Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Olympic Games (Outliers of Hyperborea Part IV)

It is not commonly known that the original Olympic Games occurred not in Olympia, Greece, but in Hyperborea. Three Hyperborean Olympic athletes are discussing the results of the recent competition. Inhabitants of Hyperborea belong to three groups: Sororeans, Nororeans and Midroreans. There are also those few Outliers.

Their groups are unknown except that exactly one of the athletes is an Outlier.
    1. I was the winner of the one-half league run.
    2. You can count on what C says to be truthful.
    3. I am not a Midrorean.
    1. A did not win the one-half league run.
    2. I entered three events.
    3. C is the Outlier.
    1. I am not the Outlier.
    2. B's second statement is truthful.
    3. A did not win the one-half league run.
What are the groups of the three athletes?
(Source: Challenging False Logic Puzzles by Norman D. Willis)

This one actually unraveled for me pretty quickly.

If A is a Sororean then you can take him at his word that what C says is truthful, i.e., that C is also a Sororean. However this cannot be the case because A1 and C3 contradict.

A might be a Midrorean and in this case the order must be FTF and C is still a Sororean, still leaving B to be the Outlier. B's statements are, respectively, true, either true or false, and false. Whether B's claim that he entered three events is true or not is immaterial for the purposes of solving the puzzle; either a true or false assignment can leave him an Outlier.

Final answer: A is a Midrorean, B is the Outlier and C is Sororean.

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