Puzzles by Cathy

— LOGIC PUZZLES —

If you are looking for a real challenge, Puzzles by Cathy can construct logic puzzles for your publication or website!

As you can see by the examples below, logic puzzles can be done in a variety of ways and used for various purposes.

EXAMPLE 1

A "Lost In Space" Logic Puzzle

YOUNG PENNY ROBINSON has just had the most horrible dining experience! Now alone in her room, she recounts in her diary the events that have just transpired at the family dinner table. From her diary entry and the diagram below, can you deduce who sat at which plate around the dinner table?

Dear Diary,
    Sometimes I really hate this stupid family!!
    Why am I the one always getting in trouble while my snotty baby brother Will gets his own way every time? It makes me so mad! He doesn’t have to take any meatloaf, but I have to eat every crummy thing on the table! Here’s a news flash, Mom—nobody likes your lousy meatloaf, regardless of whatever alien creature it’s made from!!
    Then there’s Judy, who suddenly won’t touch vegetables—what’s that all about? How come I’m the only one not allowed to eat what I want?
    It’s all Dad’s fault anyway. Why did he have to invite that disgusting alien to dinner? Is it my fault that I had to sit directly opposite him (or her—heck, I don’t know what it is!)? The way it ate was so disgusting, I couldn’t stand eating much of anything.
    And then as usual Dr. Smith started griping and whining: "I detest dining off this atrocious azurean artifact!" "William, kindly stop torturing me with that egregious elbow!" Don grabbed Dr. Smith’s arm and told him to shut up. Dad switched places with Will to try to calm down the situation.
    That’s when Mom noticed I hadn’t touched my meatloaf. She went crazy! And she sent me to my room.
    IT JUST ISN’T FAIR!!
© 2001 by Puzzles by Cathy

STUMPED? Contact Puzzles by Cathy for the solution!

This puzzle was constructed for Murder For Hire, a murder mystery production company based in Binghamton, NY, and the puzzle currently appears on its website. The mystery show "Murder In Space" is billed as a "3-D Logic Puzzle," as the table, plates, and food are part of the actual crime scene, and the diary entry is part of the season finale script. Audience participants portray the suspects seated around the table, and as "Penny" reads her script, the remaining audience members instruct the suspects where to sit. The solution to the puzzle provides a clue in the solving of the mystery. (To visit the web site, please click on the link below.)
MURDER FOR HIRE


EXAMPLE 2

Villains' Night Out

MOJO JOJO invited 4 other Townsville villains to his observatory for a friendly game of poker. He thoughtfully prepared each villain’s favorite kind of sandwich for them each to snack on during the evening. As the five of them played cards and ate sandwiches, each bragged about his or her successes against the Powerpuff Girls and claimed superiority over the others at the table. Eventually Mojo got sick of his guests’ boasting and said to each of them, "Shut up already! Get out of my lair! Leave the premises! Vacate the grounds! GO HOME!!!" From the following clues, can you determine which villain ate which kind of sandwich, how many times each claimed to have knocked out all three Powerpuff Girls, and the order in which Mojo’s guests left his observatory?

  1. Each villain ate only his or her favorite kind of sandwich (no one had more than one favorite kind); each villain claimed to have success at knocking out all three Powerpuff Girls a different whole number of times.
  2. The sandwiches Mojo prepared were made of red meat (roast beef), poultry (sliced turkey and chicken salad), fish (tuna salad), and dairy (cream cheese).
  3. Sedusa, who never eats red meat or fish, claimed she was twice as successful as the one who left third.
  4. Princess (who was only invited because she has lots of money) claimed to knock out the girls fewer times than the one who ate the tuna salad sandwiches.
  5. The one who ate the cream cheese sandwiches claimed to be more successful than Mojo, who claimed to be twice as successful as the one who left first.
  6. Him joked that the reason Fuzzy Lumpkins claimed to knock out the girls three times was because Fuzzy couldn’t count higher than three.
  7. Because it was Mojo’s lair, he, of course, did not leave.
  8. The last guest to leave ate the sliced turkey sandwiches.
  9. The villain who claimed to be the most successful against the Powerpuff Girls said he knocked out all three girls 12 times.
  10. Mojo wrapped up the chicken salad sandwiches that were left uneaten by the first one to leave.
  11. The one who claimed to knock out the girls 10 times ate the tuna salad sandwiches.
This puzzle was constructed for a Powerpuff Girls fan web site, Pokey Oaks Fanfic Library, to be posted during August 2001.

To aid in the solving of the puzzle, a grid and a table are included for solvers to fill in as they read through the clues.

On the Pokey Oaks site, a second grid is available for solvers who can't figure out the math involved and need a little extra help. In that grid, the numbers for "Times Successful" are filled in.

(To visit the web site, please click on the link below.)
POKEY OAKS FANFIC LIBRARY

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