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Puzzle ZYNI 



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Triathlon - Round 1 - Logic Puzzles

During the latest round of the BrainBashers school triathlon the final results were mislaid, however, this is what we do know.

Hayden was fourth.
Alex was not the oldest but was older than Drew, who was not second.
The child who was next in age to the youngest, finished second.
The child who finished in third place was older than the child who finished first.
Billie was younger than the child who finished in third place.
Can you determine who finished where and place the children in order of age?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Answer
# Name    Age
#1 Drew    youngest
#2 Billie  next to youngest
#3 Alex    next to oldest
#4 Hayden  oldest

Reasoning
By (2), neither Alex nor Drew were the oldest. By (5), neither was Billie. Therefore, Hayden was the oldest, and by (1) came fourth.
   #1
   #2
   #3
   #4 Hayden  oldest

By (4) the youngest didn't come third, and by (3) the youngest didn't come second. Therefore, the youngest came first.
   #1         youngest
   #2
   #3
   #4 Hayden  oldest

By (3), the next to youngest came second, leaving the next to oldest in third.
   #1         youngest
   #2         next to youngest
   #3         next to oldest
   #4 Hayden  oldest

By (2), Drew wasn't second, but Alex was older, so Drew can't be third either. Therefore, Drew can only have come in first.
   #1 Drew    youngest
   #2         next to youngest
   #3         next to oldest
   #4 Hayden  oldest

By (5) Billie didn't come third, so came second. Leaving Alex in third.
   #1 Drew    youngest
   #2 Billie  next to youngest
   #3 Alex    next to oldest
   #4 Hayden  oldest

 

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