Solve Einstein's Riddle: Who Owns the Fish?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses a logic puzzle known as "Einstein's Riddle," which involves deducing the ownership of a fish among five house owners based on a series of clues. The scope includes problem-solving strategies, reasoning techniques, and personal experiences related to solving the riddle.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the German, who lives in a green house, drinks coffee, and smokes Prince, is the owner of the fish.
  • Another participant mentions that solving the riddle requires both deduction and trial and error methods.
  • A different participant shares their past experience of solving the riddle independently, emphasizing the importance of creating an order and checking for contradictions.
  • One participant expresses initial resistance to using trial and error, indicating a belief that they might be missing something in their reasoning process.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present differing approaches to solving the riddle, with some favoring deduction and others trial and error. No consensus is reached on the definitive owner of the fish.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various strategies for solving the riddle, highlighting the complexity and the potential for multiple methods of reasoning. There is no resolution on the assumptions or steps involved in the deduction process.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in logic puzzles, problem-solving techniques, and collaborative reasoning may find this discussion beneficial.

alane1994
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Albert Einstein wrote the following riddle this century when he was in his prime. He believed 98% of the people would not be able to solve it. Good luck!

There are five houses in a row. Each of the five houses is a different color. In each house lives a person of a different nationality. The five owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigarette, and keep a certain pet. No house owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigarette, or drink the same beverage.

Use the following clues below to find the answer to the question. "Who owns the fish?"
  • The Brit lives in the red house.
  • The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
  • The Dane drinks tea.
  • The greenhouse 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 on the left.
  • The man who smokes Blends lives next door to the person who keeps cats.
  • The man who keeps horses lives next door to the man who smokes Dunhill.
  • The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
  • The German smokes Prince.
  • The Norwegian lives next door to the blue house.
  • The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

This one has me properly stumped(Tongueout)
Thought you guys might like a crack at it!
 
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It has to be the German, who lives in a green house, drinks coffee, and smokes Prince.

To solve this, you can only get so far with straight deduction. Then you have to do trial and error.

Disclaimer: I solved this with my students, not by myself.
 
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I solved it in the past by myself (Muscle) lol, it is as what Ackbach said
you made an order then checking the statements and see what contradict with the order
 

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Interesting, for some reason I was resistant to start the trial and error process. I suppose I thought I was just missing something. Very cool guys!:D
 

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