All-Star Puzzles
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Riding the Mini-Merry-Go-Round
The Zoolander children take a ride on the wild (for them, anyway) side.
February 28, 2005
From the introduction, the Mall Mini-Merry-Go-Round has six animals, one each at 12:00, 10:00, 8:00, 6:00, 4:00, and 2:00, so that the one at 12:00 is directly opposite the 6:00 one, etc.; the horses travel in a counterclockwise direction. By clue 5, the animal Jeff rode immediately follows the elephant and immediately precedes the red one; We will arbitrarily place Jeff at 12:00, the elephant at 10:00, and the red wooden animal at 2:00. By clue 7, the animal Faith rode immediately precedes the dolphin. So, combining clues 5 and 7, either 1) Faith rode the animal at 10:00 with the dolphin at 12:00, Faith rode the animal at 6:00 with the dolphin at 8:00, 3) Faith rode the animal at 4:00 with the dolphin at 6:00, or 4) Faith rode the red animal at 2:00 with the dolphin at 4:00. Trying possibility 1), Heather would have ridden the animal at 4:00 with the elephant then blue (clue 2). By clue 8, Courtney would have been on the animal at 6:00, with the dolphin ridden by Jeff then white. Then by clue 3, Ian would have been on the animal at 8:00, with Courtney on the Zebra--no (11). So, possibility 1) cannot work. Trying possibility 2), by clue 2, Heather would have ridden the elephant at 10:00 or the animal at 4:00. If Heather had ridden the elephant and the animal at 4:00 were blue (2), by clue 8, Courtney would have been on the blue animal, with the elephant being white. Jeff's mount would be purple (7), and the dolphin would be green (4). However, clue 9 cannot work given this arrangement. If Heather had ridden the animal at 4:00 with the elephant then blue (2), Courtney would have ridden the elephant and Heather the white mount (8). By clue 7, Jeff's ride would have been purple, with the dolphin then green (4). However, clue 9 also cannot work given this arrangement. Therefore, possibility 2) cannot work. Trying possibility 4), by clue 2, Heather would have been on the animal at 6:00 or the dolphin at 4:00. If Heather had been on the animal at 6:00, Jeff would have been on the blue one (2). Since the three boys weren't on consecutive animals (1), the three girls can't have been on consecutive animals, and Courtney then wouldn't have been on the dolphin; by clue 8, she would have ridden the elephant, with the dolphin then white. By clue 9, Greg would have had the mount at 8:00, with Heather's being green. Ian would have ridden the white dolphin--no (3). If Heather had ridden the dolphin at 4:00, the elephant would be blue (2). Since by clue 1 Courtney wouldn't have been at 6:00, by clue 8, Courtney would have ridden the blue elephant with the dolphin being white. By clue 9, Greg would have ridden the mount at 8:00, with the green one at 6:00--ridden by Ian. However, clue 3 cannot work given this arrangement. Therefore, possibility 4) also fails and we have possibility 3) left: the dolphin is at 6:00 and Faith rode the animal at 4:00. By clue 8, Courtney rode the dolphin or the elephant. If Courtney had ridden the dolphin, Jeff's mount would have been white (8). By clue 1, Heather would have ridden the elephant, with Faith's animal then blue (2). Greg would have been on the mount at 8:00, and the dolphin would be green (9). Ian would have ridden the red animal, with the zebra then the white one (3)--no (3). So, Courtney didn't ride the dolphin and rode the elephant. Faith was on the white animal (8). By clue 3, Ian was on the red animal and Jeff on the zebra. Greg rode the animal at 8:00, following the green dolphin (9) by elimination ridden by Heather. Jeff's zebra is blue (2). By clue 10, the elephant is black and Greg's mount purple. Greg wasn't on the tiger (9) or wolf (10) and was on the giraffe. Faith rode the wolf and Ian the tiger (6). In sum, the six Zoolander children rode the Mall Mini-Merry-Go-Round as follows (in counterclockwise order):

  • Jeff on the blue zebra
  • Courtney on the black elephant
  • Greg on the purple giraffe
  • Heather on the green dolphin
  • Faith on the white wolf
  • Ian on the red tiger

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