Logic Puzzles

Stocks

Each of four siblings (Anita, Tony, Maria and Jose) is given $5000 to invest in the stock market. Each chooses a different stock. One chooses a utility stock, another an automotive stock, another a technology stock, and the other an oil stock. From the following clues, determine which sibling bought which stock.

a. Anita and the owner of the utility stock purchased their shares through an online brokerage, whereas Tony and the owner of the automotive stock did not..

b. The gain in value of Maria's stock is twice the gain in value of the automotive stock.

c. The technology stock is traded on NASDAQ, whereas the stock that Tony bought is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Solution:

Clues:

Clue No. 1: Anita is not the owner of the utility stock and the automotive stock.

Clue No. 2: Tony is not the owner of automotive stock and utility stock.

Clue No. 3: Maria is not the owner of the automotive stock.

Clue No. 4: Tony is not the owner of technology stock.

Elimination Grid:

Therefore,

• Anita is the owner of the Technology stock;

• Tony is the owner of Oil Stock

• Maria is the owner of Utility Stock; and

• Jose is the owner of the Automotive stock.

Gourmet Chefs

Changs, Steinbergs, Ontkeans, and Gonzaleses were winners in the All-State Cooking Contest. There was a winner in each of four categories: soup, entrée, salad and dessert. Form the following clues, determine in which category each family was the winner.

a. The soups were judged before the Ontkeans' winning entry.

b. This year's contest was the first for the Steinbergs and for the winner in the dessert category. The Changs and the winner of the soup category entered last year's contest.

c. The winning entrée took 2 hours to cook, whereas the Steinberg's entrée required no cooking at all.

Solution:

Clues:

Clue No. 1: Ontkeans is not the winner in the soup.

Clue No. 2: Steinbergs is not the winner in the dessert and soup.

Clue No. 3: Changs is not the winner in the soup and dessert.

Clue No. 4: Steinbergs is not the winner in the entrée.

Elimination Grid:

Therefore,

• The family of Changs were the winner in entrée category;

• Steinbergs were the winner in salad,

• Ontkeans were the winner in dessert; and

• Gonzaleses were the winner of soup category.

Collectibles

The cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Diego held conventions this summer for collectors of coins, stamps, comic books and baseball cards. From the following clues, determine which collectors met in which city.

a. The comic book collectors convention was in August, as was the convention held in Chicago.

b. The baseball card collectors did not meet in Philadelphia, and the coin collectors did not meet in San Diego or Chicago.

c. The convention in Atlanta was held during the week of July 4, whereas the coin collectors convention was held the week after that.

d. The convention in Chicago has more collectors attending it than did the stamp collectors convention.

Solution:

Clues:

Clue No. 1: Comic book collectors convention is not held in Chicago.

Clue No. 2: Baseball card collectors convention is not held in Philadelphia.

Clue No. 3: Coin collectors convention is not held in San Diego, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Clue No. 4: Stamp collectors convention is not held in Chicago.

Elimination Grid:

Therefore,

• The convention for the collectors of stamps was held in Atlanta;

• The convention for the collectors of Baseball cards was held in Chicago;

• The convention for the collectors of Coins was held in Philadelphia; and

• The convention for comic books collectors was held in San Diego.

Driving Time

You need to buy groceries at the supermarket, deposit a check at the credit union, and purchase a book at the bookstore. You can complete the errands in any order; however, you must start and end at your home. The driving time in minutes between each of these locations is given in the following figure.

Find a route for which total driving less than 30 minutes.