Rooturaj's Blog

I have been a fan of Einstein. But I never knew he had left us a puzzle that was so interesting. I am not sure if this is a real Einstein creation but it definitely got a touch of a genius. I enjoyed each moment of solving the problem.

People claim only 2% of world’s population is capable of solving this puzzle.
So I took that as a challenge. You see being a Aries you simply cant bear to be outside the elite.

Here is the riddle.

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

I dare you - Albert Einstein

THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

HINTS

1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Solving the puzzle will give you a feeling of victory like never before. LOL
Initially it looked like I would blow up my mind. Then I took a mathematical approach. You cant simple solve the damn thing just by staring at the clues. Get your pencil and notepad.
Use a tabular layout like cross words puzzles and fill in empty cells with clues one by one.

give it your best shot…if you need help I have a step by step approach how to do it.
It took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to do this. Including creating that chart in photoshop and putting up this blog post. Cheers.

1. 1,1 is Norwegian (ref9)
2. 2,2 is Blue (ref14)
3. 3,4 is milk (ref
4. 4,2 and 5,2 and green and white (ref4)
5. 4,4 is coffee (ref5)
6. 1,2  is yellow and 3,1 is Brit and 3,2 is red (ref1)
7. 1,5 is Dunhill (ref7)
8. 2,3 is horses (ref 11)
9. 2,5 is Blends and 1,4 is water (ref15)
10. 5,4 is beer and 5,5 is blue master (ref 12 ) and no available combinations
11. Either 4,1 or 5,1 is sweede then either of 1,3 or 3,3 is cats then either of 4,3 or 5,3 is dogs(ref 10,2)
12. Either of 2,1 or 5,1 is dane (ref 3)
13. So 2,1 is Dane (ref 3)
14. 4,1 is German and 5,1 is Swede (ref 13)
15. 3,5 is Pall Mall as no other choice remains
16. 3,3 is birds (ref 6)
17. 5,3 is Dogs (previous analysis and Ref 2)
18. 1,3 is cats (from previous analysis and ref 10)
19. Leaves us with Fish for the German – I should have guessed that ..given their affinity for Submarines lol. Took me 1 hours and 10 mins

Final Table with Einstein’s Puzzle Solved

I handle the hiring for my company to a fair bit and come across some outstanding cover letters all time. While some of them irritate me so much that I have to order an extra shot of caffeine others are hilarious enough to take your mind off the work load for a while.

Gonna share some with you. I have made sure there is no reference to anyone living or dead.

Dear Sir/Mam,
I came to know through source destination  about the opening for position name,I would like to apply my self for this post.
Please find my resume attached with this mail for your refrence.
Kindly revert back to me in case you find my candidature suitable for your requirement.—-MCA, ROHTAK UNIV

Another great one… (extracts form mail)
This was accompanied by a gorgeous pic too.

…I will do my best to satisfy you to the best of my capability.  Please provide me an opportunity of Personal Interview where I can convince you of my skills….
-Masters in Tourism and Hospitality

Do you think there is any way I could have turned down this application?

Today while doing the usual rounds of one of my favorite blogging portals I came across a discussion titled “Have your planned out your funeral?” Damn, why the hell should I? I am just 25 and if I mention that to my mother she will scream so loud that it will cause the next tsunami in Bay of Bengal. Even then I read through the discussion where it seemed people had made elaborate plans about their funerals. Some have even decided the exact song to be played and the right brand of wine to be served. Some wanted a party to be hosted where the theme would be Gothic. I felt obliged to respond as I could not stand so much creativity without contributing my own.
I posted :
“I would like to be entombed in a cryonics capsule till I rise again”
You are free to form you own ideas by analyzing my state of mind and labeling me crazy or psycho or A***H***.

Not all were weirdos on this discussion. One 22 year old girl sagely stated that she wanted to be buried and wanted a plant planted over her so that the space does not go waste and she serves manure to the plant. How touching! I felt like getting down on my knees and saying “Oh Angel. Make my life. Be my wife.” Sorry that was a short term nervous break down. So this is what the westerners plan for their post mortal days. But being an Indian I have to think about the repercussions of such action during my mortal days. I assure you such plans will not go down as naively as you plan.

Now consider the girl (above angel whom I fantasize to have proposed) to have been an Indian. Let’s say she became a doctor and then married a surgeon, had 3 kids and finally died peacefully at the age of 79. Oops I just narrated a life in one sentence. Yeah now back to the story. After she dies her family mourn her and then finally lay her for the eternal rest. Honoring her noble wish they plant a Neem sapling over her grave so that she can manure it for some time. So simple story and yet so touching. There is a tear bead forming in the left corner of my right eye.

the tree on the grave

Hey I am yet to build the climax. Let’s go 6 years ahead in time after Neem tree was planted on our protagonist. ……….. Now there are red flags and ornate hangings on the tree that has grown huge, thanks to the manure. People who pass by fold their hands and bow their heads. Old ladies form far off villages come seeking cure for their incurable diseases (because they can’t pay for it). The tree is now considered locally to be the ultimate asylum for childless couples. Maniram, the greengrocer, claims with confidence that the Neem leaves taste sweet to those who believe in the Divine Lady. In case you do not know Neem leaves actually taste bitter. Some can swear in the name of the Spaghetti Monster that they have seen or heard the divine presence on the full-moon nights. Mothers now tie small twigs of the great plant to their daughters wrists as that will shield them from dangers unknown. They are now planning to construct a temple next to the tree as the local priest, who was largely jobless, received a divine message during his alcohol induced slumber.

We are back to current time. All that I narrated above is not pure imagination. It does inculcate some aspects of Indian society, its beliefs and its colors. But I would still like to hear from you if you would like to be remembered this way after death. Feel free to comment.