At last year's BrainBashers snail race, 10 fine snails completed the tabletop course.
Predictably, as per every year, the results mysteriously went missing.
However, various spectators remembered the following snippets of information:
Orange Berry lost to Zebra Wings. Zebra Wings beat Orange Berry, Frog Flippers, and Apple Pie. Fizzy Pop lost to Minty Mouth, Orange Berry, and CD Player. Frog Flippers beat Windy Hill, CD Player, and Orange Berry. Top Hat lost to CD Player, Kipper Slippers, and Apple Pie. CD Player beat Top Hat, and Fizzy Pop. Apple Pie lost to Zebra Wings, and Orange Berry. Kipper Slippers lost to Apple Pie, and Frog Flippers. Frog Flippers beat Fizzy Pop, Minty Mouth, and CD Player. CD Player lost to Frog Flippers, Kipper Slippers, and Apple Pie. Top Hat beat Fizzy Pop, and Windy Hill. Minty Mouth lost to Windy Hill, and Orange Berry. Windy Hill lost to Apple Pie, and CD Player.
Can you work out who finished where?
Hint
Who finished first? Start with Clue 2, and then Clue 4.
Answer
Zebra Wings (ZW)
Frog Flippers (FF)
Orange Berry (OB)
Apple Pie (AP)
Kipper Slippers (KS)
CD Player (CP)
Top Hat (TH)
Windy Hill (WH)
Minty Mouth (MM)
Fizzy Pop (FP)
Reasoning
If we number the clues, write each name using two letters, and rewrite the clues so that those who finished ahead are written first:
ZW beat OB.ZW beat OB, FF, and AP.MM, OB, and CP, all beat FP.FF beat WH, CP, and OB.CP, KS, and AP, all beat TH.CP beat TH, and FP.ZW and OB both beat AP.AP and FF both beat KS.FF beat FP, MM, and CP.FF, KS, and AP, all beat CP.TH beat FP and WH.WH and OB both beat MM.AP and CP both beat WH.
By (2): ZW FF
By (4): ZW FF OB
By (7): ZW FF OB AP
By (8): ZW FF OB AP KS
By (10): ZW FF OB AP KS CP
By (5): ZW FF OB AP KS CP TH
By (11): ZW FF OB AP KS CP TH WH
By (12): ZW FF OB AP KS CP TH WH MM
By (3): ZW FF OB AP KS CP TH WH MM FP
?
Puzzle 15
Which word does not belong with the others:
dgo act ehors ceffio elrttu ekmnoy
