Math Stinger # 131
Solution
Allen said "Bosco and
Chase",
Bosco said "Allen and Chase".
Chase said "Donald and Freddy",
Donald said "Chase and Eddie".
Freddy said "Donald and Eddie".
Four of the boys correctly named one thief, and each of these four had
also slandered another boy. One of the boys just plain lied.
Who has been stealing cars?
Let the boys be the vertices, and let the edges be the
determined by the boys that are paired together by an accuser.
Consider how many vertices are thieves, and how many edges these
vertices must have in total.
We need to have 2 vertices
that are not joined by an edge but that have
a total of 4 edges among them. Only C and F fit the bill, so Chase and
Freddy are the thieves.
Correct solutions were sent by
Tony Panzarella,
Ellen
Ryan, Bobby Simmons,
Mary McShane Vaughn, Leon Eskenazi,
Jon Bolen,
Thomas Prier Callier, IV,
Eli Zuckerman, and Leslie Epperson