Discuss Christmas Confusion here

[Sofis]

Puzzle Link.

[Termital]

Let's start by being picky. If I flip a coin and it comes up heads, does it mean that the next flip must turn up tails? If I get five heads in a row, does it mean that my next flip won't be on 50-50 chances? So I boldly vote we ignore the chances given, as they don't affect anything .

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Funeral directors in Florida get 500 frequent flyer miles for every corpse they ship out of Daytona Beach International Airport.

[Griffin]

I don't think it's talking about chances at all, just saying as a fact that 3/4 of one person's statements are true, 1/2 of another person's statements are true, etc.

[Sofis]

Indeed.

[Termital]

Continuing my pedantic quest, I'll note that phrasing such as 'another is correct three quarters of the time' is equivalent to using odds since 'the time' is left unspecified. And even if we make the unreasonable assumption that it refers to said conversation, we have only fragments of it, so this provides marginal and insufficient info to positively determine exchanges.



[This message has been edited by Termital (edited 12-15-2002 12:27 PM).]

[Lucky Wizard]

Assuming each person gives 3 gifts and receives three gifts, these statements are worth noting:

Originally posted by Bruno:

---

I gave the model train.
I gave the DVD player, didn't I? I think so.
I seem to recall I was the one who gave the silk ribbon.
Hmm. I gave the socks, I do know that.

---

Originally posted by Chester:

---

And the DVD player came from me.
I'm the one who gave the silk ribbon.
The diary is from me.
I gave the textbook.
And in return, I gave you the pocket knife.

---

So neither Bruno nor Chester is the one with the perfect memory. This leaves us with Alice or Deirdre as the perfect memory. (Who are both the women, incidentally. It's always the women, isn't it? ) Which means if both Alice and Deirdre say the same thing, it must be true, since it was spoken by the one with the perfect memory, whoever she is. So:

Originally posted by Alice:

---

Well, this is a mess. I'm pretty sure the water colours belong to Chester, though.
I do believe the ribbon is mine.
I think the loudspeakers were a gift to Bruno from Chester.

---

Originally posted by Deirdre:

---

I gave the water colours to Chester.
The textbook on differential equations, and the silk ribbon both belong to mom.
The loudspeakers are yours, though, dad.

---

Which means all these are true:

• Chester received the water colors.
  
• Alice received the silk ribbon.
  
• Bruno recieved the loudspeakers.

Furthermore, and I'm not going to go and quote anything, the pocket watch was given to either Deirdre or Chester (figure out for yourself my reason). Which is as far as I'm going to go for tonight.

[Kd]

Hey.... newbie alert....

I just had a small thought that could help in some way.

Deirdre: "The textbook on differential equations, and the silk ribbon both belong to mom."

If she knows what the textbook is about, does that mean she has the best memory of the 4?

Probably totally off track, but I spose I should start helping after watching you all from the sidelines for the best part of a year.

Good luck, everyone
Kd.

[Termital]

Nah, jump right in!

[capitalisation]

I lumped statements with owners to examine each person's ... soundness of mind. All contradict THEMSELVES except alice (the way the % correct helps--> shes 100).

Just using alices statements we learn:
A got Ribbon, gave Diary
B got Speakers, gave Text
C got Paints, gave Speakers
D got diary and watch, gave train...

The rest consists of 2 probs to be done simultaneously; what was GIVED, and what got GOT.

GL...

[Lucky Wizard]

Kd: maybe after the presents were unwrapped, Deirdre noticed that it said "differential equations" on the cover of the textbook?

And can someone point out where Deirdre contradicts herself?

[capitalisation]

didi says alice has the textbook, ribbon, AND socks.

[MatthewV]

I dont see anybody who contradicts him/herself. B and C are trying to give more than 3 gift (as LW said)

Each person made 8 statements
There are 12 lies

I think I'll try a guess to see if everything works if Alice tell the truth always.

[Griffin]

Question for Sofis - Can we assume that every person gave exactly one gift to each of the three other people?

[Sofis]

Yes.

I've edited the puzzle text to clarify this.

[This message has been edited by Sofis (edited 12-15-2002 10:40 PM).]

[MatthewV]

if you have a statement like this one...

"The textbook on differential equations, and the silk ribbon both belong to mom."

can half of it be true or must all or none of it true? Could Alice(mom) get the ribbons without the textbooks?

[Sofis]

[MatthewV]

Does she?

[Lucky Wizard]

I would imagine that, if only part of that statement is true, then the whole statement is false. That's how it usually works in logic when the word "and" is involved.

And no, I have nothing else to contribute at the moment.

[referee]

I got as far as Lucky Wizard did. I've only found a direct contradiction between Alice and Deirdre:

quote:

---

Deirdre: "And the pocket watch is Chester's."

Alice: "The diary and the pocket watch belong to Deirdre."

---

[Hoatzin]

And what about :

Deirdre: "The loudspeakers are yours, though, dad."

and

Alice: "I think the loudspeakers were a gift to Bruno from Chester."

[Hoatzin]

Sorry, ignore my statement. Bruno is the dad. Was a bit confused ;-)

I did notice though that the only one who was never unsure about what she said
was Deidre.
Alice was unshure 4 times, Bruno 3 times (and with "Hmm. I gave the socks, I do know
that." I don't trust him a bit), and Chester once.

Or doesn't it matter. Or am I wrong again? I hope I'm not wasting your time.

[Timo Tuokkola]

The question is not whether Alice could receive the ribbon without the textbook, since we can already see from the given statements that she could have done so without requiring Deirdre's statement to be true.
A better question would be: Can Alice receive the textbook without the ribbon ?

[MatthewV]

how about this?

Alice
Got: socks, textbooks, ribbons
Gave: mittens, diary, knife

Bruno
Got: loudspeakers, train, mittens
Gave: dvd, socks, ribbons

Chester
Got: chocolaes, water colors, watch
Gave: diary, textbooks, loudspeakers

Deirdre
Got: dvd, diary, knife
Gave: water colors, train, chocolates

8 truths: Dierdre; 6 truths: Alice; 4 truths: Bruno; 2 truths: Chester


so does it work? I say yes

[MatthewV]

here are the lines that i thought were lie/truths


(t)Alice: "Well, this is a mess. I'm pretty sure the water colours belong to Chester, though."
(t)Deirdre: "The DVD player is mine."
(L)*Bruno: "I thought the DVD player belonged to Alice."
(t)Deirdre: "The textbook on differential equations, and the silk ribbon both belong to mom."
(L)*Bruno: "No, the textbook is Chester's."
(L)*Chester: "And the pocket watch is yours, right?"

(L)*Bruno: "The diary and the box of chocolates are mine."
(L)*Chester: "And the silk ribbon, too."
(L)*Bruno: "I gave the model train."
(L)*Chester: "And the DVD player came from me."
(t)Alice: "I do believe the ribbon is mine."
(t)Deirdre: "The loudspeakers are yours, though, dad."

(t)Bruno: "I got the mittens from Alice."
(L)*Chester: "I'm the one who gave the silk ribbon."
(t)Alice: "The model train was given by Deirdre..."
(t)Deirdre: "The socks belong to mom."
(t)Alice: "I gave the diary."
(t)Deirdre: "And the pocket watch is Chester's."

(L)*Alice: "The diary and the pocket watch belong to Deirdre."
(t)Chester: "The diary is from me."
(t)Bruno: "I gave the DVD player, didn't I? I think so."
(t)Chester: "I gave the textbook."
(t)Alice: "I think the loudspeakers were a gift to Bruno from Chester."
(t)Deirdre: "The model train is dad's."
(L)*Chester: "And mom gave the pocket watch."
(t)Deirdre: "The chocolates are Chester's."
(t)Bruno: "I seem to recall I was the one who gave the silk ribbon."

(t)Bruno: "Hmm. I gave the socks, I do know that."
(L)*Alice: "The textbook came from Bruno."
(t)Deirdre: "I gave the water colours to Chester."
(L)*Chester: "And in return, I gave you the pocket knife."
(t)Alice: "I don't think you gave the pocket knife.

and to answer the spefic question asked...
Alice gave the knife to Dierdre

[Griffin]

MatthewV -

Originally posted by MatthewV:

---

(t)Alice: "I gave the diary."
[...]
(t)Chester: "The diary is from me."

---

Hmm, I find it odd no one has gotten this yet...

[Sofis]

It's not odd. I made a mistake . I'll try to fix it ASAP.

[Sofis]

Done. It should be solvable now.

[Nauplius]

The change made it a lot easier to solve: (inv)


T Alice: "Well, this is a mess. I'm pretty sure the water colours belong to Chester, though."
T Alice: "I do believe the ribbon is mine."
T Alice: "The model train was given by Deirdre..."
T Alice: "I gave the diary."
T Alice: "The diary and the pocket watch belong to Deirdre."
T Alice: "I think the loudspeakers were a gift to Bruno from Chester."
T Alice: "The textbook came from Bruno."
T Alice: "I don't think you gave the pocket knife."

F Bruno: "I thought the DVD player belonged to Alice."
T Bruno: "No, the textbook is Chester's."
F Bruno: "The diary and the box of chocolates are mine."
F Bruno: "I gave the model train."
T Bruno: "I got the mittens from Alice."
F Bruno: "I gave the DVD player, didn't I? I think so."
T Bruno: "I seem to recall Alice was the one who gave the box of chocolates."
T Bruno: "Hmm. I gave the socks, I do know that."

F Chester: "And the pocket watch is yours, right?"
F Chester: "And the silk ribbon, too."
T Chester: "And the DVD player came from me."
T Chester: "I'm the one who gave the silk ribbon."
F Chester: "The diary is from me."
F Chester: "I gave the textbook."
F Chester: "And mom gave the pocket watch."
F Chester: "And in return, I gave you the pocket knife."

T Deirdre: "The DVD player is mine."
F Deirdre: "The textbook on differential equations, and the silk ribbon both belong to mom."
T Deirdre: "The loudspeakers are yours, though, dad."
T Deirdre: "The socks belong to mom."
F Deirdre: "And the pocket watch is Chester's."
T Deirdre: "The model train is dad's."
T Deirdre: "The chocolates are Chester's."
T Deirdre: "I gave the water colours to Chester."

A Gave: diary, mittens, chocolates Got: ribbon, socks, knife
B Gave: textbook, socks, watch Got: speakers, mittens, train
C Gave: speakers, dvd, ribbon Got: colors, textbook, chocolates
D Gave: train, colors, knife Got: diary, watch, dvd

[jatill]

My 100 line computer program yielded the same results

[MatthewV]

yikes! i had two diaries...well atleast two were given but only one recieved

[mynameisbob]

Deirdre is right 1/4 of the time.

[mynameisbob]

Alice is right 3/4, mom 1/2, dad always

[Lucky Wizard]

Originally posted by bob:

---

Alice is right 3/4, mom 1/2,

---

Uh, according to the puzzle, Alice IS the mom.

[Gremlin]

Hi. Sorry for bringing this back from Jan 2003. I just came across this puzzle last night, and while I did eventually find the solution, the process was rather frustrating. Just some questions which have been lingering:

One of the first logical deductions that can be made would tell us that it's either Alice or Deirdre who has 8 true statements (and the person who doesn't has 6). Is this then, the only way to proceed with solving the puzzle? I'm wondering if I have missed out on any clue which points to who exactly has 8 true statements. So far, I could only work with assumptions, and unfortunately, I started out assuming that Deirdre had 8 correct, which essentially drove me in circles. If I had started out assuming that it was Alice who gave 8 true statements, it would have been smooth-sailing.

[Asi]

At some points, I had to make assumptions (eg. Alice was right 100% of the time) But there weren't many possibilities to try out, and the incorrect ones soon came to contradictions.