At the recent BrainBashers downhill mountain bike race, four entrants entered the challenging slalom event.
Alex finished in first position. The entrant wearing number #2 wore red, but Drew didn't wear yellow. The person in last place wore blue, and Stevie wore number #1. Glen beat Stevie, and the person who finished in second wore number #3. The entrant in yellow beat the entrant in green. Only one of the entrants wore the same number as their final position.
Can you determine who finished where, the number, and colour they each wore?
Hint
Start by looking at where Alex finished, and where the person who wore #3 finished, and then use clue (6).
Answer Pos Name Wore Colour
1 Alex #2 red
2 Glen #3 yellow
3 Stevie #1 green
4 Drew #4 blue
Reasoning
The four colours were: blue, green, red, yellow.
The four contestants were: Alex, Drew, Glen, Stevie.
By (1), Alex was first.
1 Alex
2
3
4
By (4), the person who was second wore number #3.
1 Alex
2 #3
3
4
Looking at (6):
- first place (Alex) can't have worn #1, because, by (3), Stevie wore #1
- second place wore #3
- third place can't have worn #3, because it was worn by second place
- fourth place is the only entrant who could have worn the same number as their final position
Therefore, Stevie finished in third, and Alex wore #2.
1 Alex #2
2 #3
3 Stevie #1
4 #4
By (2), Alex wore red. By (3), the person wearing blue was last.
1 Alex #2 red
2 #3
3 Stevie #1
4 #4 blue
By (5), yellow beat green.
1 Alex #2 red
2 #3 yellow
3 Stevie #1 green
4 #4 blue
By (4), Glen beat Stevie.
1 Alex #2 red
2 Glen #3 yellow
3 Stevie #1 green
4 #4 blue
Leaving Drew in last place.
1 Alex #2 red
2 Glen #3 yellow
3 Stevie #1 green
4 Drew #4 blue
??
Puzzle 58
Using all of the letters A to Z, each once only, complete these common words. -e-er--eue--oma--p-a-e--erso----k-am-on-ouse-a--ur----igent
Answer -e-er = fever (FV)--eue = queue (QU)--o = zoo (ZO)ma- = mat (T)-p-a-e- = speaker (SEKR)-erso- = person (PN)---k-am-on = backgammon (BACGM)-ouse = house (H)-a- = wax (WX)-ur- = jury (JY)---igent = diligent (DIL)
This puzzle isn't guaranteed to have a unique answer, can you find another?
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Puzzle 59
This is a well known children's musical piece, the vowels have been removed and the remaining letters have been grouped together. Can you determine the correct words?
lttl mssm ffts tntf fttn ghrc rdsn dwhy thrc mbgs pdrw hstd wnbs dhrn dfrg htnd mssm fftw y
Answer
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey:
There came a big spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
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Puzzle 60
Focus on this conundrum, do it quickly, or do it slowly. What is so wrong with it? Or so right? It is a most odd conundrum. A quick brown fox jumps, hops, and vaults past a lazy dog! Can you work out what it is? Don't skip any words, and you'll soon spot it. It isn't too hard!
Answer
The entire conundrum does not have the letter E.
However, it does contain every other letter.
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