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Solution to our May the 4th Jedi Logic Puzzle!

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Last week, we celebrated Star Wars Day (aka May the Fourth) with a Jedi-themed brain teaser for our fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers to solve!

How do you crack this Star Wars-inspired Jedi mystery? Let’s find out together!

On a small planet in the Mid Rim, a group of Jedi defeated several squads of battle droids. Reporters had a hard time piecing together descriptions of the five Jedi who saved the day, even after interviewing many witnesses.

The only thing the reporters were sure of? The names of the five Jedi:

  • Drosco Wrs
  • Ko Duus
  • Pramyt Gorc
  • Wendo Grars
  • Seredwok

Each of the Jedi wielded a different color lightsaber (green, yellow, blue, orange, or purple). Each held a different title within the Jedi Order (Padawan, Knight, Master, Instructor, or Council Member). And each of them was a different species (Barabel, Bith, Nautolan, Twi’lek, or Wookiee).

Based on the information gathered below, can you figure out which lightsaber color, title, and species belongs with which Jedi?

1. Drosco Wrs (whose lightsaber is either orange or green) is neither the padawan nor the knight.

2. Either Ko Duus or the Bith is the council member, and the other has the yellow lightsaber.

3. The Jedi with the blue lightsaber (who isn’t on the council) is either the Twi’lek or the Wookiee; if Twi’lek, then Drosco Wrs is the instructor, but if Wookiee, then Seredwok is the instructor.

4. The padawan (who has neither the blue lightsaber nor the green lightsaber) is not Seredwok.

5. Wendo Grars (who isn’t the knight) doesn’t have the yellow lightsaber or the blue lightsaber.

6. The Barabel (who is either Pramyt or Seredwok) isn’t the Jedi with the purple lightsaber.

7. The master has either the purple lightsaber or the yellow lightsaber. Neither the purple lightsaber nor the yellow lightsaber are wielded by the Nautolan.

So, where do we begin?

Well, there’s a lot of information here about the lightsabers, and that’s where we can start.

We know that the Nautolan doesn’t have the purple or yellow lightsabers (rule 7) or the blue lightsaber (rule 3). Similarly, we know that the Barabel doesn’t have the purple lightsaber (rule 6) or the blue lightsaber (rule 3). But we can also deduce that it doesn’t have the yellow lightsaber, because either Ko Duus or the Bith have the yellow lightsaber (rule 2), and Ko Duus isn’t a Barabel (rule 6).

That means the green and orange lightsabers are split between the Nautolan and the Barabel. That also means that Drosco Wrs is either the Nautolan or the Barabel, because his lightsaber is either green or orange (rule 1). But since he can’t be the Barabel (rule 6), Drosco Wrs is the Nautolan.

Let’s start our chart there:

sw puz 1

But we know more about Drosco Wrs. He is neither the padawan nor the knight (rule 1) and according to his lightsaber color, he is not the master (rule 7). He is also not the council member, who must be the Bith or Ko Duus (rule 2), so he is the instructor.

Because he is the instructor, we now also know that the Twi’lek has the blue lightsaber (rule 3).

We also know that the Jedi with the blue lightsaber isn’t the padawan (rule 4), the master (rule 7), the council member (rule 4), or the instructor (since Drosco Wrs is the instructor and his lightsaber is either green or orange). That means that the blue lightsaber is with a Twi’lek who is a knight.

Let’s update our chart:

sw puz 2

If we return to the Barabel, according to our chart they’re not the knight or the instructor, and they can’t be the master based on their possible lightsaber color. So they’re either the padawan or the council member. But the council member is either Ko Duus or the Bith (rule 2), and Ko Duus can’t be a Barabel (rule 6). So the Barabel must be the padawan.

And since Seredwok isn’t the padawan (rule 4), Pramyt Groc is the Barabel and the padawan.

But that’s not all. We know that the Barabel’s lightsaber is either green or orange, and the padawan’s lightsaber can’t be green (rule 4), so we have our first complete row.

sw puz 3

It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but now things are rolling.

Drosco Wrs, our Nautolan instructor, could only have a green or orange lightsaber (rule 1), and since orange is the padawan’s color, we now know his lightsaber is green.

So green, blue, and orange are all accounted for, and the council member cannot have a yellow lightsaber (rule 2), so the council member has a purple lightsaber, and the master has a yellow lightsaber.

Wendo Grars can’t have orange, blue, or green, based on our chart, nor can she have yellow (rule 5), so she has the purple lightsaber, making her the council member.

Our chart is looking pretty full now:

sw puz 4

Since Wendo Grars is the council member, Ko Duus must be the wielder of the yellow lightsaber (rule 2), which also makes Wendo Grars the Bith.

And process of elimination gives us one name left — Seredwok — and one species left — Wookiee — to assign.

So our completed chart looks like this:

sw puz 5

Oh, we also hid a little puzzly easter egg in this puzzle. Each of our Jedi names were anagrams of popular puzzles:

  • Drosco Wrs = Crossword
  • Ko Duus = Sudoku
  • Pramyt Gorc = Cryptogram
  • Wendo Grars = Rows Garden
  • Seredwok = Word Seek

Did you manage to unravel this devious Jedi-themed logic puzzle? Did you spot the wordplay in the Jedi names? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

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May the Fourth Be With You!

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Hello fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers! It’s Star Wars Day, and what better way to celebrate than with a puzzly Star Wars brain teaser!

Yes, we’ve created a Jedi-themed logic puzzle for you to unravel! Can you crack this Star Wars-inspired mystery?

On a small planet in the Mid Rim, a group of Jedi dispatched several squads of battle droids. Reporters had a hard time piecing together descriptions of the five Jedi who saved the day, even after interviewing many witnesses.

The only thing the reporters were sure of? The names of the five Jedi:

  • Drosco Wrs
  • Ko Duus
  • Pramyt Gorc
  • Wendo Grars
  • Seredwok

Each of the Jedi wielded a different color lightsaber (green, yellow, blue, orange, or purple). Each held a different title within the Jedi Order (Padawan, Knight, Master, Instructor, or Council Member). And each of them was a different species (Barabel, Bith, Nautolan, Twi’lek, or Wookiee).

Based on the information gathered below, can you figure out which lightsaber color, title, and species belongs with which Jedi?

1. Drosco Wrs (whose lightsaber is either orange or green) is neither the padawan nor the knight.

2. Either Ko Duus or the Bith is the council member, and the other has the yellow lightsaber.

3. The Jedi has the blue lightsaber (who isn’t on the council) is either the Twi’lek or the Wookiee; if Twi’lek, then Drosco Wrs is the instructor, but if Wookiee, then Seredwok is the instructor.

4. The padawan (who has neither the blue lightsaber nor the green lightsaber) is not Seredwok.

5. Wendo Grars (who isn’t the knight) doesn’t have the yellow lightsaber or the blue lightsaber.

6. The Barabel (who is either Pramyt or Seredwok) isn’t the Jedi with the purple lightsaber.

7. The master has either the purple lightsaber or the yellow lightsaber. Neither the purple lightsaber nor the yellow lightsaber are wielded by the Nautolan.

Good luck, fellow puzzlers! This puzzle requires NO actual knowledge of Star Wars to solve. All you need are your puzzly wits!

Let us know if you solved it in the comments below! And May the Fourth Be With You!

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Solutions to Last Week’s Detective Riddles!

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cluedupp1

Last week, we delved into a curious cousin of brain teaser family — detective riddles. These crime-fueled and investigation-filled little logic problems often cast you as the detective, the accused, or simply someone putting on their deerstalker hat and endeavoring to suss out the actual truth.

And we couldn’t resist putting your puzzle skills to the test with a few detective riddles. Did you unravel them easily or find yourself stumped?

Let’s find out, shall we?

#1

A Japanese ship was leaving the port and on its way to open sea. The captain went to oil some parts of the ship and took his ring off so it wouldn’t get damaged. He left it on the table next to his bunk. When he returned, it was missing. He suspected three crew members could be guilty and asked them what they had been doing for the ten minutes that he had been gone.

The cook said, “I was in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner.”

The engineer said, “I was working in the engine room making sure everything was running smoothly.”

The seaman said, “I was on the mast correcting the flag because someone had attached it upside down by mistake.”

The captain immediately knew who it was. How?

Answer: The seaman was to blame.

The key to this one is paying attention to the ship and the flag. A Japanese ship would be flying the Japanese flag, and it’s hard to believe a white field with a red circle in the center could be hung “upside down.”

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#2

A chemist was murdered in his own lab. The only evidence was a piece of paper that had the names of chemical substances written on it. The substances were nickel, carbon, oxygen, lanthanum, and sulfur. The chemist only had four people come by his lab on the day of the murder: fellow scientist Claire, his nephew Nicolas, his wife, and his friend Marc.

The police arrested the murderer right away. How did they know who it was?

Answer: Nephew Nicolas was to blame.

If you know your elemental abbreviations, you probably noticed the correlation between what the chemist wrote down and one of the suspects. Ni + C + O + La + S spells the criminal’s name and points the finger at the criminal from beyond the grave.

#3

A man was found on the floor dead with a cassette recorder in one hand and a gun in the other. When the police arrived at the scene they pressed play on the recorder. It was the man’s voice. He said, “I have nothing else to live for. I can’t go on,” followed by the sound of a gunshot.

After listening, the police knew that this was a murder, not a suicide. How?

Answer: Dead men don’t rewind.

The cassette recorder was all prepped for someone to press play, which means someone stopped the tape and rewound it after the gunshot was recorded. If it had been a suicide, the tape recorder would have just kept running after the gunshot, since there wasn’t anyone alive to stop it.

How did you do, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers? Did you solve all three? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

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Be a Sleuth with Detective Riddles!

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cluedupp1

Brain teasers come in many forms. Riddles, logic problems, math puzzles, and deduction games all fall under the umbrella of brain teasers.

One variety of brain teasers that has always appealed to me is the detective riddle. It’s probably because, deep down, who wouldn’t want to glance at a crime scene and deduce what happened, a la Sherlock Holmes?

While brain teasers can consist of all sorts of scenarios, detective riddles usually center around a crime committed or a police investigation to be completed.

crossword mysteries td 0

Here’s an example of a detective riddle:

A dead female body lies at the bottom of a multistory building. It looks as though she committed suicide by jumping from one of the floors.

When the detective arrives, he goes to the first floor of the building, opens the closed window, and flips a coin towards the floor. He goes to the second floor and does the exact same thing. He continues to do this until he gets to the top floor of the building.

When he comes back down, he states that it was a murder and not a suicide. How does he know that?

This is a good example of the detective riddle, because you’re given all of the information you need in the writeup. Some detective riddles involve making strange, unlikely assumptions, which are a sign of a poorly constructed brain teaser. This one is fair, but not ideal.

The solution, of course, is that the window was closed on every floor, meaning that someone shut the window after the person’s body went out the window. (We ARE told that the body fell from “one of the floors,” but doesn’t that necessarily preclude the roof? That little question mark keeps this riddle from being an ideal example of the form.)

bestpuzsherlock

Now, here’s an example of a bad detective riddle:

Nicole went to the police to report that someone had stolen her vintage ring. When the police got to her house they notice that the window was broken, there was a total mess inside, and there were dirty footprints on the carpet. But, there were no other signs of a break-in.

The next day, the police arrested Nicole for fraud. Why?

The solution? Well, according to the source I found: As soon as the police got to the “crime scene,” they knew that Nicole has most likely staged the break-in. The glass from the broken window was all outside of the house, meaning that it had been broken from the inside.

But the riddle doesn’t mention any glass. In fact, it says there were “no other signs of a break-in,” which would include the glass on the OUTSIDE.

See? This one is full of holes.

Now that you have a sense of how detective riddles work, let’s test your puzzly skills with a few!

#1

A Japanese ship was leaving the port and on its way to open sea. The captain went to oil some parts of the ship and took his ring off so it wouldn’t get damaged. He left it on the table next to his bunk. When he returned, it was missing. He suspected three crew members could be guilty and asked them what they had been doing for the ten minutes that he had been gone.

The cook said, “I was in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner.”

The engineer said, “I was working in the engine room making sure everything was running smoothly.”

The seaman said, “I was on the mast correcting the flag because someone had attached it upside down by mistake.”

The captain immediately knew who it was. How?

chemistryfluxx

#2

A chemist was murdered in his own lab. The only evidence was a piece of paper that had the names of chemical substances written on it. The substances were nickel, carbon, oxygen, lanthanum, and sulfur. The chemist only had four people come by his lab on the day of the murder: fellow scientist Claire, his nephew Nicolas, his wife, and his friend Marc.

The police arrested the murderer right away. How did they know who it was?

#3

A man was found on the floor dead with a cassette recorder in one hand and a gun in the other. When the police arrived at the scene they pressed play on the recorder. It was the man’s voice. He said, “I have nothing else to live for. I can’t go on,” followed by the sound of a gunshot.

After listening, the police knew that this was a murder, not a suicide. How?

Did you unravel these detective riddles? Let us know in the comment section below! We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

Answer to our Thanksgiving Logic Puzzle!

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Last week, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a social distance-themed logic puzzle in honor of this time of year and the peculiar circumstances of 2020.

So let’s take a look at how to untangle this puzzle and sort things out so everyone enjoys the holiday, shall we?

First, a quick reminder about the puzzle, so the clues are fresh in our minds (and you have one last chance to solve it before we walk you through the solution).

On a curious Thanksgiving in 2020, five housemates were social distancing, each engaged in different activities throughout the day. (One was streaming Hulu.)

Each housemate (including Brian) wore a different outfit — one was wearing a tank top and shorts — and was doing their activity at a different time that day (1 PM, 2 PM, 2:30 PM, 3 PM, or 3:30 PM).

From the information provided, can you determine what time each housemate did which activity, as well as what outfit they were wearing?

1. The person doing Zoom trivia did so earlier than Alex but later than the one who wore a t-shirt and jeans.

2. Luke’s activity was earlier in the day than Denise’s, but later than that of the person who wore a Christmas sweater and pants.

3. Alex (who was wearing a Pokemon onesie) had her activity earlier than the person texting Grandma but later than Denise.

4. The person playing Among Us did so later than the person Facetiming their Mom, but earlier than the one wearing pajamas (who did their activity earlier than Adam).

Okay, first things first, let’s organize the information we have.

  • There are five housemates: Adam, Alex, Brian, Denise, Luke.
  • There are five activities: Facetiming Mom, playing Among Us, streaming Hulu, texting Grandma, doing Zoom trivia.
  • There are five outfits: Christmas sweater/pants, Pajamas, Pokemon onesie, Tanktop/shorts, T-shirt/jeans.

Since many of the clues reference who or what happened earlier or later than other events, it makes sense to use the times as our anchor points, so our starting grid should look like this:

turkey logic 1

And we can immediately mark down who did the activity at 1 PM. In clue 1, the person doing Zoom trivia did their activity earlier than Alex, so Alex wasn’t the person at 1 PM. Clue 2 tells us that both Luke and Denise had someone doing activities before them, so it couldn’t be them at 1 PM. And Clue 4 tells us that the person in pajamas did their activity before Adam, so he couldn’t be the 1 PM person either. That leaves Brian as the 1 PM person.

That information tells us more as well. Alex can’t be the 2 PM person, because Clue 1 says both the Zoom trivia person and the person in t-shirt and jeans did activities before Alex. Denise can’t be the 2 PM person, because Clue 2 says both Luke and the person in the Christmas sweater did activities before Denise. And Adam can’t be the 2 PM person because Clue 4 says that both the person playing Among Us and the person wearing pajamas did activities before Adam. So Luke must be the 2 PM person.

Not only that, but since Luke did his activity after the person in a Christmas sweater and pants, that makes the sweater/pants Brian’s outfit.

We can fill in one person based on time as well. Clue 3 tells us that Alex’s activity was after Denise’s, so Alex can’t be the 2:30 PM person. And Clue 4 tells us that Adam’s activity happened after the person Facetiming Mom, the person playing Among Us, and the person in their pajamas, so Adam can’t be the 2:30 PM person. That leaves Denise as the 2:30 PM person.

So now our chart looks like this:

turkey logic 2

Let’s look at the outfits now. We know from Clue 3 that Alex is wearing the Pokemon onesie, but we’re not sure where to place Alex yet. But we can place the pajamas based on what we know.

In Clue 4, we’re told that the person wearing pajamas has their activity after the person Facetiming Mom and the person playing Among Us, and before Adam. So Adam is out. Alex and Brian are also out, because we know what they’re wearing. And Luke can’t be the person in pajamas, because his activity is second (2 PM) and at least two activities have to be done before the person wearing pajamas. That leaves Denise as the person in pajamas.

That leaves only two outfits unaccounted for: the tanktop/shorts and the t-shirt/jeans. But we can eliminate those as well. In Clue 1 we’re told that the person in t-shirt and jeans does their activity before both the person doing Zoom trivia and Alex. But Adam can’t be that person, because Adam’s activity happens after the person Facetiming Mom, the person playing Among Us, and the person wearing PJs. So Adam is wearing a tanktop and shorts, and Luke is wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

Let’s look at our chart now:

turkey logic 3

As you can see, I’ve added notes below for person/outfit combos we know that we can’t yet place.

But the information above does tell us something else.

Clue 4 tells us that the person playing Among Us did so later than the person Facetiming Mom, but earlier than the person wearing pajamas. And we know the person wearing pajamas is Denise. So that means Luke is playing Among Us and Brian is Facetiming Mom.

This information also tells us what Alex is doing. Clue 1 tells us Alex is not doing Zoom trivia, and Clue 3 tells us that Alex is not texting Grandma. And since she can’t be playing Among Us or Facetiming Mom, the only remaining option is streaming Hulu.

This same process of elimination can tell us who did the last two activities. We know Denise isn’t playing Among Us, Facetiming Mom, or streaming Hulu. But Clue 3 tells us she wasn’t texting Grandma either, so she must have been doing Zoom trivia.

Which means Adam was the one texting Grandma.

And since Clue 3 tells us that Alex’s activity happened before the person texting Grandma, we can complete our grid:

turkey logic 4

How did you do? Did you manage to unravel this holiday puzzler? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

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A Puzzle for Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving, PuzzleNationers!

Today is a day for celebrating with family and friends (although that’s harder this year), and giving thanks for all the good things in our lives.

We here at PuzzleNation want to thank you, our fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers, because you help make PuzzleNation one of the greatest puzzle communities in the world.

And when it comes to saying thanks, a Thanksgiving puzzle seems like the perfect offering. So we’ve cooked up a little Thanksgiving logic puzzle for you to enjoy!

Can you unravel this holiday puzzler?

On a curious Thanksgiving in 2020, five housemates were social distancing, each engaged in different activities throughout the day. (One was streaming Hulu.)

Each housemate (including Brian) wore a different outfit — one was wearing a tank top and shorts — and was doing their activity at a different time that day (1 PM, 2 PM, 2:30 PM, 3 PM, or 3:30 PM).

From the information provided, can you determine what time each housemate did which activity, as well as what outfit they were wearing?

1. The person doing Zoom trivia did so earlier than Alex but later than the one who wore a t-shirt and jeans.

2. Luke’s activity was earlier in the day than Denise’s, but later than that of the person who wore a Christmas sweater and pants.

3. Alex (who was wearing a Pokemon onesie) had her activity earlier than the person texting Grandma but later than Denise.

4. The person playing Among Us did so later than the person Facetiming their Mom, but earlier than the one wearing pajamas (who did their activity earlier than Adam).

Did you unravel this holiday puzzler? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!