: how many people can't quickly determine that this puzzle is
> unsolvable?

Well.. That's the trick of the puzzle...  and I admit I did not notice it
right away :))) My mind tricked me into thinking that there's a fish even
though statements do not mention it.
I would just say that it's not *unsolvable*... It turns out to be solveable
completely except the type of the pet german owns. It's a hole in the
solution table and we can't do anything about it...  Let's just say that
puzzle is solvable but we cannot answer the question without making any
assumptions.

-Boris

>
>
> In article <oNPq6.396644$ge4.138479566 at news2.rdc2.tx.home.com>, Steve
Graham
> says...
> >
> >Who would be interested in using his/her brain (and his computer) to
solve
> >the following?
> >
> >
> >Steve Graham
> >
> >===
> >
> >Einstein's Riddle
> >
> >Albert Einstein wrote this riddle this century [ed. 20th century].  He
said
> >98% of the world could not solve it.
> >
> >There are 5 houses in 5 different colors.  In each house lives a person
with
> >a different nationality.  The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage,
> >smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet.  No owners
> >have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar or drink the same
beverage.
> >
> >The question is: "Who owns the fish?"
> >
> >Hints:
> >
> >The Brit lives in the red house.
> >
> >The Sweed keeps dogs as pets.
> >
> >The Dane drinks tea.
> >
> >The green house is on the left of the white house.
> >
> >The green house's owner drinks coffee.
> >
> >The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
> >
> >The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
> >
> >The man living in the center house drinks milk.
> >
> >The Norwegian lives in the first house.
> >
> >The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
> >
> >The man who keeps the horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
> >
> >The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
> >
> >The German smokes Prince.
> >
> >The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
> >
> >The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
>
> Greg Jorgensen
> Deschooling Society
> Portland, Oregon, USA
> gregj at pobox.com