skip to main content




Puzzle ZQTF 



??

Triathlon - Round 2 - Logic Puzzles

The final of the BrainBashers triathlon was a close run thing.

The whole tournament was decided on the last two sections, cycling and the road race.

Alex didn't win either section.
The person who won the cycling came third in the road race.
Alex beat Charlie in cycling, but was beaten by Charlie in the road race.
Charlie was last in neither section.
Drew won the road race, but was beaten by Billie in the cycling.
Can you work out who came where in each section?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

workings hint hide answer print

Share link:

Answer
Cycling : Billie > Alex > Charlie > Drew

Road race : Drew > Charlie > Billie > Alex

Road Race
In the road race, where could Charlie have finished?

By (4), he wasn't last. By (5), he wasn't first.

By (2), if Charlie was third, then he would have won the cycling, but by (3) Alex beat Charlie in the cycling, so Charlie can't have won the cycling.

So Charlie must have finished in second place.

By (5), Drew was first.

By (1), Alex didn't win the cycling, so by (2) he didn't come third in the road race. Therefore, Alex came last.

Leaving Billie in third place.

Road race : Drew > Charlie > Billie > Alex

Cycling
By (2), Billie won.

By (4), Charlie wasn't last.

By (3), Alex beat Charlie. So Alex finished in second place, with Charlie in third place.

Leaving Drew in last place.

Cycling : Billie > Alex > Charlie > Drew

 

Note: BrainBashers has a Dark Mode option – I recommend not using your browser's dark mode or extensions for BrainBashers