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From: ins_apmj@jhunix.UUCP (Patrick M Juola)
Newsgroups: net.puzzle,net.math
Subject: Re: Logic puzzle creation query
Message-ID: <1412@jhunix.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Dec-85 10:06:14 EST
Article-I.D.: jhunix.1412
Posted: Tue Dec 10 10:06:14 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Dec-85 06:54:13 EST
References: <4253@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> <2506@pucc-h> <625@ttrdc.UUCP>
Reply-To: ins_apmj@jhunix.ARPA (Patrick M Juola)
Organization: Johns Hopkins Univ. Computing Ctr.
Lines: 22
Xref: watmath net.puzzle:1242 net.math:2614

In article <625@ttrdc.UUCP> levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) writes:
>In article <2506@pucc-h>, ags@pucc-h (Dave Seaman) writes:
>>In article <4253@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> cje@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Ernst @ Sanctum Sanctorum) writes:
>>>I've seen puzzles in which you have males
>>>and females and the clues run along the lines of "Neither Polly, the cat
>>>owner, nor Mr. Smith have a green car", which tells you that Smith is male
>>>(which wasn't known before) and that neither he nor Polly own the cat or the
>>>green car.
>>
>>The stated clue does not allow you to conclude that either Polly or Mr. Smith
>>is a different person from the cat owner.  Any puzzle whose solution depends
>>on this deduction is defective.
>
>That's right; I think the example was inadvertently misstated.

The example was correct; there is a general (read: unstated) assumption in
all commercial puzzles of this type that all individuals mentioned in a 
single clue are distinct.  If this means that the puzzle is defective, so
be it.  Remember that most folks who solve these kinds of puzzles are cross-
word puzzle freaks, not logicians.
							Pat Juola
							Hopkins Maths