Puzzle : "Who Stole My Purse?"

An elementary school teacher had her purse stolen. The thief had to be Lilian, Judy, David, Theo, or Margaret. When questioned, each child made three statements: 

Lilian:
(1) I didn’t take the purse.
(2) I have never in my life stolen anything.
(3) Theo did it. 

Judy:
(4) I didn’t take the purse.
(5) My daddy is rich enough, and I have a purse of my own.
(6) Margaret knows who did it. 

David:
(7) I didn’t take the purse.
(8) I didn’t know Margaret before I enrolled in this school.
(9) Theo did it. 

Theo:
(10) I am not guilty.
(11) Margaret did it.
(12) Lillian is lying when she says I stole the purse. 

Margaret:
(13) I didn’t take the teacher’s purse.
(14) Judy is guilty.
(15) David can vouch for me because he has known me since I was born. 

Later, each child admitted that two of his statements were true and one was false. Assuming this is true, who stole the purse?

Here is name of the thief! 

Source

"Finally Got My Stolen Purse!"

How it was stolen?

Let's recollect all the statements given by all accused.

Lilian:
(1) I didn’t take the purse.
(2) I have never in my life stolen anything.
(3) Theo did it. 

Judy:
(4) I didn’t take the purse.
(5) My daddy is rich enough, and I have a purse of my own.
(6) Margaret knows who did it. 

David:
(7) I didn’t take the purse.
(8) I didn’t know Margaret before I enrolled in this school.
(9) Theo did it. 

Theo:
(10) I am not guilty.
(11) Margaret did it.
(12) Lillian is lying when she says I stole the purse. 

Margaret:
(13) I didn’t take the teacher’s purse.
(14) Judy is guilty.
(15) David can vouch for me because he has known me since I was born. 

Let's not forget that 2 of 3 statements made by each student are true & other is false.

Now, Theo says he is innocent in his 2 statements - (10) and (12). Since, 2 of his statements are true then (10) and (12) must be true. Hence, Theo is really innocent in case.

If Theo is innocent then both (3) and (9) are lie.

If (9) is lie, then other 2 statement of David i.e. (7) and (8) are true. If (8) is true then (15) must be lie. 

And if (15) is lie then both (13) [lie in (12) also suggests same] and (14) must be true. 

Hence, as per (14), Judy is guilty who has stolen the purse. 

The Thanksgiving Pageant

Allison, Jerry, Bonnie, and Bill are participating in a Thanksgiving Pageant at their school. 

The students will portray an Indian warrior, a pilgrim, an Indian maiden, and a deer. Their props consist of a pumpkin, a fish, a basket of corn, and colored leaves. During the pageant, they will recite a poem, sing a song, do a dance, and act as the narrator. Their parents, whose lasts names are Lee, Newton, Myers, and Schuler, will be watching in the audience. The ages of the performers are 13, 12, 11, and 10 years old. 

Use the clues to help you find out who will be doing what for the pageant.

1. Mrs. Lee made her daughter's costume and also the costumes of the Indian maiden and the dancer. 

2. Mr. Myers helped his son rehearse his poem. 

3. The dancer was older than Lee and the pilgrim, but younger than Allison. 

4. The 11-year-old ripped her deer outfit, but her mother pinned it.

5. Newton carried his fish during his tribal dance.

6. Jerry's pumpkin was a symbol of the feast for the pilgrims. 

7. The Indian maiden carried corn as she sang the song of feasting.

Simplified Solution Here! 

Little Performers at The Thanksgiving Pageant

What was the puzzle?

Given Data : 

STUDENTS     : Allison, Jerry, Bonnie, Bill

CHARACTERS : Indian warrior, Pilgrim, Indian maiden, Deer

PROPS           : Pumpkin, Fish, Basket of corn, Colored leaves

ACT                : Poem, Song, Dance, Narrator

LAST NAMES  : Lee, Newton, Myers, Schuler

AGE                : 13, 12, 11, 10

Given Clues : 

1. Mrs. Lee made her daughter's costume and also the costumes of the Indian maiden and the dancer. 

2. Mr. Myers helped his son rehearse his poem. 

3. The dancer was older than Lee and the pilgrim, but younger than Allison. 

4. The 11-year-old ripped her deer outfit, but her mother pinned it.

5. Newton carried his fish during his tribal dance.

6. Jerry's pumpkin was a symbol of the feast for the pilgrims. 

7. The Indian maiden carried corn as she sang the song of feasting.

STEPS :

First of all let's make a table like below & fill it as per clues.

1]  As per clue (1), student having last name Lee, an Indian maiden and dancer are three different students.

2] As per (3), the dancer must be 12 years old with Lee and Pilgrim having age 10 & 11 but order yet to be known. With that Allison must be 13 years old. This clue also suggests that the dancer or Lee isn't pilgrim.

3] The clue (5) clearly suggest that Newton is dancer carrying fish as a property. Also, clue (6) suggests Jerry is pilgrim having pumpkin. And clue (7) suggests that, Indian Maiden sung a song while carrying a basket of corn.

4] With that, we can conclude that Lee must be carrying colored leaves. Also, the clue (4) must be pointing at Lee now. So Lee is 11 years old wearing deer outfit.

5] It's clear now that Newton is Indian Warrior. And, 10 years old (STEP 2) Jerry is Myers who father helped him to rehearse his poem as per clue (2).

6] Since Allison is 13 years old, she must be Indian Maiden carrying a basket of corn while singing a song. She must have last name Schuler - the only last name left. Since (1) suggests Lee is girl, her name must be Bonnie who is narrator carrying a colored leaves. Finally, first name of Newton must be Bill.

7] So, the final table looks as - 

50th Fastest And The 50th Slowest

Matt is the fiftieth fastest and the fiftieth slowest runner in his school.

Assuming no two runners are the same speed, how many runners are in Matt’s school?

Find here total number of runners! 

Total Runners In The School

Read the given data first!
 
This could be very tricky one. Let's assume that the Matt is fifth fastest and fifth slowest runner in his school.

Then there are 4 runners ahead of him numbered 1 to 4 and 4 behind him numbered 6 to 9. So there would be total 9 runners in his school in the case.

But Matt is 50th fastest runner meaning 49 are ahead of him numbered 1 to 49. And 49 are behind him numbered as 51 to 99 (total 49) while Matt is at 50th position.

Hence, there are 49 + 1 + 49 = 99 runners in his school.

An Insepection by The Superintendent

One day, a class teacher was told that the school superintendent will be visiting her class on the next day. The superintendent can ask questions from anywhere and it can be easy as well as difficult. The teacher will have the liberty to choose any pupil for answering the question.

Now she is determined that the impression that is cast upon the superintendent after the inspection should be great. How will she instruct the students so that she maximizes the chances of receiving a correct answer for each question? Also, she must create the best impression. How will she do it? 

This is what she should do! 

To Impress Superintendent

What was the resolution of teacher? 

Now what should teacher do here is to devise the 'sign' language to communicate with students. Also she needs to make sure that the superintendent won't have any doubt while questioning students.

She should ask all the students to raise hands for every question that is being asked by superintendent. However, those who know correct answers should raise right hand & rest of all should raise left hand. This way she would be able to know the students who knows the correct answer & choose any of them to answer the question.

All raised hands to each question would definitely leave great impression on the superintendent.

Note : We are assuming superintendent not smart enough to notice that students raising different hands for different questions.