Einstein's Riddle

sixflags11804 · 06-26-2007, 11:37 PM

I love riddles and this is my favorite one. This is one of those riddles where you have to sit down with a pen and paper and think. I just wanted to know how many of you could solve it. Also, don't cheat googlers.

The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:

- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.

- In each house lives a person of different nationality

- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?

Necessary clues:

1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
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 keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
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 Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water

The_Heroic_Loser · 06-27-2007, 12:29 AM

I believe that even more than 98% of the population wouldn't be able to get it.

Ikin · 06-27-2007, 12:43 AM

I may be getting cocky here, but I think I'll be able to solve it. Of course, I would need a lot of paper and a few free hours.

sixflags11804 · 06-27-2007, 07:04 AM

try it out. It took me a while but it's possible.

The_Heroic_Loser · 06-27-2007, 01:31 PM

ah, I wish I had more time today. If no one solves it by tomorrow, I'll try it.

Mathsorcerer · 06-27-2007, 02:42 PM

I am printing it now; will solve afterwards.

Mathsorcerer · 06-27-2007, 03:51 PM

Okay. I had to go out for lunch, which is what caused my delay.

The answer is:

SPOILER ALERT!! click this to show it -->

The_Heroic_Loser · 06-27-2007, 04:06 PM

OK, I spent about 20 minutes on this and I don't think I got the right answer, but here goes. I'm gonna put it in spoiler tags so if people are still trying to solve it, they won't see.

SPOILER ALERT!! click this to show it -->

Am I right, sixflags?

sixflags11804 · 06-27-2007, 04:21 PM

yes you are right! Nice job, ready for the most difficult riddle ever now?

sixflags11804 · 06-27-2007, 04:24 PM

This one might give mathsorcerer some trouble...I don't know. But this is the hardest riddle ever, for me at least. It took me a long time to finally get this one.

There are 4 mathematicians - Brahma, Sachin, Prashant and Nakul - having lunch in a hotel. Suddenly, Brahma thinks of 2 integer numbers greater than 1 and says, "The sum of the numbers is..." and he whispers the sum to Sachin. Then he says, "The product of the numbers is..." and he whispers the product to Prashant. After that, the following conversation takes place :

Sachin : Prashant, I don't think that we know the numbers.
Prashant : Aha! Now I know the numbers.
Sachin : Oh, now I also know the numbers.
Nakul : Now I also know the numbers.

How did they know the numbers?