Question

Puzzle #4

Five friends each wrote a letter to Santa Claus, pleading for certain presents. What is the full

name of each letter-writer and how many presents did he or she ask for? Kids’ names: Danny,

Joelle, Leslie, Sylvia, and Yvonne. Last names: Croft, Dean, Mason, Palmer, and Willis. Number

of presents requested: 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.

Clues:

1. Danny asked for one fewer present that the number on Yvonne’s list.

2. The child surnamed Dean asked for one more present than the number on the list written by

the child surnamed Palmer.

3. Sylvia’s list featured the fewest presents, and the letter written by the child surnamed Willis

featured the highest quantity.

4. Joelle asked for one fewer present than the number specified in the Croft child’s letter.

Make your grid to solve:

Croft

Dean Mason Palmer Willis

5

6

8

9

10

Danny

Joelle

Leslie

Sylvia

Yvonee

5 presents

6 presents

8 presents

9 presents

10 presents

Your final answers to puzzle 4:

Answer 1

Answer:

Given that,

Five friends each wrote a letter to Santa Claus, pleading for certain presents.

What is the full name of each letter-writer and how many presents did he or she ask for? Kids’ names:

Danny, Joelle, Leslie, Sylvia, and Yvonne. Last names: Croft, Dean, Mason, Palmer, and Willis.

The number of presents requested: 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.

Given,

Clues:

1. Danny asked for one fewer present that the number on Yvonne’s list.

2. The child surnamed Dean asked for one more present than the number on the list written by the child surnamed Palmer.

3. Sylvia’s list featured the fewest presents, and the letter written by the child surnamed Willis featured the highest quantity.

4. Joelle asked for one fewer present than the number specified in the Croft child’s letter.

Solution:

Because Sylvia’s list featured the fewest presents, and the letter written by the child surnamed Willis featured the highest quantity, (Clue 3) We can say that :

Number of presents Requested the First Name Last Name

5 Sylvia

6

8

9

10 Willis

Now, we know that Joelle asked for one fewer present than the number specified in the Croft child’s letter. (Clue 4)

Let Croft's child's number of presents be 5, Not possible as then Joelle's letter has 4 presents.

Let Croft's child's number of presents be 6, Not possible as then Joelle's letter has 5 presents. (intersection with Sylvia)

Let Croft's child's number of presents be 8, not possible as then Joelle's letter has 7 presents. (7 is not on any list)

Let Croft's child's number of presents be 9, possible as then Joelle's letter has 8 presents.

Let Croft child's number of presents be 10, Not possible as then croft and Willis child are on the same row.

Hence, the new table is:

Number of presents Requested the First Name Last Name

5 Sylvia

6

8 Joelle

9 Croft

10 Willis

Now, we know that Danny asked for one fewer present that the number on Yvonne’s list.

Let D be the number of presents on Danny's List, And Y be the number of presents on Yvonne's List

Hence, D + 1 = Y , in the above list D = 9 .

Hence, a new table is:

Number of presents Requested the First Name Last Name

5 Sylvia

6

8 Joelle

9 Danny Croft

10 Yvonne Willis

Now only 1 first name is left, Leslie.

Hence Leslie has 6 presents.

Also, because The child surnamed Dean asked for one more present than the number on the list written by the child surnamed Palmer(Clue 2)

Hence only 1 possibility exists:

Child surnamed Palmer has asked 5 presents. Applying these, we get a new table

Number of presents Requested the First Name Last Name

5 Sylvia Palmer

6 Leslie Dean

8 Joelle

9 Danny Croft

10 Yvonne Willis

Now only 1 surname is left, that is, Mason. We fill it:

Number of presents Requested the First Name Last Name

5 Sylvia Palmer

6 Leslie Dean

8 Joelle Mason

9 Danny Croft

10 Yvonne Willis