Brain Teasers
The Case of the Reindeer Spies
Logic-Grid
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Professor Stanwick, the crime expert, gets consulted by police and the federal government on a regular basis to get help in solving crimes. Today he finds Inspector Stevens, from the FBI, at his door asking for help with yet another case.
"What can I assist the FBI with today?" Professor Stanwick asked.
Sitting in an easy chair, Inspector Stevens replied, "The facts are these. As a result of the national effort to crack down on domestic spies, the Bureau has uncovered a ring of five spies in the local area who have started selling defense industry secrets to the Chinese consulate in New York. The five individuals have been identified, and we are intercepting their calls and messages. We believe they may be able to lead us to several similar rings in the Midwest, so we are monitoring their calls a while longer to help us identify the other rings. The problem is, that they are using code names, and we need to match the individuals with the code names before we can completely understand the messages."
Professor Stanwick picked up a pad of paper and asked, "What do you have so far?"
Opening a notebook, the Inspector said, "The code names are those of well-known reindeer: Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, and Donder. We are certain that these names correspond in some order to the members of the group, all of whom live in this area.
Sal Abelardo is a civil engineer for Spacetech. His wife works for a publishing company and apparently knows nothing of his espionage activities. Peter Bircham works as a janitor for the same firm; he is single. John Cantrell is a junior executive with Aeroco. He and his wife share a condo downtown with his sister. Tim Delmarin, unmarried, is a communications expert with the same firm. The fifth member is Telly Ephesos, a retired Foreign Service Officer who spent twenty years in China. He is married and has no siblings.
From the messages already sent, and our own investigations, we've been able to glean only a few facts.
1. Cantrell and 'Dasher' and their wives sometimes take vacations together.
2. 'Cupid' is highly dissatisfied with his job.
3. Mrs. Abelardo regularly corresponds with 'Mrs. Donder'.
4. Neither 'Comet' nor 'Dasher' have ever been outside the state.
5. Mrs. Abelardo was once engaged to the brother of 'Donder'.
6. Bircham makes monthly trips to Mexico City.
I can't impress upon you enough, Professor Stanwick, the importance of identifying these code names. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated."
Professor Stanwick, having been scribbling on his pad of paper, tossed it to Stevens saying, "Here are the code names and their possessors. Happy hunting!"
Which code name goes with which person?
"What can I assist the FBI with today?" Professor Stanwick asked.
Sitting in an easy chair, Inspector Stevens replied, "The facts are these. As a result of the national effort to crack down on domestic spies, the Bureau has uncovered a ring of five spies in the local area who have started selling defense industry secrets to the Chinese consulate in New York. The five individuals have been identified, and we are intercepting their calls and messages. We believe they may be able to lead us to several similar rings in the Midwest, so we are monitoring their calls a while longer to help us identify the other rings. The problem is, that they are using code names, and we need to match the individuals with the code names before we can completely understand the messages."
Professor Stanwick picked up a pad of paper and asked, "What do you have so far?"
Opening a notebook, the Inspector said, "The code names are those of well-known reindeer: Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, and Donder. We are certain that these names correspond in some order to the members of the group, all of whom live in this area.
Sal Abelardo is a civil engineer for Spacetech. His wife works for a publishing company and apparently knows nothing of his espionage activities. Peter Bircham works as a janitor for the same firm; he is single. John Cantrell is a junior executive with Aeroco. He and his wife share a condo downtown with his sister. Tim Delmarin, unmarried, is a communications expert with the same firm. The fifth member is Telly Ephesos, a retired Foreign Service Officer who spent twenty years in China. He is married and has no siblings.
From the messages already sent, and our own investigations, we've been able to glean only a few facts.
1. Cantrell and 'Dasher' and their wives sometimes take vacations together.
2. 'Cupid' is highly dissatisfied with his job.
3. Mrs. Abelardo regularly corresponds with 'Mrs. Donder'.
4. Neither 'Comet' nor 'Dasher' have ever been outside the state.
5. Mrs. Abelardo was once engaged to the brother of 'Donder'.
6. Bircham makes monthly trips to Mexico City.
I can't impress upon you enough, Professor Stanwick, the importance of identifying these code names. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated."
Professor Stanwick, having been scribbling on his pad of paper, tossed it to Stevens saying, "Here are the code names and their possessors. Happy hunting!"
Which code name goes with which person?
Answer
Abelardo - DasherBircham - Cupid
Cantrell - Donder
Delmarin - Comet
Ephesos - Dancer
'Dasher' can't be Cantrell, who vacations with him, or Bircham or Delmarin, who are single. Since he has never left the state, he can't be Ephesos either. Therefore 'Dasher' is Abelardo. Similarly, 'Donder'; can't be the single Bircham or Delmarin. Since he has a brother, he can't be Ephesos. Therefore 'Donder' is Cantrell. The retired, worldly Ephesos cannot be the dissatisfied 'Cupid' or the provincial 'Comet', so he is 'Dancer', and the well-traveled Birchman cannot be 'Comet', so he is 'Cupid'. That leave Delmarin as 'Comet.'
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Comments
Pretty Cool!
I like this one, even though it's pretty easy. Incorporating the text makes it more fun.
i really enjoyed this one. Unlike a lot of others, you can do it in you head, and since I don't like using the grid solver this was great. Creative too.
Pretty good, but not a real trick to solve. Good work though!
That was awesome.
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My head hurts.
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My head hurts.
Great job! I loved the 'story' aspect of it. I would love to see more similar to it!
this one was alright..a bit easy..but the only thing that really bothered me was the fact that there is no reindeer named "Donder' it's definitely "Donner" and sorry..but I am extrememly OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and that just bugged me the whole time.
It is currently Donner, but if you check out WWW.Donder.Com, you will find it was originally Donder and was later changed to Donner.
Most assume that Moore meant Donner because that means "Thunder" in German. What most ignore is that Donder also means "Thunder" in Dutch. What almost nobody does is check the original publications! That's what the Post reporter did with the help of a Library of Congress librarian. Specifically, the 1844 collection of Moore's verses was consulted because Moore wrote the introduction to that volume; clearly putting his blessing on what was inside it. And, on page 125, the reporter found "Donder." Others have also referenced the 1844 volume as a definitive source but one also cites seeing a longhand version of the poem penned by Moore himself and the spelling in that version was also Donder.
Wow! Awesome! that was hard and yet! i love logic puzzles though, so i luv these thinggs! I got it though! I was so proud! Thanx for the history lesson there, fishmed!
well done! great teaser and great story!
Well done! Liked the story aspect and that for a teaser with such a small grid it still took some thought.
I enjoyed this one, although it was pretty easy. While the original name may have been "donder," and it is an interesting story, I would argue that disqualifies him from being a "well known reindeer."
I loved it Fish!!! Great teaser!
Good Puzzle, but I'm not sure that it belongs in the Logic Grid section, though, with no real grid so to speak
The story was too much! Nice plot though! Keep it up!
I don't mind the differences between Donner and Donder, since I understand both languages (German and Dutch). Obviously some folks care more than others! Nice teaser. Probably threw a lot of folks when only the one square of the grid was used. Threw me initially - thought there was an error - untll I read it through. Thanks!
great teaser! I liked the story aspect, and the way the info you need is worked into the story and not just the clues. Good job!
difficult but fun!! Loved the story line!
lil hard i tried twice and didnt get it
Very creative and challenging! Good job!
mrs comet and mrs cupid are cool
Very good and creative ... but very, very hard. The grid is useless. I tried twice, and got nowhere fast. I read the solution, then tried again on my own -- still didn't get it. After a second read and another attempt, I finally got it -- but not through any great wisdom on my part. It was a very good puzzle, but I failed.
Sorry the grid did not help. I tried to figure out the best way to make it work, but could not, so put up what I could. It is more of a logic puzzle, not a grid puzzle.
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