Weekend riddle (van Albert Einstein)

[ProCop]

In a street there are 5 houses painted 5 different colors.
In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
The 5 homeowners each drink a different beverage,
smoke a different brand of cigar, and keep a different pet.

The question is: Who keeps the fish?

HINTS:

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede has a dog.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes pall mall has birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes blends lives next to the one who has cats.
11. The man who has horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhills.
12. The man who smokes blue master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Albert Einstein wrote this riddle in the early 20th century.
He said that 98% of the population would not be able to solve it.

Good luck.

Answer in Google (or I wil post it if asked)

[Banshee]

The owner of the cats keeps the fish? :bugeye:

[Adam]

The Norwegian owns fish.

[Adam]

I drew this riddle up as a grid and applied 1 for all known links, 0 for all totally unknowns, and turned any 1s I could into 0s as I went through the links. However, I was left with multiple 1s in some cases.

[Adam]

Hmph. A friend says it's the German, but I think he's making assumptions about which 1s he can turn into 0s.

[ProCop]

I have solved the riddle by putting on the table 5 pieces of paper (representing the houses) and then on still smaller papers putting the atributes of the owners by them. It leads to the Norvegian initially...but not all the way round...

[EvilPoet]

The German keeps the fish http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/tiere/tiere043.gif


Question - does anyone happen to know if Einstein actually
wrote this riddle? I have read that he didn't. If so, when in
the early 20th century did he write it? This riddle has been
around for awhile and the attribution to Einstein has always
seemed vague to me so I am curious. :)

[ProCop]

the link:<a href=http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/recreational.htm#einstein5>here</a>

This info disclaims (with some convincing argument) that the riddle comes from Einstein. (I have presented it here without checking the background - the riddle is wel built with only one possible answer - hopefully some readers enjoyed the riddle as I did)

[Neville]

This isnt a trick question is it like: the fishmonger, or something like that?

***Edit- my mistake. i didnt read the bit that said they each have a pet.

[Merlijn]

Enjoyed?:eek: :bugeye:
I have been hooked. I finally got to the German. But It just didn't feel right. I think tat (even though it may be the right answer) I overlooked something.
I am going to redo it all.
( :-\ it took me quite some time)

[Neville]

Norwegian (i make it that anyway)

[Neville]

Yeah its the german! lol :D (i got lazy and assumed the one who drank milk had the cat :( )

[ProCop]

While lookin for the source of the riddle I found this answer on a forum. A nice one:



>>HINTS:
>>
>>2. The Swede has a dog.
>>3. The Dane drinks tea.
>
>The Swede's dog IS a Dane!

And the Dane drinks the Swede.

--
Joe Cosby
http://joecosby.home.mindspring.com

[corewarp]

I only had big colorpencils around, and I must have used up like 2-3 A4's until I solved it, hehe. Nice one though, put up another if find any!

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by Neville
(i got lazy and assumed the one who drank milk had the cat :( )
Which is, um, wrong, but it was the german anyway.

[SoLiDUS]

green house --> german --> coffee --> prince --> FISH

I just finished checking the link for answer and all I have to say is
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, w00t! I am 1337!

Upper 98% rocks. :D

[Lucanus]

Although I have read that the solution is the German (living in the green house), I have come up with an alternate, plausible solution which, although arguable, is logically valid.

I say that it is not valid to say that anyone owns the fish.

I base this on the fact that there is no hint, nor rule, which states that any one of the five houses has a pet fish.
As the basis of all scientific method is to never make an assumption unless the basis of that assumption has been proven, I think that it is not valid to assume that any of the people in this riddle own a fish.

The german, for all we know, may have a pet elephant, and, as there is no hint for any of his neighbours saying that they live next to the person who owns the fish, we have no way to prove otherwise.

I know that this may sound pedantic, but I think that this is the only valid, logical and correct answer to this riddle:

"It cannot be determined who owns the fish, if anyone owns a fish at all"

[SoLiDUS]

So... you got it wrong, correct ? :p

[kaduseus]

The belgian owns the fish.....the german owns a zebra !! :D

[ProCop]

In a street there are 5 houses painted 5 different colors.
In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
The 5 homeowners each drink a different beverage,
smoke a different brand of cigar, and keep a different pet.

The question is: Who keeps the fish?

HINTS:

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede has a dog.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes pall mall has birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes blends lives next to the one who has cats.
11. The man who has horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhills.
12. The man who smokes blue master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

A girl moves into one of the houses. Which house she moves in?

Hints (continue)
16. She cannot stand the smell of Pall Mall.
17. She hates thee drinking men.
18. She is allergic to fish.
19. She is appaled by small manly proportions of beer drinkers.
20. She does not look good when anything yellow is around.


I put the addition together in less then 10 minutes, so the solution must be found even sooner. P.

[c'est moi]

I got stuck: my blue house ends up with the Blends but also the Beer and the blue master. i made no fault i think
The white has to be at the right, with the green to the left of it. In the white, the dane drinks tea, in the green they drink coffe. next to that they drink milk. The norwegian must drink water, so only the beer is left for the blue house next to it. But the blends have to be next to the water! the riddle is messed up

[Adam]

The riddle does not adequately define all possibilities. Use 1s and 0s to represent all possibilities on a grid, and for some links you will be left with muliple possibilities.

[c'est moi]

"and for some links you will be left with muliple possibilities."

i picked those things for which i was sure (so things where one thing is dependant of the other) and like that i got stuck, unless someone tells me the fault i made

[ProCop]

The white has to be at the right, with the green to the left of it. In the white, the dane drinks tea, in the green they drink coffe. next to that they drink milk. The norwegian must drink water, so only the beer is left for the blue house next to it. But the blends have to be next to the water! the riddle is messed up


The riddle is OK. You made a mistake in White <b>Swede</b> drinks <b>bier</b>. <b>Thea</b> comes next to <b>water</b> and so do <b>blends<b>.

[c'est moi]

"15. The man who smokes blends has a neighbor who drinks water."

nowhere does the riddle say that the Dane with his tea is next to water. The norwegian drinks water. The tea is in the white which is at the right of the green house. Next to the Norwegian and his water is the blue house, not the white. So you messed up, not me
:D

[ProCop]

<TABLE CELLPADDING=3 CELLSPACING=0 BORDER=1 ALIGN=right>
<TR BGCOLOR="#FFCC33"><TD BGCOLOR="#C0C0C0"></TD><TH>1</TH><TH>2</TH>
<TH>3</TH><TH>4</TH><TH>5</TH></TR>
<TR><TH>Color</TH><TD>Yellow</TD><TD>Blue</TD><TD>Red</TD><TD>Green</TD><TD>White</TD></TR>
<TR><TH>Country</TH><TD>Norwegian</TD><TD>Dane</TD><TD>Brit</TD><TD>German</TD>
<TD>Swede</TD></TR>
<TR><TH>Drink</TH><TD>Water</TD><TD>Tea</TD><TD>Milk</TD><TD>Coffee</TD><TD>Beer</TD></TR>
<TR><TH>Smoke</TH><TD>Dunhill</TD><TD>Blend</TD><TD>Pall Mall</TD><TD>Prince</TD>
<TD>Blue Master</TD></TR>
<TR><TH>Pet(s)</TH><TD>Cat</TD><TD>Horse</TD><TD>Birds</TD>
<TD BGCOLOR="#FFEEDD">Fish</TD><TD>Dog</TD></TR>
</TABLE><B>Leftmost-first solution</B><BR CLEAR=all>
<P>
To obtain the above solution, just start with a blank 5 by 5 table with the leftmost-first
numbering in the top line (we'll deal with rightmost-first ordering later),
then go through all the 15 statements in the order given below,
which allows you to fill all the squares you're told about
(and the fifth square of any line whose other entries have
<I>all</I> been filled):
</P><P>
First, use 8 (Milk=3), 9 (Norwegian=1), 14 (Blue=2), 4 &amp; 5 jointly, 1 and 7...
Statement 3 then places Dane and Tea either at #2 or at #5.&nbsp; It must be #2
(as&nbsp;pictured below), because #5 is easily ruled out with statements 12 and 15.&nbsp;
However, the <I>same</I> result may be obtained <I>without the convenient help of
statement 15</I> (we'll see that 15 is actually <I>useless</I> here)
by observing that placing Dane and Tea in column #5 leads to a contradiction,
using 12, 11, 2, and 13, in that order...
Now,&nbsp;you may use statement 12 to place Beer and Blue Master at #5,
which implies that the last drink (Water, according to statement 15) is at #1.&nbsp;
Statement 13, then, puts German and Prince at #4 and Swede at #5.&nbsp;
It's easy to complete the puzzle using statements 2, 11, 6 and 10, in that
order.&nbsp; (Statement
<B>15 has not been used at all</B>,
except to specify that the "fifth drink" is <I>water</I>&nbsp;!)<BR CLEAR=all></P>
<P>
If statement 9 had been "the Norwegian lives in the leftmost house", this would be the end
of it!&nbsp;

</P>

This is a copy of a part of the explanation, for more detail see link on the previous page.P.

[Tehan]

Hi, I only found this riddle yesterday.
I got an answer as well, a little different than the four on the web.

The green house is to the left of the white house, right, they never specify that the green house is next to the white house.

All the clues match up with my answer, the Dane in yellow house number five owns the fish.

Just a thought

It does check out
Enjoy

[ProCop]

@Tehan please could you make a simple chart with the characteristic with would be different from the table I posted above. It's a long time I did the puzzle (I saw the puzzle a number of times, but never with the sollution you propose (if you are right than its a major achievement)...but please post the reiquired info first

[Trilobyte]

Although I have read that the solution is the German (living in the green house), I have come up with an alternate, plausible solution which, although arguable, is logically valid.

I say that it is not valid to say that anyone owns the fish.

I base this on the fact that there is no hint, nor rule, which states that any one of the five houses has a pet fish.
As the basis of all scientific method is to never make an assumption unless the basis of that assumption has been proven, I think that it is not valid to assume that any of the people in this riddle own a fish.

The german, for all we know, may have a pet elephant, and, as there is no hint for any of his neighbours saying that they live next to the person who owns the fish, we have no way to prove otherwise.

I know that this may sound pedantic, but I think that this is the only valid, logical and correct answer to this riddle:

"It cannot be determined who owns the fish, if anyone owns a fish at all"

I agree however it is supposed to be a best-fit. I did not bother trying the riddle exactly for this reason - the assumptions you would have to make in your own opinion to come up with one of several possible solutions (eg how many pets are they each allowed to have? Only three clues are given that say a certain individual has a pet and not if that is their only one. Even if each have only one pet max it is 50:50 on which of the remaining two people you pin it to.

If Einstein did write this riddle perhaps it is an attempt to point out the fact that even if you want an answer you should never attempt to get it by making assumptions, as he did when he assumed that the universe was not expanding and was constant. Later realising this to be " the greatest mistake of his life" or something along those lines.

But still, only speculation....