September 2013
Problem of the Month

World's Best
Chocolate Chip Cookie
in GAMES Magazine April 2013



Good Eating magazine recently held a national contest for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.   After judging the contest, the magazine's editors published the five best recipes.   Each of the recipes was submitted by a person living in a different state, each of whom used a different type of nut and a different secret ingredient.   For each of the five top-ranked recipes, use the above information, along with the clues provided, to determine the full name of its creator and the type of nut and secret ingredient he or she used (one recipe called for grape juice).

CLUES
  1. The recipe from Hawaii calls for macadamia nuts.
  2. The recipe whose secret ingredient was maple syrup was sent in from Vermont.
  3. The five winners are, in some order: Beth, Buchanan, Scholer, the person from Alabama, and the person whose secret ingredient is raspberry jam.
  4. Sophie's recipe ranked lower than the recipe calling for walnuts and higher than the recipe sent from Missouri.
  5. Armstrong's cookies took fifth place.
  6. Keith's recipe doesn't call for Brazil nuts.
  7. The recipe whose secret ingredient is coconut milk (which isn't Beth's recipe) doesn't call for hazelnuts or walnuts.
  8. Buchanan's recipe (which didn't rank third) calls for either Brazil nuts or filberts.
  9. The recipe whose secret ingredient is apple butter (which didn't rank first) wasn't sent in by Armstrong.
  10. Vera (who isn't Myerson) isn't from Oregon.
  11. The recipe calling for hazelnuts ranked at least three places higher than O'Toole's recipe.
  12. Rob's recipe didn't rank second.



Solution to the Problem:

Here are the results of the World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest:

1st: Vera Scholer, Vermont, hazelnuts, maple syrup

2nd: Keith Buchanan, Oregon, filberts coconut milk

3rd: Rob Myerson, Alabama, walnuts, apple butter

4th: Sophie O'Toole, Hawaii, macadamias, raspberry jam

5th: Beth Armstrong, Missouri, Brazil nuts, grape juice



Armstrong's cookies ranked fifth-highest (5).

O'Toole's recipe didn't rank first, second, or third (11), so it ranked fourth and the recipe with hazelnuts ranked first (11).

Buchanan's recipe called for either Brazil nuts or filberts and didn't rank third (8), so it ranked second, since either surname or nut rules out all other possibilities.

The recipe calling for walnuts wasn't fourth or fifth (4); it placed third. Sophie's recipe was fourth, and the recipe from Missouri was fifth (4).

The recipe from Hawaii called for macadamia nuts (1), so this is Sophie O'Toole's fourth-ranked recipe, since either state or nut rules out all other possibilities.

It has raspberry jam as its secret ingredient (3).

Armstrong is Beth (3). Her recipe doesn't call for maple syrup (2), coconut milk (7), or apple butter (9); it calls for grape juice (intro).

The coconut-milk recipe doesn't call for hazelnuts or walnuts (7), so it was submitted by Buchanan.

The recipe whose secret ingredient is apple butter didn't rank first (9), so it ranked third.

By elimination, the recipe whose secret ingredient is maple syrup placed first.

It was sent in from Vermont (2).

Buchanan isn't from Alabama (3), so he or she is from Oregon; by elimination, the person from Alabama sent in the third-ranked recipe.

He or she isn't Scholer (3), so Scholer is the person whose recipe ranked first; by elimination, Myerson's recipe ranked third.

Vera isn't Myerson (10), and she isn't from Oregon (10), so she's Scholer.

Rob's recipe didn't rank second ( 12); it ranked third; by elimination, Keith is Buchanan.

His recipe doesn't call for Brazil nuts (6), so it calls for filberts; by elimination, Beth's recipe calls for Brazil nuts.


Although the problem above was fictitious, click below to see the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe according to the New York Times.

BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE





Correctly solved by:

1. Chelsea Anglen Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
2. Patricia Young John Paul II Catholic High School, Tallahassee Florida
3. Clare Gallivan John Paul II Catholic High School, Tallahassee Florida


Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher