Puzzle 548: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 13

No comment.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym recently made an appearance on a local TV station's game show "Logic or No Logic", where contestants are faced with nine briefcases numbered from 1 through 9, each holding a different amount of money ($1, $2, $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $200, $250). Contestants get phone calls from a mysterious silhouetted figure known only as The Thinker, and must use his clues to determine which briefcase contains which amount of money. Due to a convenient twist of fate, Eliza won a prize drawing to decide who would get to appear alongside eight local celebrities to hold the nine briefcases. From the clues below, determine which person held which briefcase, and how much money was in each one.

1. Maui Handle, normally the master of ceremonies on "Logic or No Logic", was assigned by the producers to hold a briefcase on this episode. Maui's briefcase had precisely 10 times as much money as Eliza's briefcase. The numbers on Maui's and Eliza's briefcases had a sum of 10; Maui's briefcase was higher-numbered than Eliza's.
2. Morton Ramey, the fiery host of the reality series "Purgatory's Kitchen", had less money in his briefcase than Wilt Quinn, the leader of the Puzzlania Quilt Guild; Morton's briefcase's number was also exactly one-third that of Wilt's.
3. Annie Malone runs a local pet store which Eliza and her friends have patronized in the past; Annie's briefcase did not bear the number 5, and did not contain the $25 prize.
4. Haleigh Hawthorne plays the character Harmony on the soap opera "The Middle-Aged and the Narcoleptic"; in addition to being the only person with the same first and last initial, Haleigh held the only briefcase with the same number on it as the amount of money (in dollars) inside.
5. Mark Green, a vocalist who rose to fame on "Puzzlanian Idol", held a briefcase numbered exactly one higher than Haleigh's briefcase.
6. Moira Jackson, a veteran cruciverbalist who has become involved in the League of Puzzlers of the Nation in recent years, had a lower-numbered briefcase than the one containing $200 (which was not briefcase 9).
7. Floyd Webster, a renowned performer at the Euterpean Theatre, had more money in his briefcase than Moira, but less money than briefcase 5. Floyd did not hold briefcase 9.
8. The amount of money (in dollars) in briefcase 4, multiplied by the amount of money (in dollars) in briefcase 7, is a perfect square.

Puzzle 419: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 12

No comment.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During the month of June, Eliza Pseudonym and her friends Anna, Barbra, Carla, and Delilah each went to a venue known as The Euterpean Theatre to watch a different musical. Each woman went to the theatre on a different day (June 1, June 8, June 15, June 22, and June 29), and each woman paid a different amount for her ticket ($60, $80, $100, $120, $140). From the clues below, determine which musical each woman saw, which day each woman saw it, and how much each woman's ticket cost.

1. One woman saw "Rant" precisely one week after Anna watched a musical, but precisely one week before someone viewed "Pesticide Story".
2. Delilah's trip to the theatre was sometime before that of the woman who paid $100 for her ticket.
3. Carla paid $120 for her ticket; she went to The Euterpean Theatre precisely one week after the performance of "A Coarse Line" was attended.
4. Eliza visited the theatre precisely one week after the woman did whose ticket had a price of $80.
5. The ticket to see the musical "The Bantam of the Opera" was precisely $20 less expensive than the "Cots" ticket; one of these two musicals was the one watched on June 15.
6. Barbra bought the least expensive ticket.

Puzzle 289: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 11

Since these kinds of logic problems rely on clear prose as much as they do on valid logic, I often (as I have here) solicit editorial help from outsiders. Today, I decided to bother -- I mean, politely ask Dave Shukan (AKA Tinhorn) for his assistance. Discussing semantics with him is always intellectually stimulating, and may have been the most fun part of creating this puzzle. :)

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym and five of her friends (Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona) recently met together to play Bingo. In the game of Bingo, each player is given a 5x5 card, as depicted below. The columns are labeled with the letters B, I, N, G, and O, from left to right. The center space on the grid is marked as the Free Space. The objective of the game is for each player to try to be the first one to get a Bingo by filling in five spaces in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on her own card. The group played 12 games of Bingo; each of the six players ended up winning exactly two games, and each possible winning Bingo line (the five rows, the five columns, and the upper-left-to-lower-right and upper-right-to-lower-left diagonals) was used exactly once. From the clues below, determine which woman won each game, and with what line.

1. No woman won two consecutive games.
2. No two consecutive Bingos incorporated the Free Space.
3. A winning Bingo was made in the upper-left-to-lower-right diagonal sometime before one was made in the upper-right-to-lower-left diagonal.
4. The first game and the last game were both won by a woman filling in a column headed by a letter contained in her first name.
5. The winner of game 5 also won a game that was either three games before or three games after the one where the winning Bingo was in the top row.
6. The winning Bingo in the column labeled I occurred sometime after the one in the bottom row.
7. Barbra won both the game immediately before and the game immediately after the game in which the second row from the top formed the winning Bingo.
8. Eliza, who was the winner of the eighth game, won an odd-numbered game via a diagonal line.
9. Carla's first victory (which was not won with a line containing the cell in the upper-right corner) was in the sixth game after the one in which the winner had filled in the column labeled G.
10. One of Delilah's wins was in the fifth game after one of Anna's wins.
11. The woman who filled in an entire column to win game 4 also won a different game that was the second game to follow the one where the fourth row from the top was filled in.

Puzzle 192: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 10

Break Inn and Hostel Intent aren't exactly hotel names that make one feel secure, are they? :) Special thanks to Vraal for the names Hostel Intent and Omelette Motel.
ERRATUM: Somehow, I managed to miswrite clue 5 on my paper when I was composing this puzzle. I noticed the mistake in test-solving, but forgot to actually correct it in the published version; the puzzle is correct now. My sincerest apologies.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

From 2004 through 2009, Eliza Pseudonym and each of five of her friends have had occasion to visit the city of Capitolburg. Each one went in a different year, and stayed at a different hotel for a different number of nights (from 2 nights through 7 nights). From the clues below, determine the year during which each one went to Capitolburg, which hotel they stayed at, and how many nights they stayed there.

1. Delilah went to Capitolburg on a business trip in 2005.
2. Fiona stayed in her hotel for fewer nights than Anna, who visited Capitolburg in a later year than Fiona did.
3. The woman who stayed for 7 nights was in Capitolburg one year after Barbra was.
4. Laugh Inn was patronized for fewer nights than Hostel Intent.
5. The stay at Cardinal's Inn was shorter than the stay at Omelette Motel; the two hotel visits were separated by exactly 4 years.
6. One woman paid for a 6-night stay at the Break Inn.
7. In 2006, one of the women stayed at a hotel for 4 nights.
8. Carla's stay at a hotel and another woman's stay at Le Tom Motel 2 years later were for a combined total of 8 nights.

Puzzle 174: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 9

There is no subliminal advertising here. None at all. This puzzle is not based on a real puzzlers' league. I am not being sarcastic.

Please note that clues 5 and 6 have the word NOT in them. Failure to notice this word will yield much confusion. (Why am I pointing this out? I dunno. I guess I'm just paranoid that the word NOT will be easily overlooked otherwise.)

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym has recently joined an organization known as the League of Puzzlers of the Nation (LPN). Upon joining the LPN, a member selects his or her own nom de guerre by which they are known within the League. Eliza Pseudonym opted simply for Elipse, the first three letters of her first name and the first three letters of her last name. Since joining the LPN, Eliza has become acquainted with five other members, each of whom has been a member of the LPN for a different amount of time, and each of whom has also provided Eliza with hours of amusing conversations and wordplay! From the clues below, identify these other five LPN members by nom de guerre, first name (one first name is Mario), and last name (one last name is Washington), and determine how long each has been a member (1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or 6 years).

1. The one with the nom of Grabby has been a member of the LPN for precisely half as long as the one named Moira Jackson has.
2. The member whose first name is Bob has been in the LPN for precisely one year longer than the one with the nom Ironhorn.
3. The individual surnamed Hamilton has been a member of the LPN for precisely three times as long as the one surnamed Lincoln.
4. The person whose nom is Kinship (who has been in the LPN for 2 years) and the one whose last name is Jefferson have first names which are composed of the same letters, but in a different order.
5. The woman with the first name Dolly and the person who goes by the nom of Missyl have NOT been members of the League for a combined total of precisely 7 years.
6. The LPNer whose nom is ACAB/H has NOT been a member of the LPN for precisely twice as long as or precisely half as long as the person with the first name Lloyd.

Puzzle 145: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 8

No comment.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym and her friends Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona are close followers of the hit television series Puzzlanian Idol, where contestants compete to win a recording contract by singing live on the show in an attempt to garner the votes of viewers. After many grueling weeks of singing and heart-breaking eliminations, the six remaining contestants performed on the most recent episode, following which the aforementioned Puzzlanian Idol fans phoned in their votes for their favorite contestant; each person voted for a different contestant. From the clues below, determine each contestant's first and last name (one first name is Luke, and one surname is White), the order in which they performed, and who voted for each one.

1. No two contestants have the same combination of first and last initials. No two contestants who performed consecutively have the same first initial or the same last initial.
2. Delilah voted for the person who performed third.
3. The contestant surnamed Pelkey performed sometime before Leah.
4. The contestant for whom Carla voted performed sometime after Mark Green (who wasn't the fourth contestant to perform).
5. The recipient of Barbra's vote performed sometime after the contestant surnamed Black, but sometime before the contestant surnamed Brown (who was the third contestant to perform after the one surnamed Black).
6. The second contestant to sing was surnamed Gray.
7. Anna did not cast her vote either for John (who performed sometime after Jude) or for the contestant who sang fifth on the show.
8. Fiona voted for Matthew.

Puzzle 94: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 7

I learned six new words in the process of making this puzzle. What could be better than that?

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During a six-day period from Monday through Saturday, Eliza Pseudonym and her friends Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona have subscribed to an internet mailing list that features a new word every day. No two women subscribed on the same day. On each day during the six-day period, a different word has been featured (abulia, betise, caryatid, dehisce, euhemerism, and floruit, in some order). From the clues below, determine the day on which each woman subscribed, and the day on which each word was featured.

1. Exactly one of the women has a name beginning with the same letter of the alphabet as the word featured on the day that she subscribed to the mailing list.
2. The word "caryatid" was featured precisely two days prior to Fiona joining the mailing list.
3. Carla joined the mailing list on Friday.
4. Anna signed up for the mailing list precisely one day after the word "euhemerism" was highlighted.
5. Wednesday's word did not end with the letter "e".
6. Barbra subscribed precisely three days after the word "dehisce" was featured.

Puzzle 75: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 6

No comment.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym is an avid watcher of the daytime soap opera The Middle-Aged and the Narcoleptic. A recent five-day period from Monday through Friday has had quite a lot of plot development! Each day's episode featured one of five characters (Harmony, Irene, Jake, Kit, and Lee) sharing a different secret with one of the other five characters. Over the course of the week, each character had divulged one secret, and learned one secret. From the clues below, determine which character confessed a secret on each episode, which character learned the secret, and what each secret was.

1. The episode on which Irene revealed a secret (which wasn't Monday's episode) aired either two days before or two days after the episode on which was heard the line, "It was I who ate your last oatmeal raisin cookie. Forgive me, Kit. . . ."
2. Harmony is not the character who admitted, "I wouldn't want to let the others know, but I feel like I have to be honest with you. . . my two favorite video games are Mario is Missing! and E.T. for the Atari."
3. Jake sobbed, "I dare not tell my wife, because it'd threaten our marriage, but when she's not around, I like to read. . . this is embarrassing. . . Sudoku magazines!" sometime before Irene learned a secret, but sometime after Lee learned a secret; these three episodes were not aired on three consecutive days.
4. Irene is not the character who was told the shocking words, "The neighborhood kids didn't toilet paper your house last week. I. . . I DID IT! I'M SORRY!"
5. The episode on which Kit told a secret and the episode where a character said, "Please don't judge me for what I'm about to tell you, but. . . I listen to country music and rap music. . ." were aired consecutively, in some order.
6. On Thursday's episode, a character entrusted his or her secret to Harmony.

Puzzle 60: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 5

Can you tell that this puzzle was inspired by insomnia? :p

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During a five-night period from Monday through Friday, Eliza Pseudonym had a series of unusual dreams. Every night, she had a dream set in a different unusual place (in one dream, Eliza found herself on trial in a courtroom). In each dream, a different one of her closest friends unexpectedly appeared and said something seemingly nonsensical. Eliza noted that she had eaten something different each night before going to bed; needless to say, she has sworn not to eat any of those foodstuffs so late at night ever again! From the clues below, determine the setting of the dream Eliza had each night, which of her friends made an appearance, what each friend said, and what food item Eliza had eaten each night.

1. Eliza had a dream about her friend Carla precisely two nights before or two nights after her dream in which she was a soldier on a war-torn battlefield.
2. The dream in which a friend said, "I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!" occurred either the night before or the night after Eliza ate beef jerky.
3. Eliza ate some delicious chocolate chip cookies on the night her dream featured a friend saying, "I was raised by a cup of coffee!"
4. Barbra made an appearance in a dream precisely three nights before Eliza ate pickles.
5. The dream with Delilah in it occurred some time prior to the dream in which Eliza's friend said, "There is no nineteenth story, so there is no Miss Zarves."
6. Eliza dreamed that she was the host of a popular talk show either the night before or the night after her dream where a friend said, "Paleobotanical backwards licorice."
7. Anna was in Eliza's dream precisely one night after pretzels were eaten before going to bed.
8. A friend said, "Mr. Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx," in the dream where Eliza was a scientist performing studies at a laboratory.
9. Eliza ate an orange precisely two nights after she dreamed about dancing to funky music at a disco.
10. Fiona appeared in Eliza's dream on Tuesday night.

Puzzle 49: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 4

I'm a sucker for animals; I guess I inherited it from my mother. I mostly love dogs, though. I can't imagine being as happy in life as I am now without having at least one cute little dog around. :3

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During a six-day period from Monday through Saturday, the animal-loving Eliza Pseudonym and her equally animal-loving friends Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona each bought a new pet. Each one got a different kind of pet, and each pet was given a different name and bought on a different day. From the clues below, determine the name and species of each woman's pet, and the day they got them.

1. No woman has the same initial as her pet.
2. On Monday, Fiona was already showing off her beautiful new parrot.
3. Barbra's pet was bought precisely three days before Connor was.
4. "Awwww, Alice is such a cute cat!" doted the dog owner (who didn't get her pet on Tuesday) upon seeing another woman's pet.
5. "I got a pet ferret today," one woman told Anna. "Wow, that's neat!" Anna replied. "I myself got a pet yesterday."
6. To the awe of the other women, one fearless woman brought home a pet snake on Friday.
7. Delilah's pet and Florence (who isn't the pet rat) were not bought on consecutive days.
8. Earl was bought sometime before Denise was.
9. Carla's pet was bought precisely four days after Barry was.

Puzzle 42: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 3

This puzzle was heavily inspired by Everett Kaser Software's game Dinner With Moriarty. Some of the clues are similar to clues that would be used in that game; however, I tried to be a little novel with the clues, as well.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Eliza Pseudonym and five of her friends met at her house to play the classic Perkless Brothers game Monotony together. Each of the six players brought a different food or drink item which was placed on the bar for the players to eat at any time during the game. As they played Monotony, they were eliminated from the game one by one until only the single winner remained. The six players were seated around a table as shown in the diagram below. From the clues below, determine where the players were seated, what food or drink item each of them brought, and how they placed in the game (from the worst, sixth place, through the best, first place). (Note: seats 1 and 4, 2 and 6, and 3 and 5 are across from each other. Consecutively numbered seats are next to each other, as are seats 1 and 6. No other pairs of seats are next to or across from each other.)

1. Delilah sat in seat 3 in the above diagram.
2. The player sitting across the table from the person who brought soda finished in sixth place, the player sitting in seat 4 finished in fifth place, and the player who brought an assortment of fruit juices finished in fourth place.
3. The person who brought popcorn was seated closer to the bar than the one who finished in second place.
4. Carla sat next to the person who brought a vegetable plate.
5. Fiona placed better than both of the players next to whom she was seated.
6. The player who brought fruit juices sat next to Anna and Barbra.
7. Barbra did not bring cookies, nor did she sit next to the person who brought cookies, or place in a consecutive position with the person who brought cookies.
8. The player in seat 6 brought potato chips.
9. The person who brought soda was seated closer to the bar than the one who brought popcorn.

Puzzle 39: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 2

My mother used to be quite an avid quilter, and was even a member of a quilt guild for a period of time. She hopes to get back into quilting again, and frankly, so do I -- when I was about 10 or so, I designed a "math quilt" that had four blocks for each of the plus, minus, times, and divided by signs, arranged such that one of each block was in each row and in each column of a four by four square. We got it started, but still haven't finished it. We still have all the fabric for it in an old Pizza Hut box we got (minus the pizza) solely for the purpose of holding fabric. XDD Now that I've bored you with my life story, on to the puzzle.

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

In recent months, Eliza Pseudonym has taken an interest in quilting. Hoping to meet other quilters and obtain helpful advice, Eliza joined the Puzzlania Quilt Guild, where she was surprised to meet both male and female quilters! After becoming fast friends with Lou and seven other quilters, the nine of them decided to create their own special quilt together. Each quilter sewed a single quilt block, and then the nine blocks were sewn together in a square that was three blocks high and three blocks wide. Eliza and her fellow quilters were mighty proud of their collaborative effort! From the clues below, determine the gender of each quilter, which block they contributed to the quilt, and how the nine blocks are arranged. (Note: Except for Eliza, all of the names in this puzzle can be male or female.)

1. Every row and every column in the quilt contains one block that was sewn by a male quilter and two blocks that were sewn by female quilters.
2. Eliza sewed a block containing a Sudoku puzzle; her block is the leftmost block in the middle row of the quilt.
3. One quilter created a block with all of the quilters' initials in a 3x3 arrangement corresponding to who sewed the block in that position of the quilt; Casey, who is of the opposite gender of this quilter, said, "Wow, that's a really clever idea!"
4. Jordan's block is directly above the block containing the twelve distinct pentominoes, which is directly to the left of the block with the first 100 digits of pi.
5. The row containing Pat's quilt block is somewhere above the row containing the block with a maze in its design.
6. Vic's block is somewhere below and in the same column as Sam's block, which is somewhere to the left of and in the same row as the block depicting a dissection of a square into non-congruent isosceles triangles.
7. Alex's block and Casey's block share an edge on the quilt; one of these blocks contains a chess puzzle (its quilter has been playing chess since she was 5).
8. The block whose design contains a tangram puzzle is directly below the block contributed by Chris, which is directly to the left of the block containing the Lo Shu magic square.

Puzzle 34: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 1

No comment. :)

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During the month of July, Eliza Pseudonym and her friends Anna, Barbra, Carla, and Delilah have celebrated their wedding anniversaries with their husbands (Andrew, Brad, Cliff, Dirk, and Ethan). Each anniversary was on a different day of the month (July 5, July 10, July 15, July 20, and July 25); furthermore, each couple has been married for a different number of years (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25). From the clues below, determine the husband and wife in each couple, the date of their anniversary, and how long they've been married.

1. No man has the same first initial as his wife. No couple has been married for the same number of years as the date of their anniversary.
2. Delilah's anniversary is on July 15.
3. One couple has been married for an even number of years, and has an anniversary on an even-numbered day of the month; this couple does not include Ethan.
4. Barbra has been married for exactly twice as many years as Dirk, but not for as long as Cliff (whose anniversary is July 25).
5. Carla's anniversary is later in the month than the anniversary of the couple who's been married for 15 years.
6. Andrew's anniversary and Anna's anniversary are separated by 10 or fewer days.

Rules -- Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

Logic puzzles of the "read a bunch of sentences and use deduction to figure out who owns the zebra and who drinks water" variety have been around since the beginning of the universe. I shouldn't even have to make an example and write rules for this kind of puzzle, but I'm doing so for consistency with the other kinds of puzzles on this blog. (At least I don't have to go through the trouble of making an image for these. :) )

Example:
Eliza Pseudonym and her friends Anna, Barbra, and Carla are all fans of reality TV shows. Each one has a particular show they like (including Medium-Sized Brother), which airs on a different night of the week from Monday through Thursday. From the clues below, determine each woman's favorite reality show and the night it comes on.

1. Carla's favorite reality show is Coper.
2. Purgatory's Kitchen airs exactly two days after Barbra's favorite show (which isn't The Somewhat Thrilling Race).
3. Anna's favorite program airs on Tuesdays.

Solution:
Anna - The Somewhat Thrilling Race - Tuesdays
Barbra - Medium-Sized Brother - Mondays
Carla - Coper - Thursdays
Eliza - Purgatory's Kitchen - Wednesdays

Rules:
1. Read the puzzle and determine the information it asks for, using the clues it provides.