Mordecai's Journal

The Society of American Magicians Northern Connecticut Assembly #21 Newsletter for March 2008   page two of three

This is based on a logic puzzle that’s over 40 years old.  I shamelessly swiped it and tweaked it to fit our strange little hobby.  The object is to use logic and a great deal of persistence to answer the two questions at the end.  A grid has been included to help in your quest.

1. There are five houses, each of a different color and inhabited by magicians with different specialties, with different pets, favorite sleights, and signed original posters.
2. The trade-show worker lives in the red house.
3. The illusionist owns the duck.
4. The Down’s Change is favored in the green house.
5. The close-up worker favors the French Drop.
6. The green house is immediately to the right, as seen from the street, of the white house.
7. The Houdini poster is in the house with the macaw.
8. The Thurston poster is in the yellow house.
9. The Charlier Shuffle is favored in the middle house.
10. The mentalist lives in the first house on the left.
11. The magician with the Carter The Great poster lives in the house next to the magician with doves.
12. The Thurston poster is in the house next to the house where the rabbit is kept.
13. The Danté poster owner favors the Elmsley Count.
14. The escapologist owns a poster of Kellar.
15. The mentalist lives next to the blue house.

Now, who favors the Tenkai palm?  And who owns the tiger...cat?

The Answer:

(for a complete explanation of the logic involved, buy me a glass of wine at the next meeting!)

Color	Yellow	Blue	Red	White	Green
Specialty	Mentalist	Close-up worker	Trade-show worker	Illusionist	Escapologist
Pet	Doves	Rabbit	Macaw	Duck	Tiger Cat
Sleight	Tenkai Palm	French Drop	Charlier Shuffle	Elmsley Count	Down's Change
Poster	Thurston	Carter The Great	Houdini	Danté	Kellar