At the recent interdepartmental jam making contest, four lucky candidates took part to make the juiciest strawberry jam.
As it happens, the person who came last was the oldest. Glen was three years older than the person who came second. Drew was neither the oldest nor the youngest. Emery finished ahead of the 27-year-old, but didn't win. Alex was also unlucky this time, and didn't win either.
The ages of the contestants were 24, 27, 30 and 32.
Can you work out who finished where, and how old they were?
You find yourself playing a game of GreenJack with your friend.
It is played with a deck of only 16 cards, divided into 4 suits:
Red, Blue, Orange, and Green.
There are four cards in each suit:
Ace, King, Queen, and Jack.
All Aces outrank all Kings, which outrank all Queens, which outrank all Jacks, except for the Green Jack, which outranks every other card.
If two cards have the same face value, then Red outranks Blue, which outranks Orange, which outranks Green, again except for the Green Jack, which outranks everything.
Here's how the game is played: you are dealt one card face up, and your friend is dealt one card face down. Your friend then makes some true statements, and you have to work out who has the higher card, you or your friend. It's that simple!
Round 1:
You are dealt the Green Ace and your friend makes three statements:
My card is higher than any Queen. Knowing this, if my card is more likely to beat yours, then my card is Blue. Otherwise, it isn't. Given all of the information you now know, if your card is more likely to beat mine, then my card is a King. Otherwise, it isn't.
Who has the higher card, you or your friend?
Hint
List all of the cards, and then eliminate some using (1).
Answer
Your friend.
Reasoning
You were dealt the Green Ace.
The possible cards, in order, are:
Green Jack
Red Ace
Blue Ace
Orange Ace
Green Ace (your card)
Red King
Blue King
Orange King
Green King
Red Queen
Blue Queen
Orange Queen
Green Queen
Red Jack
Blue Jack
Orange Jack
By (1), your friend's card is higher than any Queen, so your friend can only have one of these cards:
Green Jack
Red Ace
Blue Ace
Orange Ace
Green Ace (your card)
Red King
Blue King
Orange King
Green King
By (2), their card is not more likely to beat yours (4 v 4), so their card is not Blue, leaving:
Green Jack
Red Ace
Orange Ace
Green Ace (your card)
Red King
Orange King
Green King
By (3), your card is not more likely to beat theirs (3 v 3), so your friend's card is not a King, leaving:
Green Jack
Red Ace
Orange Ace
Green Ace (your card)
All of which beat your Green Ace.
?
Puzzle 19
If Malcolm, Laura, John, Alan, Brenda, and Kevin like chocolate …
Hint
Start by imaging a sign saying 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions'.
Answer
I commissioned an artist to paint a sign for BrainBashers that said 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions', however, they made a terrible mistake.
The gaps between 'Puzzles' and 'And', and 'And' and 'Illusions' weren't the same, so the sign seemed oddly out of balance.
