# Einstein's fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976 "2005-08-07T09:27:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/21 "2005-08-08T05:07:52Z")
These kinds of puzzles are quite interesting, but this one looks awfully familiar. The puzzles that have me hooked right now are the Sudoku puzzles. If you like this Einstein puzzle, give Sudoku a crack. They’re in a lot of papers nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/22 "2005-08-08T20:37:31Z")
> [@From the Website](#): > > Note IV: Stop entering and watch your inbox, we’re mailing the winners now. > [@From the email](#): > > Our randomly selected winners are: > Brian Christensen > Frank Somers > Mike Mueller Not me. No cookie today ☹ Anyone here? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/23 "2005-08-08T20:40:38Z")
Ah cool, it ended. Well here are my answers: 1 Norwegian Yellow cats Water Dunhills 2 Dane Blue Horses tea Blends 3 Brit Red birds Milk pall malls 4 German Green fish Coffee Princes 5 Swede White dogs beer Bluemasters ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/24 "2005-08-08T20:44:20Z")
**Sage Rat:** Agreed, 100%! 😃 Now I wonder how many of the dopers are in the 2%? ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/25 "2005-08-08T22:39:55Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Honestly, it would have taken me longer to figure out how to properly use Excel to solve this sort of problem than it actually took me to just solve it on paper. I mean, I’m familiar with the basics of Excel, but just the basics. Same reason I didn’t use one of them newfangled logic rubrics. I was first taught those in elementary school, but it’s been so long since I used them that trying to construct one as complicated as one for this problem would have to be would have been more difficult and frustrating than the problem itself. You don’t use Excel to solve it, you just use it as the logic puzzle grid, just like you did on paper. For everyone who had a problem with visualizing the houses and had to make a separate diagram, I used house number as the leftmost section of the hozizontal part of the grid. That way, there was only one vertical column of house order, and you can easily see who is neighbors to whom at a glance. Same asnwes as everyone, took about an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/26 "2005-08-09T01:26:21Z")
I missed the deadline for the contest, but I had to solve it, cuz I love these things. I just finished working it out 3 minutes ago. Took me about 2 hours, including 20 minutes talking to **Mrs. Fresh** on the phone (She’s on a business trip out west.). I would have been lost without the logic grid and realizing that I could use Excel to make logic grids when up 'til now I’d been drawing them out by hand was truly a V-8 moment :smack: . Thanks, **Sage Rat**. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/27 "2005-08-09T01:30:41Z")
I was in a “gifted” (:rolleyes:\*\*) program in elementary school, and they made us do puzzles like this all the time, although they came with their own logic matrix. They drove me crazy. I hated them. I’d sit and class in work on them for hours, slowly losing my mind and watching the clock, waiting for class to end. Whenever I did get answers, they were usually wrong. It took me several minutes of working on this particular puzzle before I realized it was the _same type of puzzle_ as the ones back then. I got out excel and built my own matrix. After that, I took about an hour or two off and on to get the answers. Checking here I see that I got the answers right. I’m quite gratified to find out that I’m better at these hell-puzzles than I was in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/28 "2005-08-09T05:26:10Z")
I got the same answers as **SageRat** and **JustAnotherGeek**. Took me a little over an hour using a Quattro Pro spreadsheet so I could move stuff around and eliminate things. Nice to know I can still do these things. I used to love doing them. Somewhere I even have a book of logic puzzles like this; I’ll have to find it again. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/29 "2005-08-09T05:43:32Z")
[Here’s](http://fff.fathom.org/pages/loopus/matrix.JPG) the matrix I painstakingly made on Excel, by the way, modeled on the ones I remember from elementary school. I used checkmarks and X’s to translate the clues to the matrix; however, some clues (like _x_ is beside _y_) I couldn’t put in so I just laid them aside to use when I got more data through the logic matrix. I’m just wondering if other people used similar-looking matrices; I’m having a hard time visualizing other people’s methods from their descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/30 "2005-08-09T06:02:37Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > [Here’s](http://fff.fathom.org/pages/loopus/matrix.JPG) the matrix I painstakingly made on Excel, by the way, modeled on the ones I remember from elementary school. I used checkmarks and X’s to translate the clues to the matrix; however, some clues (like _x_ is beside _y_) I couldn’t put in so I just laid them aside to use when I got more data through the logic matrix. > > I’m just wondering if other people used similar-looking matrices; I’m having a hard time visualizing other people’s methods from their descriptions. Wow. No, I didn’t do anything nearly that elaborate. Mine looked like [this](http://pics.livejournal.com/alyxyn/pic/000077cs) (apologies if this isn’t too clear). Essentially, the stuff I knew for sure got a capital letter, the ones that were possibilities were lower case. The top section had (originally) the true definites (The Brit lived in the Red house, etc.) and all the possibilities for the other items. The bottom was where I worked out the house colour order. Once I had that, it was just a question of eliminating things. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/31 "2005-08-09T06:21:46Z")
I’m a pretty visual person, so I used excel. I had rows for the various attributes of the houses, and each column was a different house. Once I had a pretty good idea of where each colored house was, I put together the pairs of attributes I knew (Brit drinks milk, palls malls and birds, etc) and put them next to my graph in the positions of their rows, to form “puzzle pieces.” Then it was just a matter of putting my disjointed pieces together until they filled in the matrix puzzle. I wasn’t keeping track of when I started but it took me a little less than an hour, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/32 "2005-08-09T06:40:36Z")
It took me thirty-eight minutes to solve this with the doodle-and-paper method, and ten minutes from a false start since I was (typically) overthinking the “green house is on the left of the white house” part. (I’d drawn five boxes in a row representing houses and I actually questioned whether it was “my” left or – from the POV of the persons in the house – “their” left. It helps a lot that I can draw. [spoiler]My method was drawing five houses in a row with chimneys, a roof, two rooms and a well. I wrote what brand of cigarettes they “smoked” coming out the chimney; what color their house was written on the roof, what nationality they were on one side of the house, and a picture of their pet(s) on the other, and their beverage of choice in a well outside. The rest was reading back and forth and reasoning what item went where, based on the clues and sometimes by process of elimination. My answers matched **Sage Rat’s**. [/spoiler] Fun quiz. I’d have solved it sooner if it wasn’t two a.m.! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/33 "2005-08-09T06:56:51Z")
One more thing: It helped me immensely to solve all the attributes at a time, rather than what was characterstic of each house at a time. Once I got a clue or two solved for each, I figured out (IIRC) what each color house was first, then the nationality of the owners, then the cigarette brands, then the beverages, then the pets _last._ ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/34 "2005-08-09T07:19:48Z")
I must also wonder: The fish was owned by a **German**. I suspect that you didn’t need to do the logic puzzle to figure out the correct answer, nor was the puzzle written “by” Einstein, but rather “about” him. ---
**Author:** ![rorty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@rorty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rorty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/35 "2005-08-09T07:46:05Z")
This was a fun quiz; I really love these. I’m a little late, but did it within five minutes in Excel. It probably helps that my Logic final in college was a variation of this same puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/36 "2005-08-09T14:25:15Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > I’m just wondering if other people used similar-looking matrices; I’m having a hard time visualizing other people’s methods from their descriptions. Just like yours but turned clockwise 90º. ---
**Author:** ![Low\_Key\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@Low\_Key\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Low_Key_1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/37 "2005-08-09T17:10:15Z")
[Here](http://community.webshots.com/photo/417973558/418013389YeRwRL) is my extremely advanced and scientific work that I used to find the answer. Took about 30 minutes or so. I started with the top grid and soon realized that I needed the houses in order so that is what the 1-5 stands for in the middle. Using excel and fancy matrices never even crossed my mind. I prefer the brute force style of just having the clues and trying to see which ones combined will lead to necessary conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/38 "2005-08-09T17:14:47Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Ah cool, it ended. Well here are my answers: > > 1 Norwegian Yellow cats Water Dunhills > 2 Dane Blue Horses tea Blends > 3 Brit Red birds Milk pall malls > 4 German Green fish Coffee Princes > 5 Swede White dogs beer Bluemasters That is what I got as well 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/39 "2005-08-09T18:43:44Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Ah cool, it ended. Well here are my answers: > > 1 Norwegian Yellow cats Water Dunhills > 2 Dane Blue Horses tea Blends > 3 Brit Red birds Milk pall malls > 4 German Green fish Coffee Princes > 5 Swede White dogs beer Bluemasters Yeah that’s what I got too. I used a piece of paper and a pen. I’m a little concerned because it took me all of 15-20 minutes. That can’t be right?? Was it a little easier then you all thought? Maybe I got lucky and guessed right the first try. Of course, I spent some time wondering what the 5th pet was! Then I read the title of the puzzle. Oh. People are smart in different ways sometimes… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976/40 "2005-08-09T20:42:01Z")
Good to know I haven’t lost it; my answers agree with those y’all have given. Phew! Fun puzzle. I “discovered” who owned the fish before filling out every box, but I pressed on and got them all filled in anyway. Too bad I didn’t hear about this contest earlier… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/einsteins-fish/315976.md?page=3)