There are three playing cards face-up on the table.
A diamond is to the left of a spade.
An eight is to the right of a king.
A ten is to the left of a heart.
A heart is to the left of a spade.
From left to right, what are the three playing cards?
Solution to the Problem:
Here is the solution:The three cards are Ten of Diamonds, King of Hearts, Eight of Spades.
Let us denote:
Diamond -> D Eight -> E
Spade -> S Ten-> T
Heart -> H King-> K
At the outset, let us concentrate on the suits.
By clue (i), the arrangement is:
DS_ D_S or, _DS
Then by clue (ii), the arrangement becomes:
HDS or DHS
By clue (iii), T is to the left of H. So H cannot assume the leftmost position and, accordingly, the accurate positioning must be:
DHS .......... (I)
We now concentrate on the values.
Clue (ii) gives the arrangement as:
KE_ _KE or, K_E
By clue (iii), T is to the left of H and therefore, T has the leftmost position, and we must have the correct arrangement of the values as:
TKE ......... (II)
Combining (I) and (II), we have the complete accurate arrangement as:
TD, KH, ES
Amplifying, we obtain:
Ten of Diamonds, King of Hearts, Eight of Spades as the required arrangement.
Correctly solved by:
| 1. Colin (Yowie) Bowey | Beechworth, Victoria, Australia |
| 2. Dr. Hari Kishan |
D.N. College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| 3. Davit Banana | Istanbul, Turkey |
| 4. Kamal Lohia |
Holy Angel School, Hisar, Haryana, India |
| 5. Ivy Joseph | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| 6. Kelly Stubblefield | Mobile, Alabama, USA |