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1 7 Clue
CHERYL'S BIRTHDAY IS ON JULY 16. FROM ALBERT'S FIRST STATEMENT, WE CAN ELIMINATE MAY AND JUNE. THE DATES MAY 19 AND JUNE 18 ARE UNIQUE (19 ONLY APPEARS IN MAY 19 AND 18 ONLY APPEARS IN JUNE 18) AND IF THERE IS NO WAY FOR BERNARD TO KNOW CHERYL'S BIRTHDAY, THEN IT CANNOT BE MAY OR JUNE. BERNARD CAN NOW ELIMINATE MAY AND JUNE AFTER ALBERT'S FIRST STATEMENT. IF BERNARD CAN NOW DEDUCE CHERYL'S BIRTHDAY, THE DATE HAS TO BE UNIQUE. THEREFORE, WE CAN ELIMINATE JULY 14 AND AUG 14 AS WELL. NOW WE ARE LEFT WITH JULY 16, AUG 15 OR AUG 17. ALBERT NOW KNOWS IT CAN ONLY BE JULY 16, AUG 15 OR AUG 17. HE KNOWS THE MONTH BUT NOT THE DATE, AND THAT IS ENOUGH TO TELL HIM THE CORRECT ANSWER. THEREFORE IT CAN ONLY BE JULY 16. IF IT HAD BEEN AUGUST, THEN HE WILL NOT KNOW IF IT IS AUG 15 OR AUG 17 THE ELDEST IS 8 YEARS OLD AND THE 2 YOUNGER ONES ARE 3 YEARS OLD. LET'S BREAK IT DOWN. THE PRODUCT OF THEIR AGES IS 72. SO THE POSSIBLE CHOICES ARE: 2, 2, 18 - SUM(2, 2, 18) = 22 2, 4, 9 - SUM(2, 4, 9) = 15 2, 6, 6 - SUM(2, 6, 6) = 14 2, 3, 12 - SUM(2, 3, 12) = 17 3, 4, 6 - SUM(3, 4, 6) = 13 3, 3, 8 - SUM(3, 3, 8 ) = 14 1, 8, 9 - SUM(1,8,9) = 18 1, 3, 24 - SUM(1, 3, 24) = 28 1, 4, 18 - SUM(1, 4, 18) = 23 1, 2, 36 - SUM(1, 2, 36) = 39 1, 6, 12 - SUM(1, 6, 12) = 19 THE SUM OF THEIR AGES IS THE SAME AS YOUR BIRTH DATE. THAT COULD BE ANYTHING FROM 1 TO 31 BUT THE FACT THAT JACK WAS UNABLE TO FIND OUT THE AGES, IT MEANS THERE ARE TWO OR MORE COMBINATIONS WITH THE SAME SUM. FROM THE CHOICES ABOVE, ONLY TWO OF THEM ARE POSSIBLE NOW. 2, 6, 6 - SUM(2, 6, 6) = 14 3, 3, 8 - SUM(3, 3, 8 ) = 14 SINCE THE ELDEST KID IS TAKING PIANO LESSONS, WE CAN ELIMINATE COMBINATION 1 SINCE THERE ARE TWO ELDEST ONES. THE ANSWER IS 3, 3 AND 8 BRUCE TAKES 9 OF HIS 10 CIGARETTE BUTTS AND TURNS THEM INTO 3 CIGARETTES TOTAL (3 CIGARETTE BUTTS CAN BE TURNED INTO 1 CIGARETTE). HE SMOKES ALL THREE OF THESE, AND NOW HE HAS 4 CIGARETTE BUTTS. HE THEN TURNS 3 OF THE 4 CIGARETTE BUTTS INTO ANOTHER CIGARETTE AND SMOKES IT. HE HAS NOW SMOKED 4 CIGARETTES AND HAS 2 CIGARETTE BUTTS. AND FINALLY HE GOES AND BORROWS ONE OF TOM'S CIGARETTE BUTTS. WITH THIS CIGARETTE BUTT PLUS THE 2 HE ALREADY HAS, HE IS ABLE TO MAKE HIS 5TH CIGARETTE TO SMOKE. AFTER SMOKING IT, HE IS LEFT WITH 1 CIGARETTE BUTT, WHICH HE PUTS BACK IN TOM'S PILE SO THAT TOM WON'T FIND ANYTHING MISSING FIRST HEAP: 22, SECOND HEAP: 14, THIRD HEAP: 12. TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM, WE SHALL HAVE TO START FROM THE END. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT AFTER ALL THE TRANSPOSITIONS, THE NUMBER OF MATCHES IN EACH HEAP IS THE SAME. LET US PROCEED FROM THIS FACT. SINCE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MATCHES HAS NOT CHANGED IN THE PROCESS, AND THE TOTAL NUMBER BEING 48, IT FOLLOWS THAT THERE WERE 16 MATCHES IN EACH HEAP. AND SO, IN THE END WE HAVE: FIRST HEAP: 16, SECOND HEAP: 16, THIRD HEAP: 16 IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THIS WE HAVE ADDED TO THE FIRST HEAP AS MANY MATCHES AS THERE WERE IN IT, I.E. WE HAD DOUBLED THE NUMBER. SO, BEFORE THE FINAL TRANSPOSITION, THERE ARE ONLY 8 MATCHES IN THE FIRST HEAP. NOW, IN THE THIRD HEAP, FROM WHICH WE TOOK THESE 8 MATCHES, THERE WERE: 16 + 8 = 24 MATCHES. WE NOW HAVE THE NUMBERS AS FOLLOWS: FIRST HEAP: 8, SECOND HEAP: 16, THIRD HEAP: 24. WE KNOW THAT WE TOOK FROM THE SECOND HEAP AS MANY MATCHES AS THERE WERE IN THE THIRD HEAP, WHICH MEANS 24 WAS DOUBLE THE ORIGINAL NUMBER. FROM THIS WE KNOW HOW MANY MATCHES WE HAD IN EACH HEAP AFTER THE FIRST TRANSPOSITION: FIRST HEAP: 8, SECOND HEAP: 16 + 12 = 28, THIRD HEAP: 12. NOW WE CAN DRAW THE FINAL CONCLUSION THAT BEFORE THE FIRST TRANSPOSITION THE NUMBER OF MATCHES IN EACH HEAP WAS: FIRST HEAP: 22, SECOND HEAP: 14, THIRD HEAP: 12