All-Star Puzzles
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Jigsaw Dad
Dad gets 5,000 pieces of jigsaw puzzle pleasure for his birthday.
May 24, 2004
From the introduction, no two children gave Dad puzzles with the same number of pieces, while the total number of pieces among the five jigsaws is 5,000. By clue 5, the most number of pieces in a puzzle is 1,500 and the fewest is 500. Four of the five are mentioned in clue 1: Alex's puzzle has 500 more pieces than Tulips, while Stacy's puzzle has 500 more than Cathedral. If Alex's puzzle were the 1,500-piece one, then Cathedral couldn't be the 500-piece jigsaw, or both Stacy's gift and Tulips would have 1,000 pieces. Similarly, if Stacy's jigsaw had 1,500 pieces, Tulips couldn't be the 500-piece puzzle, or both Alex's and Cathedral would have 1,000 pieces. Therefore, the four puzzles in clue 1 must either be the four with the most pieces or must be the four with the fewest pieces. Trying the latter case, if Tulips were the jigsaw with 500 pieces and Alex's gift then had 1,000 (clue 1), adding them to the 1,500-piece puzzle would total 3,000, so that in clue 1 Cathedral's X pieces and Stacy's puzzle's X + 500 would give 2X + 500 = 2,000, or X = 750. Cathedral would have 750 pieces and Stacy's puzzle 1,250. However, there is then no way for clue 3 to work. If Cathedral were the jigsaw with 500 pieces and Stacy's gift then had 1,000 (clue 1), adding them to the 1,500-piece puzzle would total 3,000, so that in clue 1 Tulips' X pieces and Alex's puzzle's X + 500 would give 2X + 500 = 2,000, or X = 750. Tulips would have 750 pieces and Alex's puzzle 1,250. Again, however, there is then no way for clue 3 to work. So, the four puzzles in clue 1 have the most pieces, with either Alex's or Stacy's gift having 1,500. If Stacy's jigsaw had 1,500 pieces and Cathedral then 1,000 (1), adding them to the 500 pieces of the puzzle with the fewest pieces would give 3,000 total, so that in clue 1, Tulips' X pieces and Alex's puzzle's X + 500 would give 2X + 500 = 2,000, or X = 750. Tulips would have 750 pieces and Alex's puzzle 1,250. Ian would have given Dad Tulips, and Jawbreakers would be the 500-piece puzzle (3). By clue 2, Alex's gift would have been Zebras and Stacy's thus Money--no (4). So, Alex bought the 1,500-piece puzzle, with Tulips then having 1,000 pieces (1). Adding them to the 500 pieces of the puzzle with the fewest pieces would give 3,000 total, so that in clue 1, Cathedral's X pieces and Stacy's puzzle's X + 500 would give 2X + 500 = 2,000, or X = 750. Cathedral would have 750 pieces and Stacy's puzzle 1,250. Ian would have given Dad Cathedral, and Jawbreakers would be the 500-piece puzzle (3). By clue 2, Stacy presented her father with Zebras and David with Tulips. Finishing up, Alex's gift is the Money jigsaw and Cerise's is Jawbreakers. In sum, the five Locke children gave their jigsaw-loving Dad gifts as follows:

  • Alex, Money, 1,500 pieces
  • Stacy, Zebras, 1,250 pieces
  • David, Tulips, 1,000 pieces
  • Ian, Cathedral, 750 pieces
  • Cerise, Jawbreakers, 500 pieces

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