Three business men Smith, Robinson, and Jones all live in the Leeds-Sheffield district Three railway men of similar names live in the same district. The business man Robinson and the guard live at Sheffield, the business man Jones and the stoker live at Leeds, while the business man Smith and the railway engineer live half-way between Leeds and Sheffield. The guard’s namesake earns $10,000.00 per annum, and the engineer earns exactly one-third of the business man living nearest to him. Finally, the railway man Smith beats the stoker at billiards.
What is the engineer’s name?
REVEAL THE ANSWER
It is clear that the guard cannot be Smith, for Mr. Smith is certainly the engineers nearest neighbor, and his income is, therefore, exactly divisible by 3, which $10,000.00 is not. Also the stoker cannot be Smith, because Smith beats him at billiards. Therefore the engineer must be Smith, and as we are concerned with him only, it is immaterial whether the guard is Jones and the stoker Robinson, or vice versa.