1. Solving the ‘Einstein” puzzle
Carol Mullen
MST Summer Program 2006
Daemen College

2. The puzzle has been sent by email and has appeared on several websites
The puzzle has been sent by 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.

3. 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?"

4. 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.

5. 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).

6. Puzzle Components Brit Swede Dane German Red Green White Yellow Blue
Norwegian
German
Red
Green
White
Yellow
Blue
Water
Coffee
Tea
Milk
Beer
Pall Mall
Blends
Prince
Dunhill
Bluemasters
Bird
Dog
Cat
Horse
Fish

7. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5
NATIONALITY
COLOR
BEVERAGE
CIGAR
PET

8. 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.)

9. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 COLOR Blue CIGAR PET BEVERAGE Milk NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
COLOR
Blue
(hint #14)
BEVERAGE
Milk
(hint #8)
CIGAR
PET

10. 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
White
Coffee

11. 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 coffee-green-white ‘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 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).

12. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 COLOR Blue Green White Coffee CIGAR PET BEVERAGE Milk
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
COLOR
Blue
(hint #14)
Green
White
BEVERAGE
Milk
(hint #8)
Coffee
CIGAR
PET

13. 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.

14. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Brit COLOR Blue Red green white coffee CIGAR PET
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
COLOR
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
CIGAR
PET

15. House #1 must be yellow, by default
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

16. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white coffee CIGAR
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
CIGAR
Dunhill
PET
Horses

17. 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.

18. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white water coffee
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
CIGAR
Dunhill
PET
Horses

19. With the water in house 1, the Blends must be in house 2.

20. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white water coffee
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
PET
Horses

21. Now, the only house with no beverage and no cigar is house 5, so the beer and the Bluemasters are in house 5.

22. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white water coffee
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Brit
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Bluemasters
PET
Horses

23. 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).

24. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Dane Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white water tea
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Dane
Brit
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
tea
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Bluemasters
PET
Horses

25. The German smokes Prince (hint 13)
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.

26. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Dane Brit COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white water tea
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Dane
Brit
German
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
tea
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Prince
Bluemasters
PET
Horses

27. That leaves the Swede to live in house 5 with his dog (hint 2).

28. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Dane Brit Swede COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Dane
Brit
German
Swede
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
tea
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Prince
Bluemasters
PET
Horses
Dog

29. 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.

30. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Dane Brit Swede COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Dane
Brit
German
Swede
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
tea
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Pall Mall
Prince
Bluemasters
PET
Horses
Birds
Dog

31. The cat must be next to the blends, so it is in House 1.
This leaves the fish a place only with German!

32. ORDER 1 2 3 4 5 Dane Brit Swede COLOR Yellow Blue Red green white
NATIONALITY
Norwegian
(Hint #9)
Dane
Brit
German
Swede
COLOR
Yellow
Blue
(hint #14)
Red
green
white
BEVERAGE
water
tea
Milk
(hint #8)
coffee
beer
CIGAR
Dunhill
Blends
Pall Mall
Prince
Bluemasters
PET
Cat
Horses
Birds
Fish
Dog