Einstein's riddle is a logic puzzle. Einstein's riddle and principles for solving it

Einstein's riddle is famous logic problem, whose authorship is attributed to Albert Einstein.

It is believed that this puzzle was created by Albert Einstein during his childhood. There is also an opinion that it was used by Einstein to test candidate assistants for logical thinking ability.

Some attribute to Einstein a reasoning in which he claims that only two percent of the world's population is able to mentally operate with patterns associated with five signs at once. As a particular consequence of this, the above puzzle can be solved without the use of paper only by those who belong to these two percent. However, there is no documented evidence that Einstein ever made such a claim.

In its most difficult version, the problem involves solving it in your head, without using any notes or means of storing information. Without this, the puzzle noticeably loses in complexity, since it can be solved by simply drawing up a table with the exclusion of obviously contradictory options - and therefore says little about the abilities of the subject."

5 different people in 5 different houses of different colors, smoking 5 different brands of cigarettes, raising 5 different types of animals, drinking 5 different types of drinks.

Question: who raises the fish?

Tips:

• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• The Englishman lives in a red house.
• The green house is located to the left of the white one.
• The Dane drinks tea.
• The one who smokes Rothmans lives next to the one who
• raises cats.
• The one who lives in the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
• The German smokes Marlboro.
• The neighbor of the one who smokes Rothmans drinks water.
• Anyone who smokes Pall Mall raises birds.
• The Swede raises dogs.
• The one who smokes Philip Morris, drinks beer.
• They drink coffee in the green house.

The solution of the problem

So, we have 25 positions that need to be filled with the following data:

• Nationality: Norwegian, English, Danish, German, Swedish.
• House color: Red, Green, White, Yellow, Blue.
• Cigarette brand: Rothmans, Dunhill, Marlborough, Pell Mell, Philip Morris.
• Animal: Cats, Birds, Dogs, Horses, Fish.
• Drink: Tea, Milk, Water, Beer, Coffee.

Basically, we need to fill out the following table:

From the hints, we immediately fill in a number of table cells:

• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• A Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
• The one who raises horses lives in a blue house.
• The one who lives in the center drinks milk.

Since an Englishman lives in a red house, it means that a Norwegian cannot live in a red house. Equally, a Norwegian cannot live in blue. He cannot live in a white one either, since the green house is to the left of the white one, and the Norwegian’s house is the farthest to the left. He also cannot live in green, since to the right of green White House, and to the right of the Norwegian is blue. So he lives in yellow. Hence we conclude that the Norwegian smokes Dunhill.

Further, since the green house is located to the left of the white one, it means that its number is either 3 or 4. However, in the third, middle, house they drink milk, and in the green house they drink coffee - which means the number of the green house = 4. This means that we have a white house goes at number 5, and red goes at number 3. An Englishman lives here. They drink coffee in the 4th house.

Further, since a German smokes Marlboro, he does not smoke Philip Morris, and therefore does not drink beer. He also does not drink the milk that an Englishman drinks. He doesn’t drink tea either—that’s what the Dane does. This means that a German drinks either water or coffee. A Norwegian cannot drink beer (he smokes other cigarettes), milk (he is not an Englishman), coffee (he does not live in a green house), tea (he is not a Dane). So the Norwegian drinks water, and then the German drinks coffee, and lives in a green house. Plus, don’t forget that the German smokes Marlboro. And since a Norwegian drinks our water, his neighbor (second home) smokes Rothmans.

Since a Swede raises dogs here, he cannot live in the second house (they raise horses there), which means he lives in the fifth house (white). So in the second house there lives a Dane who drinks tea.

Since the Pell Mell smoker raises birds, he is not a Swede, which means he is an Englishman. Consequently, the Swede smokes Philip Morris and drinks beer.

And now we have one last clue:

• Someone who smokes Rothmans lives next to someone who raises cats.

Rothmans smokes a Dane who lives in the second house. To his right lives an Englishman who raises birds, which means that the Dane’s second neighbor (on the left), a Norwegian, raises these cats. And then the fish are raised by a German. The answer has been found.

ANSWER: The fish are raised by a German!

This article presents two riddles of the great Einstein (with hints and ANSWERS). If you can't cope with one, try another!

For decades now, the strongest minds of humanity (as well as those who claim to be simply smart people) challenge these challenging mysteries. And not by chance. Everyone wants to beat their creator!

The name of the famous American scientist Albert Einstein is known to both adults and many children. Surely you've heard "smart as Einstein"? This scientist who made discoveries in science and wrote great amount articles in various scientific fields, known throughout the world. But not everyone knows that little Albert was not the best student in his class, but he surprised his teachers with his unusual thinking.

Being a person of non-standard mental abilities, one day a scientist came up with an interesting logical problem. Was it compiled at a time when no one in the world knew who Albert Einstein was? The puzzle is called Einstein's riddle.

From the history of occurrence

Scientists debate whether Einstein himself actually came up with the riddle, and at what age this happened. Some are sure that this is the work of little Albert. Others say that this was a special test to select an assistant for their team. The candidate should be able to solve various puzzles with ease. Someone claims that this could have been invented by the English writer Lewis Carroll, the author of adventures in Wonderland and through the looking glass of the famous Alice and a lover of mental gymnastics. True, the brand of cigarettes mentioned in the problem was not yet produced during Carroll’s life or during the scientist’s childhood.

Einstein about his riddle

The author admitted that only 2% of people can cope with a task in which they have to keep their attention on five different objects simultaneously, analyze information and draw conclusions. An important condition The test is an oral solution to a riddle. If you write everything down, it’s easy to find the correct answer. Only in this case you won’t have to talk about mathematical abilities.

Einstein's mystery as it is first saw the light of day on the pages of the December 1962 issue of the English magazine Life International. The inquisitive reader was able to find out the answer from the March 1963 issue.

Einstein's riddle #1

1. On one street there are five houses, differing in color.
2. An English citizen settled in the red house.
3. There is a dog living in the Spaniard's house.
4. The resident of the green house loves coffee.
5. A man from Ukraine loves tea very much.
6. The green house is to the right of the white one.
7. Old Gold cigarettes are popular with those who breed snails.
8. In the yellow house it is customary to smoke Kool cigarettes.
9. Milk is always delivered to the house, located in the very center.
10. A visitor from Norway lives in house No. 1.
11. Next to the neighbor who smokes Chesterfield, there lives the one who takes care of the fox.
12. Next to the house where there is a horse, there is a Kool cigarette lover.
13. Regularly buys Lucky Strike and drinks frequently Orange juice.
14. The Japanese resident of the block prefers to smoke Parliament.
15. The Norwegian's house is next to the blue one.

You want to know: who loves water and who takes care of the zebra?

So, big picture the task is that in multi-colored buildings live the inhabitants - representatives different nations holding animals different types. Each of them smokes their favorite cigarettes and drinks only their favorite drink. It is worth considering that when we're talking about about the location of the house on the right, it is viewed to the right of the reader. Are the buildings in a row and what else can you say about someone who drinks water and holds a zebra?

Solution steps

Reflecting on general information and noting for yourself individual important details, it is necessary to collect everything important about each of the residents, discarding inappropriate options. Attention! Try to solve Einstein's riddle yourself without the help of hints. Only when you really start to give up, it makes sense to gradually start reading OBSERVATIONS and TIPS

To make it easier to handle facts, let’s assign them the numbers under which they appear in the condition.

Observation 1: Point 10 states that the Norwegian’s house is number 1. In which direction the buildings are numbered does not matter, only the order itself is important.

Observation 2: Points 10 and 15 make it clear that the blue house is at number 2.

Observation 3: House No. 1 is neither white nor green. Houses of these colors should be located nearby, taking into account point 6.

Observation 4: House No. 1 cannot be red, because an Englishman lived in red.

Conclusion 1: House No. 1 is painted yellow.

Conclusion 2: Its inhabitant loves Kool cigarettes (8).

Conclusion 3: The owner of house No. 2 keeps a horse (12).

Conclusion 4: A Norwegian living in a yellow house smokes Kool, doesn't like tea (5), doesn't like coffee (6), doesn't buy milk (9) and is indifferent to orange juice (13). This means that he is the one who will prefer water to other drinks.

Observation 5: What does the horse owner from blue house No. 2 smoke? These are definitely not “Kool” cigarettes, which are loved in house No. 1.

Observation 6: “Old Gold” – cigarettes for the snail owner (7).

Observation 7: If the inhabitant of the blue house smoked Lucky Strike, he would also drink orange juice (13). This person cannot be English (2), Norwegian (10), Spanish (3), Ukrainian (5), or Japanese (14). This situation is not correct. It turns out that this is definitely not “Lucky Strike”.

Observation 8: If people smoked Parliament cigarettes in blue house No. 2, it could be argued that a Japanese person lived there (14). Consequently, this person does not tolerate tea (5), coffee (6), milk (9), or orange juice (13). This version does not correspond to reality, that is, the option with Parliament cigarettes is not suitable.

Conclusion 5: “Chesterfield” is the choice of the resident of blue house No. 2.

Observation 9: What is the nationality of the owner of the blue house horse who prefers Chesterfield? Based on the conditions of the puzzle, this is not English (2), not Norwegian (10), not Spanish (3) or Japanese (14).

Conclusion 6: The resident of blue house No. 2, who buys Chesterfield, drinks tea (5) and is a native of Ukraine.

Observation 10: Taking into account the fact that “Chesterfield” is bought by a resident of the blue house, item 11 will be a clue to the location of the fox: is it house No. 1 or house No. 3.

Observation 11: Suppose the owner of house No. 3 keeps the fox. What should someone who deals in snails and buys Old Gold drink? We already know that a Ukrainian will prefer tea, and a Norwegian will prefer water. Juice is not suitable for the snail lord (13), neither is milk (9).

Observation 13: The green house is home to a coffee lover (4), who loves to smoke Old Gold and take care of snails.

Observation 13: If the fox is kept in house No. 3, then in the green house we will not see an Englishman (2), a Spaniard (3), a Ukrainian (5), a Japanese (14) or a Norwegian (10). A lover of smoking Old Gold and caring for snails should live in it. This is out of the question.

Conclusion 7: The fox is in house number 1

Observation 14: It becomes clear that coffee and orange juice are loved in houses No. 4 and No. 5. An Old Gold lover caring for snails cannot live where they drink the juice. “Lucky Strike” – cigarettes drinking juice from oranges (13). It turns out that the snail-eater, smoking Old Gold and drinking coffee, chose a green house to live in (4), but this is not true.

Conclusion 8: The one who lives with snails under the same roof and loves Old Gold cigarettes is a resident of house No. 3.

Taking into account the established facts, we calculate that:

Observation 15: In the green house lives a coffee lover who buys Parliament, and this is none other than the Japanese (14).

Observation 16: The guy with the dog and the Lucky Strike cigarette loves orange juice, because his homeland is Spain.

Observation 17: Red house No. 3 is chosen by the Englishman.

Observation 18: The house in which the Spaniard settled is painted white.

ANSWER TO EINSTEIN'S RIDDLE: Japanese is the owner of a zebra.

In front of you solution to Einstein's riddle. It was made taking into account the location of house No. 1 on the left edge. Even if we assume that the house is on the right edge, the answer will remain the same. Armed with a pen and notepad, finding a solution to a puzzle is not that difficult. Another thing is to try to approach him verbally. What if you try your hand and test yourself by trying to go through the solution paths yourself in your mind?

And to really test yourself, you can use the second version of Einstein’s riddle, without any hints!

Einstein's riddle #2

On the street in row houses different color people settled from different parts of the world. Each of them has their own favorite cigarettes, drinks and pets.

1. A gentleman from Norway occupied house No. 1.
2. The owner of the red house is a visitor from England.
3. Near it there is a green building, to the left of which is a white one.
4. Tea is the Dane's favorite drink.
5. The cat caretaker lives next door to the Marlboro smoker.
6. The tenant of the yellow house buys Dunhill cigarettes.
7. "Rothmans" are the German's favorite cigarettes.
8. They drink milk in the building located in the very center.
9. A water drinker lives next to a Marlboro smoker.
10. The one who prefers Pall Mall keeps birds.
11. Dogs are the favorite pets of the gentleman from Sweden.
12. Next to the Norwegian's house there is a blue house.
13. The blue house is inhabited by a horse lover.
14. Anyone who often buys Winfield cigarettes cannot do without beer.
15. The inhabitant of the green house is a coffee lover.

You want to know: who loves and keeps fish at home?

Is there a smart guy who can give an answer by making a decision in his head, and whom Einstein himself would take as his assistant?

This is a really old mystery. Although, perhaps, there are some readers who will see it for the first time. Myself Einstein said that only two percent of people are able to solve this riddle in their minds, another 20% using paper or other available tools.

So. There are five people of different nationalities who live in 5 different houses. Each house has its own color, different from the color of other houses. Each of these people smokes and prefers a certain type of cigarette. Each of these people has one pet. Each of these people drinks their favorite type of drink. Here is what is generally known about them.

• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• The Englishman lives in a red house.
• The green house is located to the left of the white one.
• The Dane drinks tea.
• Someone who smokes Rothmans lives next to someone who raises cats.
• The one who lives in the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
• The German smokes Marlboro.
• The neighbor of the one who smokes Rothmans drinks water.
• Anyone who smokes Pall Mall raises birds.
• The Swede raises dogs.
• Anyone who smokes Philip Morris drinks beer.
• They drink coffee in the green house.

Need to determine who raises fish?

It’s not easy to solve such a problem in your head, so here’s this small plate to help you, you can try to fill it out.

Puzzle Solution

Quick response.

German grows fish

Detailed answer. Expand BELOW TO VIEW.

Detailed answer

So, we have 25 positions that need to be filled with the following data:

• Nationality: Norwegian, English, Danish, German, Swedish.
• House color: Red, Green, White, Yellow, Blue.
• Cigarette brand: Rothmans, Dunhill, Marlborough, Pell Mell, Philip Morris.
• Animal: Cats, Birds, Dogs, Horses, Fish.
• Drink: Tea, Milk, Water, Beer, Coffee.

Basically, we need to fill out the following table:

From the hints, we immediately fill in a number of table cells:

• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• A Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
• The one who raises horses lives in a blue house.
• The one who lives in the center drinks milk.

Since an Englishman lives in a red house, it means that a Norwegian cannot live in a red house. Equally, a Norwegian cannot live in blue. He cannot live in a white one either, since the green house is to the left of the white one, and the Norwegian’s house is the leftmost one. He also cannot live in green, since there is a white house to the right of the green one, and a blue one to the right of the Norwegian. So he lives in yellow. Hence we conclude that the Norwegian smokes Dunhill.

Further, since the green house is located to the left of the white one, it means that its number is either 3 or 4. However, in the third, middle, house they drink milk, and in the green house they drink coffee - which means the number of the green house = 4. This means that we have a white house goes at number 5, and red goes at number 3. An Englishman lives here. They drink coffee in the 4th house.

Further, since a German smokes Marlboro, he does not smoke Philip Morris, and therefore does not drink beer. He also does not drink the milk that an Englishman drinks. He doesn’t drink tea either - the Dane does that. This means that a German drinks either water or coffee. A Norwegian cannot drink beer (he smokes other cigarettes), milk (he is not an Englishman), coffee (he does not live in a green house), tea (he is not a Dane). So the Norwegian drinks water, and then the German drinks coffee, and lives in a green house. Plus, don’t forget that the German smokes Marlboro. And since a Norwegian drinks our water, his neighbor (second home) smokes Rothmans.

Since a Swede raises dogs here, he cannot live in the second house (they raise horses there), which means he lives in the fifth house (white). So in the second house there lives a Dane who drinks tea.

The following version with the definition of the owner of the fish has become widespread on the Internet. I present this option because of my love for fish :). The logical structure is the same, the features have been renamed.

TASK.
On one street there are five houses in a row, each with a different color. Each one contains a person, all five are of different nationalities. Each person prefers a unique brand of cigarette, drink and pet. Besides:
(1) Norwegian lives in first home.
(2) Englishman lives in red home.
(3) Green the house is to the left of white, next to him.
(4) Dane drinks tea.
(5) Someone who smokes Marlboro, lives next to someone who grows cats.
(6) One who lives in yellow at home, smoking Dunhill.
(7) German smokes Rothmans.
(8) He who lives in the center, drinks milk.
(9) Neighbor of someone who smokes Marlboro, drinks water.
(10) Someone who smokes Pall Mall, grows birds.
(11) Swede grows dogs.
(12) Norwegian lives next to blue home.
(13) The one who grows horses, lives in blue home.
(14) The one who smokes Winfield, drinks beer.
(15) V green drinking at home coffee.

QUESTION:
Who breeds fish?

PROGRESS OF THINKING:

According to the condition, the Norwegian lives in the first house (1). From (12) it follows that the second house is blue.
What color is the first house? It cannot be either green or white, because houses of these two colors must be located next to each other (3). It cannot be red either, because an Englishman lives in a red house (2). So, the first house is yellow.
Therefore, in the first house they smoke Dunhill (6), and in the second house they keep a horse (13).

What does the Norwegian (who lives in the first, yellow house and smokes Dunhill) drink? This is not tea, because the Dane drinks tea (4). And not coffee, because they drink coffee in a green house (15). And not the milk that is drunk in the third house (8). And not beer, because the person who drinks beer smokes Winfield (14).
Accordingly, the Norwegian drinks water.

From (9) it follows that the person living in the second, blue house smokes Marlboro.
What nationality is the person who lives in the second, blue house, prefers Marlboro and owns a horse? This is not a Norwegian - he is in the first house (1). Not an Englishman - he is in the red house (2). Not a Swede - a Swede has a dog (11). Not a German - he smokes Rothmans (7).
This means that a Dane lives in the second house and, as follows from (4), drinks tea.

The green house cannot be the third, because they drink coffee in it, not milk (15). The green house cannot be the fifth house because there is a house (3) to the right of it. Therefore, the green house is the fourth. This means that the white house is the fifth, and the red house is the third, and an Englishman lives in it (2). They drink coffee in the green house, and only beer remains for the white house. From (14) it follows that Winfield is smoked in the white house.

Where does the German who smokes Rothmans live (7)? He can only live in the fourth, green house. This means that a person who smokes Pall Mall and raises birds can only live in the third, red house - he is an Englishman.

Then the Swede, who has a dog (11), is left with the fifth house. According to condition (5), the cat lives in the first or third house, but in the third house there are birds, which means the cat is in the first house.

ANSWER:
A GERMAN KEEPS A FISH.

Einstein's riddle is a famous logical problem, the authorship of which is attributed to Albert Einstein.

It is believed that this puzzle was created by Albert Einstein during his childhood. There is also an opinion that it was used by Einstein to test candidate assistants for logical thinking ability.

Some attribute to Einstein a reasoning in which he claims that only two percent of the world's population is able to mentally operate with patterns associated with five signs at once. As a particular consequence of this, the above puzzle can be solved without the use of paper only by those who belong to these two percent. However, there is no documented evidence that Einstein ever made such a claim.

In its most difficult version, the problem involves solving it in your head, without using any notes or means of storing information. Without these restrictions, the puzzle noticeably loses in complexity, since it can be solved by simply drawing up a table with the elimination of obviously contradictory options - and therefore says little about the abilities of the subject.

There are many various options conditions of the problem. In some of them, the riddle question sounds like “Who breeds fish?”, in others the unknown animal is a zebra. The nationalities of the five people mentioned also change. Here is the first known published version of the puzzle, which appeared in Life International magazine in the December 17, 1962 issue. The issue of March 25, 1963 contained the solution listed below and a list of several hundred names of readers who correctly solved the problem.

Problem text

On one side of the street there are five houses in a row, each with a different color. Each one contains a person, all five are of different nationalities. Each person prefers a unique brand of cigarette, drink and pet. Besides:
An Englishman lives in a red house.
The Swede is holding a dog.
They drink coffee in the green house.
The Dane prefers tea.
The green house is next door to the left of the white one.
The Pall Mall smoker raises birds.
In the yellow house they smoke Dunhill.
They drink milk in the house in the middle.
The Norwegian lives in the first house.
A person who smokes Marlboro lives next to the cat's owner.
The house where Dunhill is smoked is next to where the horse is kept.
A Winfield lover drinks beer.
The German smokes Rothmans.
A Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
Someone who smokes Marlboro lives next to someone who drinks water.

Question:
U who does the fish live for? ?

Solution option: Let's start with application symbols: nationality: House color: Cigarettes Drinks: Animal A - English a - red 1 - PallMall I - tea % - dog B - Swede b - green 2 - Dunhill II - coffee + - bird B - Dane c - yellow 3 - Marlboro III - milk No. - cat G - Norwegian d - white 4 - Winfield IV - beer - - horse D - German e - blue 5 - Rothmans V - water = - fish

And make a table :

Nationality:I I I I I I

House color: I I I I I I

What he smokes: I I I I I I

What he drinks: I I I I I I

Animal: I I I I I I

And based on the condition, we fill out the matrix:
1."A" in the same column as "a"
2."B" in the same column as "%"
3."b" in the same column as "II"
4."B" in the same column as "I".
5."b" adjacent to the left of the column with "d"
6.1" in the same column with "+"
7."c" in the same column as "2"
8."III" in third column
9"G" in the first column
10."3" in the adjacent column with "No."
11.2" in the adjacent column with "-"
12.4" in the same column as "IV"
13."D" in the same column as "5"
14. "Г" in the adjacent column with "e"
15.3" in adjacent column with "V"

Solution

Attention! Below is the solution.

Progress of the decision

Below is the solution.

STEP 1

According to the condition, the Norwegian lives in the first house (9). From (14) it follows that the second house is blue.

What color is the first house? It can't be green or white because it's at home? these two colors should be located next to each other (5). It cannot be red either, because an Englishman lives in a red house (1). So, the first house is yellow.

Consequently, in the first house they smoke “Dankhel” (7), and in the second house they keep a horse (11).

What does the Norwegian drink (who lives in the first, yellow house and smokes Danhel)? This is not tea, because the Dane drinks tea (4). And not coffee, because they drink coffee in a green house (3). And not the milk that is drunk in the third house (8). And not beer, because the person who drinks beer smokes Winfield (12). Therefore, a Norwegian drinks water.

STEP 2

From (15) it follows that the person living in the second, blue, house smokes Marlboro.

What nationality is the person who lives in the second, blue, house, prefers Marlboro and owns a horse? This is not a Norwegian - he is in the first house (9). Not an Englishman - he is in the red house (1). Not a Swede - a Swede has a dog (2). Not a German - a German smokes Rothmans (13). This means that a Dane lives in the second house and, as follows from (4), drinks tea.

STEP 3

The green house cannot be the third because they drink coffee, not milk (3). The green house cannot be the fifth house because there is a house (5) to the right of it. Therefore, the green house is the fourth. This means that the white house is the fifth, and the red house is the third, and an Englishman lives in it (1). In the green house they drink coffee, and for the white house there is only beer. From (12) it follows that they smoke Winfield in the white house.

STEP 4

Where does the German who smokes Rothmans live (13)? He can only live in the fourth, green house. This means that a person who smokes Pal Mal and raises birds can only live in the third, red house - this is an Englishman.

Then the Swede, who has a dog (2), is left with the fifth house. According to condition (10), a cat lives in the first or third house, but birds live in the third house, which means the cat is in the first house.

Therefore, the fish is kept German.

Answer

Of course, this solution assumes that the animal missing in the conditions of the problem is the desired fish. In addition, it is assumed that the first house is on the left. However, this is not stated directly in the terms and conditions. Many therefore argue that the only correct answer is “there is not enough data in the problem,” since we cannot be sure that fish, for example, even live in at least one of these houses. However, this judgment is often used to “cover up” one’s failure to solve a problem.

Amendment

If we assume that the first house is on the right, and a Norwegian lives in it (according to the conditions of the problem), then the first one on the left is green, and next to it is white, then red and blue. The difference between the first option for solving the problem is the arrangement of houses by color (and the condition does not say anything about this). As a result, the solution to the problem is the same as in the first option - the German breeds the fish, drinks the coffee, and smokes the Rothmans.

And there is also another method of solving the problem: take a sheet of paper, place the easiest options in columns, and write the rest in each column (the column is the house number) where this or that could be (the colors are already arranged, which means animals, cigarettes, nationality, drink).... when you write everything down, then by the method of elimination! The solution may be more complicated. but effective and correct! For example, in the column where the Norwegian is, there will be only water and a cat, there will be no other options, so in other columns we cross out this animal and drink, everything else is by elimination.. GOOD LUCK!