Answer to September 27, 2004 Problem of the Week

Mr. Pleacher has four grandchildren.
They were born in four consecutive months with the oldest born in the first of the four months, the second oldest born in the second month, and the youngest in the fourth month.
The days on which they were born are ascending numbers from the oldest grandchild down to the youngest (in other words, the oldest grandchild was born on a day which is less than the day that the 2nd oldest child was born, and so on.
Three of the grandchildren were born in Leap Years, but the oldest was not.
Carrie's birthday was on the 18th of the month, and the oldest was born on the 2nd of the month
None of the grandchildren was born in January or July.
The sum of the days on which they were born is 77.
The youngest was born on the 29th of a month which has 30 days.
James was born in 1998.
Kate was born in May
Jackson and one of his cousins were the only ones born in 2004.

Can you give the birthday (month, day, and year) for each of the four grandchildren?

Extra Credit: Can you predict when my next grandchild will be born?

Solution to the Problem:

James	Mar	2	1998
Carrie	Apr	18	2000
Kate	May	28	2004
Jackson	Jun	29	2004

Extra Credit: My next grandchild will be born on July 30 or 31, 2006 (if all the sequences hold true).
However, one of my daughters sent in the following answer for the extra credit: 2/14/06; and she has more say in the matter than I do.

To solve the logic problem:
1. The names were given in the puzzle.
2. You can determine the four days of their births from clues 5, 7, and 8.
3. You can determine the four months in which they were born from clues 2, 6, and 10.
4. You can determine the years in which they were born from clues 4, 9, and 11.
Once you have determined this information, you can set up a table and solve.

Here is a table which I used to eliminate the other possibilities:

Name	1st (oldest)	2nd	3rd	4th	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	2	18	28	29	1998	2000	2004
Kate	X	X	O	X	X	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O
Jackson	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X	X	O
James	O	X	X	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X	X
Carrie	X	O	X	X	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X	X	X	O	X

Correctly solved by:

1. Julie W.	Dallas, Texas
2. Trey Mason	Winchester, Virginia
3. Richard K. Johnson	La Jolla, California
4. Jeffrey Gaither	Winchester, Virginia
5. Elizabeth Cotter	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
6. Nicholas Hung	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7. Tyler Windham	Columbus, Georgia
8. Crystal Church	Columbus, Georgia
9. Walt Arrison	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. Dave Smith	Toledo, Ohio
11. Jason LaRusso	Winchester, Virginia
12. Misty Carlisle	Winchester, Virginia
13. David & Judy Dixon	Bennettsville, South Carolina
14. Arin Smith	Winchester, Virginia
15. Rich Murray	Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada
16. Chris McCormick	Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
17. Martin Dominguez	Olympia, Washington
18. Dashiell Quasebarth	Winchester, Virginia
19. Emily Auerbach	Columbus, Georgia
20. Sarah Jane Wright	Columbus, Georgia
21. Viktor Logrell	Tullängen, Örebro, Sweden
22. Jonas Sutinen	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
23. Joakim Berggren	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
24. Erik Ekman	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
25. Lisa Sevón	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
26. Jackie Henson	Columbus, Georgia
27. Alex McIntire	Columbus, Georgia
28. Cameron S.	Columbus, Georgia
29. Sally Pound	Columbus, Georgia
30. Gustav Nilsson	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
31. Sanna Lejegren	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
32. Josh Feingold	Cailfornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
33. William Chyr	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
34. Shannon Bagshaw	University of Virgionia, Charlottesville, Virginia
35. Bahadir Güngör	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
36. Erik Hultgren	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
37. Daniel Kvist	Tullängskolan, Örebro, Sweden
38. Joanna Sturk	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
39. Linda Axelsson	Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden
40. Randa Tams	----------
41. Jonathan Jansson	Tullängen, Örebro, Sweden
42. John Harcourt	Columbus, Georgia
43. Kris Hon	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
44. Victor Lee	Toronto, Ontario, Canada