Alternative Einstein's riddle answer

What's to say the German doesn't own a snake?

this is not correct if you read the necessary clues to the riddle in clue number4 its stats: the green house is NEXT to and to the LEFT of the White house so yeah sorry to burst your bubble there

Answer (based on best possibilities)
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Norweigin
2
3
4
5
Right

14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Norweigin
2 Blue
3
4
5
Right

8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Norweigin
2 Blue
3 Milk
4
5
Right

5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Norweigin
2 Blue
3 Milk
4 Green Coffee
5 White
Right

1. The British man lives in a red house.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Norweigin
2 Blue
3 Red British Milk
4 Green Coffee
5 White
Right

7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Dunhill
2 Blue
3 Red British Milk
4 Green Coffee
5 White
Right

11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Dunhill
2 Blue Horse
3 Red British Milk
4 Green Coffee
5 White
Right

12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Dunhill
2 Blue x Horse x x
3 Red British Milk
4 Green Coffee
5 White x x x
Right

13. The German smokes Prince.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Dunhill
2 Blue x Horse x x
3 Red British Milk
4 Green German Coffee Prince
5 White x x x
Right

10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Cat Water Dunhill
2 Blue x Horse x Blends
3 Red British Milk
4 Green German Coffee Prince
5 White x x x
Right

12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Cat Water Dunhill
2 Blue Danish Horse Tea Blends
3 Red British Milk
4 Green German Coffee Prince
5 White x Beer BM
Right

2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Cat Water Dunhill
2 Blue Danish Horse Tea Blends
3 Red British Milk
4 Green German Coffee Prince
5 White Swedish Dog Beer BM
Right

6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
House# House Color Nationality Pet Drink Smoke
Left
1 Yellow Norweigin Cat Water Dunhill
2 Blue Danish Horse Tea Blends
3 Red British Bird Milk PM
4 Green German Fish Coffee Prince
5 White Swedish Dog Beer BM
Right

Where does it say anyone owns a fish at all?
You are all just assuming that the one person without a animal mentioned automatically owns a fish.
This is why only 2% can solve this riddle.

Hi I tried the puzzle yesterday evening in bed thinking I will never do it. Surprisingly it only took me 20mins to solve it!! I guess playing Sudoku gives you the right frame of mind to solve the riddle.
Lewis Z.

hmmmmmm. that was stimulating. and i must say that i cant even begin to fathom Einstein's intelligence. It surpasses me how he could have put this riddle together..

This solution is not valid since hint 11 states that the man who keeps the horse lives NEXT to the man who smokes dunhill rather than the man who keeps the horse smokes dunhill

u r right Ewout. there are too many versions of the riddle now. but there is only one answer to the original; the german. makes me wonder, was that much thinking and scribbling really necessary? i mean, if u think abt it, einstein himself had a gold fish(which is shown in many of his photographs) and his house (112 mercer st) was green....funny thing is that maybe the German could have been him......Strange...

Your solution contradicts clue 4. The green house is not next to the white house.

Unlike most riddles of this nature that tell you all the possibilities there isno mention of fish in any of the clues. Fish is the assumed fifth pet. Logic dictates that without a statement of fact you cannot logically deduce anybody has fish for a pet. This is why only two percent can get the solution, ninety eight percent are assuming as a fact fish are the fifth pet.

I would say it is actually impossible to know because there isn't any assertion that anyone actualy own's a fish. So while it is possible that someone does have a fish, it is just as possible that no one holds a fish. So ultimately you can't know, and I think that is exactly the point. And infact one of the interesting ideas of relativity, for if we ajudge everything by asserting that it is something relative to what else we know of, then how can you ever actually assert that anything is true. In otherwords, how can you recognize the truth unless you already new the truth so that you could recognize it when you arrived at it. If everything is relative, then truth is relative, and to say truth is relative is like saying there really is no truth, or at least that we can't know it.

So asking that question is a more complex and thus perhaps ore illustrative way as asking a question like:

There are two turns in the road, God comes down to you and gives you as much reason to go right as left, which direction do you choose to take?

Its like unto a trick question because in actuallity you can't pick a direction, because with as much reason to go one way as the other, there is no more reason than not to go one way, and we make descisions based on our ability to assert that there is more reason to go one way than the other.

One might say, well you can flip a coin, but if there is as much reason to go one way as another, then there is essentially as much reason to flip a coin as not to flip a coin, and that would be assuming there is a coin to flip in the first place so it would be to effectively add to the question, and if you add to the question then any answer is only to the new question.

U assumed not only the "To The Left" in "The green house is to the left of the white house" , but also this... "The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill" . In this Sentence, you have taken the phrase "Next to" as if on either side to the 'Dun Hill Smoker'. Usually , in a row, "next to" means to the right , but you have assumed this to be "to the left", which is actually posing a double assumption problem here !

The only problem shud be "German has the Fish"...

Rgds,
Vijay VVM!

i had answer for this puzzle
5 people are standing in a queue for plane tickets in Germany; each one has a name, an age, a favorite TV program, where they live, a hairstyle and a destination.

Names: Bob, Keeley, Rachael, Eilish and Amy
TV programs: the Simpsons, coronation street, eastenders, desperate housewives and neighbors.
Destinations: France, Australia, England, Africa and Italy
Ages: 14,21,46,52 and 81
Hairstyle: Afro, long, straight, curly and bald
Where they live: A town, a city, a village, a farm and a youth hostel

* The person in the middle watches desperate housewives
* Bob is the first in the queue
* The person who watches the Simpsons is next to the person who lives in a youth hostel
* The person going to Africa is behind Rachael
* The person who lives in a village is 52
* The person who is going to Australia has straight hair
* The person travelling to Africa watches Desperate Housewives
* The 14 year old is at the end of the queue
* Amy watches eastenders
* The person heading to Italy has long hair
* Keeley lives in a village
* The 46 year old is bald
* The fourth in the queue is going to England
* The people with curly and straight hair are standing next to each other
* The person who watches coronation street stands net to the person with an afro
* A person next to Rachael has an afro
* The 21 year old lives in a youth hostel
* The person who watches corrie has long hair
* The 81 year old lives on a farm
* The person who is travelling to France lives in a town
Name Bob Rachael Eilish Keeley Amy
Age 21 46 81 52 14
Favorite TV Corries Simpsons Desperate housewives Coronation streets Eastendsers
Lives Youth hostel Towns Farm Village City
Hair style Long hair Bald Afro Curly Straight hair
Destination Italy France Africa England Australia

hey guys im dikgobe molepo from SA.i got the answer using a different method.im suprised u guys say therez only one way to get to the answer.......took me about 5 hours to figure it out.but finally got it.im glad to know that im part of the 2% einstein was refering to

It is not possible to find a solution because no fish is mentioned in the question. It's like saying 2x-7=y, solve for m.

Guys, I think I found an alternative solution, but I accepted that the green house is anywhere to the left of the white one - even in this case, my solution is unique (as far as my research on the topic goes). So what I have is (from left to right):

1. Green, Norwegian, coffee, P.M., Birds
2. Blue, German, water, Prince, Fish
3. Red, British, milk, Blend, Horses
4. Yellow, Dane, tea, Dunhill, Cats
5. White, Swede, beer, Blue M., Dogs

What do you think? The German has the fish, but the green house is not immediately to the left of the white one.

This is also the solution I found.
Your question was already answered a few posts back, when someone posted a version of the riddle where the green house is to the left and next to the white house.
The first time I solved the riddle was in high-school, quite some time ago, but I had the version where the green house is not immediately to the left of the white house, and I found that it would have been a good idea: it would mean that the person solving the riddle would use his/her imagination. Because most people when they hear that the green house is left to the white one, automatically assume that it is immediately to the left of the white house, while people with a more open mind can see it in a different light.

So I still do think this is an alternate option to solve this riddle.

It is amazing though, how every possible solution has the same result: the German has the fish, no matter what house color he lives in.

An earlier post said that Einstein had a fish himself, and lived in a green house, so maybe this was not the solution he had in mind, but the one with the German in a green house.

Hey its not... the dane keeps a fish, and smokes dunhill, but beside the person who keeps the fish is the one who keeps the horse. You've omitted the fish. Check the total no. of pets cedor has given. Its 4. Cedor's answer is legit and his logic and arguement is acceptable.

u misd rule 4, i.e.
The green house is NEXT TO, nd on left of white house
-saurabh

I worked it the same way first skipping a space between green and white houses. Logically I knew it wasn't correct though because his wording is "on" the left not "to" the left. I think it was of course meant to be taken literally so I reworked it. I think there is only one correct solution. I see where you're coming from though