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Puzzle ZJLX 



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Gymnastics Gala - Logic Puzzles

During a recent gymnastics gala, four athletes competed in three events, the vault, the beam, and the floor.

Chris came third on the floor.
The athlete who came second in the vault won the beam event.
The athlete who came second on the beam won the floor.
Emery beat Alex in every event.
The athlete who won the vault came second on the floor.
Billie came last in the vault.
Can you determine who finished where in each event?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Answer
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1 Emery  Chris  Billie
#2 Chris  Billie Emery
#3 Alex   Emery  Chris
#4 Billie Alex   Alex

Reasoning
By (1), Chris came third on the floor. By (6), Billie came last in the vault.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1
#2
#3               Chris
#4 Billie

By (2), the athlete who came second in the vault won the beam event, let's mark these as X.
By (3), the athlete who came second on the beam won the floor, let's mark these as Y.
By (5), the athlete who won the vault came second on the floor, let's mark these as Z.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1  Z      X      Y
#2  X      Y      Z
#3               Chris
#4 Billie

By (4), Emery beat Alex in every event, therefore Alex can't have won any event, nor come second (because of X, Y, and Z). So, Alex came third on the vault, and last on the floor.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1  Z      X      Y
#2  X      Y      Z
#3 Alex          Chris
#4 Billie        Alex

Looking at the vault, Z can't be Chris because Z came second on the floor (but we know Chris came last). So, Z must be Emery, and X is Chris.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1 Emery  Chris   Y
#2 Chris   Y     Emery
#3 Alex          Chris
#4 Billie        Alex

Looking at the floor, Y is Billie.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1 Emery  Chris  Billie
#2 Chris  Billie Emery
#3 Alex          Chris
#4 Billie        Alex

By (4), Emery beat Alex on the beam.
   Vault  Beam   Floor
#1 Emery  Chris  Billie
#2 Chris  Billie Emery
#3 Alex   Emery  Chris
#4 Billie Alex   Alex

 

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