Solving the ‘Einstein” puzzle
Carol Mullen
MST Summer Program 2006
Daemen College
The puzzle has been sent by
email and has appeared on several
websites. Einstein is said to have
stated that only 2% of the
population could solve it. Of that
group, only 1% would be able to
solve it within one hour.
The Einstein Puzzle
There are no tricks, just pure logic.
1. In a street,there are 5 houses painted 5
different colors.
2. In each house lives a person of different
nationality.
3.These 5 homeowners each drink a different
kind of beverage, smoke a different brand of cigar,
and keep a different pet.
The question is: "Who owns the fish?"
Hints:
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is next to and on the left of the white house.
5. The green house's owner 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 the horse lives next to the man who smokes
Dunhill.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
In order to solve the puzzle I had to make some
assumptions:
1. The owner is the resident of each house.
2. One of the residents owns the fish.
3. The term neighbor in the last hint refers only
to a directly adjacent neighbor.
4. The houses are on the same side of the street.
5. They are next to each other, and are ordered
from left to right as you face them rather than
standing in front of a house facing the street
(i.e. facing the same direction as the house).
Puzzle Components
Brit
Swede
Dane
Norwegian
German
Red
Green
White
Yellow
Blue
Water
Coffee
Tea
Milk
Beer
Pall Mall
Blends
Prince
Dunhill
Bluemasters
Bird
Dog
Cat
Horse
Fish
ORDER
NATIONALITY
COLOR
BEVERAGE
CIGAR
PET
1
2
3
4
5
There are two straight forward or
unambiguous hints.
#8. The resident of the center house drinks milk.
#9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
Once we put the Norwegian in the first house,
Hint #14 leads us to conclude that House #2 is blue. (It
is the only house next to the Norwegian.)
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
2
3
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Blue
COLOR
BEVERAGE
(hint #14)
Milk
(hint #8)
CIGAR
PET
4
5
Hints 4 and 5 indicate the following:
•
•
•
•
•
Coffee is the
beverage in the
green house, which is
next to and on the left
of the white house.
Green
Coffee
White
• The coffee-greenwhite ‘combo’ can
only be placed with
the coffee and green
house at house #4.The
green house cannot be
first because it would
be left of the blue, not
the white. The second
house has been
established as blue, so
cannot be green.
The center house
has been established as
where milk is the
beverage, so it cannot
be for the coffee
drinker in the green
house.
The combo is only
accommodated in house
4 and 5. House 4 is
green with the coffee
drinker (hint 5). House
5 is white(hint 4).
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
2
3
BEVERAGE
Green White
(hint #14)
Milk
(hint #8)
CIGAR
PET
5
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Blue
COLOR
4
Coffee
The Brit lives in the red house, so
the Brit cannot live in 2, 4, or 5 because
they are not red. The Brit cannot live in 1
because it is occupied by the Norwegian.
Therefore, the Brit must live in #3, which
must be red.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
2
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
BEVERAGE
PET
5
Red
green white
Milk
coffee
(hint #14)
(hint #8)
CIGAR
4
Brit
Blue
COLOR
3
House #1 must be yellow, by default. (It is the
only house left and yellow is the only color not yet
assigned.)
The cigar in house #1 is Dunhill (hint #7).
Hint #11 tells us that the horses are next to the man
who smokes Dunhill, so they are next to house #1
and must be house #2
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
2
3
5
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
Yellow Blue
Red
green white
Milk
coffee
(hint #14)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
(hint #8)
Dunhill
CIGAR
Horses
PET
4
The person in the first house has to drink water.
(Milk is in the center--hint 9;
green house drinks coffee--hint 5;
Dane drinks tea--hint 3, so tea is not the beverage for the
Norwegian who lives in the first house--hint 9; and
the one who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer--hint 12-however the owner of the yellow house, the first house
smokes Dunhill).
With milk, coffee, tea and beer contraindicated for house 1,
the beverage in house 1 must be water.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
4
5
Brit
Yellow Blue
Red
green white
Milk
coffee
(hint #14)
water
(hint #8)
Dunhill
CIGAR
Horses
PET
3
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
With the water in house 1, the Blends must be in
house 2.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
4
5
Brit
Yellow Blue
Red
green white
Milk
coffee
(hint #14)
water
(hint #8)
Dunhill Blends
CIGAR
Horses
PET
3
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
Now, the only house with no beverage
and no cigar is house 5, so the beer and
the Bluemasters are in house 5.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
4
5
white
Brit
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
(hint #14)
water
(hint #8)
Dunhill Blends
CIGAR
Horses
PET
3
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
Bluemaster
s
The only house with no beverage, is
house 2, so the beverage in house 2 must be tea
(it’s the only beverage left) and the Dane must
live in House 2 (hint #3).
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
4
5
white
Brit
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
(hint #14)
water
tea
Dunhill Blends
CIGAR
Horses
PET
3
Dane
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
(hint #8)
Bluemaster
s
The German smokes Prince (hint 13).
House 4 is the only one left that needs a
nationality and a cigar. So, the German
smokes Prince in house 4.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
4
5
Brit
German
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
white
(hint #14)
water
tea
Dunhill Blends
CIGAR
Horses
PET
3
Dane
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
(hint #8)
Prince
Bluemaster
s
That leaves the Swede to live in house 5
with his dog (hint 2).
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
3
4
5
Dane
Brit
German Swede
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
white
(hint #14)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
water
tea
Dunhill Blends
(hint #8)
Prince
Bluemaster
s
CIGAR
Horses
PET
Dog
There is only one spot left for cigars so Pall Mall are
in House 3.
Hint 6 tells us that Pall Mall rears birds, so the birds
are also in House 3.
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
CIGAR
3
5
Brit
German Swede
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
white
(hint #14)
water
tea
(hint #8)
Dunhill Blends Pall
Mall
Horses Birds
PET
4
Dane
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
Prince
Bluemaster
s
Dog
The cat must be next to the blends, so it is
in House 1.
This leaves the fish a place only with German!
ORDER
NATIONALITY
1
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
CIGAR
PET
3
4
5
Dane
Brit
German Swede
Yellow Blue
Red
green
Milk
coffee beer
white
(hint #14)
COLOR
BEVERAGE
2
water
tea
(hint #8)
Dunhill Blends Pall
Mall
Prince
Bluemaster
s
Cat
Fish
Dog
Horses Birds