Einsteins riddle... can you solve this?

[jaketerminate]

Originally Posted by Gavsman

lol so if you could spare some time after your other productive work i am sure you will find it pretty interesting

Im sure I will but the second post on here... Is that a dead giveaway? Im trying to stay away so I dont cheat.

[ctal]

Jake -- He was responding to the wording of my last post, not yours -- your post and his went up at the same time.

Regards,

-- Al

[rjs735]

I did the german has the fish not the Norweigen or the dane or the brit. The clumping can be confusing.

[Gavsman]

yep thats right jake, didnt see your post up lol
and yeah rjs you are right.........man i wish i could solve something like this once more

[ctal]

Well, I spent a half an hour on it, and I have all of the colors uniquely placed, plus 2 nationalities, 2 drinks, 1 pet, and 1 smoke. There don't seem to be enough hints to place anything else uniquely, or even non-uniquely but in a manner that leads to a unique answer to the question. I suspect that NWO's Sherlock Holmes quote is the key to the proper approach, but I can't seem to get any further. My wife and I have a dinner engagement now; perhaps the wine will help!

-- Al

[Gavsman]

LOL good luck

[tamarelle]

I solved it. I find it difficult to believe that the top 2% of the population ONLY can solve it since I did it Maybe Einstein was a bit full of it on this one.

Its funny I made a chart and when I checked to see if I was right it was exactly like the answer chart.

[rjs735]

Originally Posted by tamarelle

I solved it. I find it difficult to believe that the top 2% of the population ONLY can solve it since I did it Maybe Einstein was a bit full of it on this one.

Its funny I made a chart and when I checked to see if I was right it was exactly like the answer chart.

Most people who can solve this riddle ( assuming the 2% is correct) don't belive they are any different.

Try giving this to some of your co workers and see how they do.

[Gavsman]

it might be that the 2% was at the time of einstein

[rjs735]

Originally Posted by Gavsman

it might be that the 2% was at the time of einstein

Good point Gavsman. Still if you if you were to adjust 2% per generation because of education and natural selection. That's still a pretty small number. A generation being 20 yrs x5 or even 6
that's still less than 15% of the population.

[jaketerminate]

Originally Posted by Gavsman

yep thats right jake, didnt see your post up lol
and yeah rjs you are right.........man i wish i could solve something like this once more

Haha my bad then Well anyways I still gotta work on this...

[ctal]

Well, I finally got it, with the same answers as in Gorgo's table! It took me all told about an hour, and I got beyond the point I previously mentioned I was stuck at simply by trial and error.

I don't think it's meaningful to talk about X% of the population being able to solve it, without specifying a time limit. Both to eliminate those who might require unreasonable amounts of time to solve it, and to encourage those who might give up after a few minutes to keep going.

I'd imagine, also, that there are a few people in the known universe who could solve it without resorting to pencil and paper, just visualizing it mentally. Perhaps Einstein was one of them.

Gavs -- thanks for the interesting challenge.

Originally Posted by tamarelle

I solved it. I find it difficult to believe that the top 2% of the population ONLY can solve it since I did it Maybe Einstein was a bit full of it on this one.

Tam -- you were either kidding or you underestimate yourself. I assume the former!

Regards,

-- Al

[bjbgraphics]

I started the riddle at work yesterday during lunch... I created my spreadsheet and defined the known variables, and then continued through the hints once I got home. At one point, with about 75% of the variables defined, I did look at Gorganzola's answer just to confirm that at least my first column matched up as I was having difficulty and wanted to be sure that what I had defined so far was correct or if I was completely off-base. From there I was able to line up the remaining variables properly and arrive at the correct answer.

For me it really came down to just how to get this data into a form where I could 'see' it. I am of a visual mindedness and I can't shuffle variables around in my head while keeping track of other variables. It was a fun exercise but took me quite awhile. I even had to completely restart once and as I said above I had to check my first column answers before I could really feel like I was on the right track.

I sent it to my brother and he had it done in no time using a different method, one that doesn't rely as much on visualization. For him, the spreadsheet was simply to organize the facts that he was computing in his head.

I'd be interested to hear the actual methods that people used to solve the problem as I imagine there are many different ways to organize the data. I have attached my final spreadsheet in case any one is interested.

BJB

[zsaz1029]

I made a chart/spreadsheet where each house was represented with each possibility and I crossed off / circled what each clue told me I should. At least, that's the best way I can explain it without thinking too hard.

[Elmer Stud]

Once you got past hint number 15, the riddle became child's play. And there
is no need for trial and error, just pure logic as the intro suggests.