LEVEL B

Instructions
In Perplexors, we have devised a worksheet that is simplicity itself. In our research, we have discovered
that the biggest obstacle anyone doing logic problems has to overcome is keeping track of the
information given by the clues. Other logic workbooks require the solver to work with or create a
matrix and use “X’s” and “O’s” to keep track of information. This works, but we have found that it does
not work very well for most children. Instead, we have discovered that if you list all the possibilities in
any category and simply cross off the eliminated possibilities as you get them from the clues, you see
the information organizing itself in front of your eyes. Suddenly, all is revealed clearly and the solver
can concentrate on thinking. When an answer is known for sure, you circle it and cross off that answer
everywhere else, and also cross off any remaining possibilities in that particular category. The best way
to learn the method is to work one or two puzzles yourself. Get out a pencil and use the “cross out”
and “circle” technique on the sample puzzle below.

CAT COUNTRY THE CLUES

Bill, Bob and Bel owned cats with three 1. Flabby and Crabby were not depressed.
different names. Their names were Tabby,
2. Bill and Bob did not own Tabby.
Flabby and Crabby. The cats wore three
different colored collars. Their collars were 3. The cat in red was depressed.
red, yellow and blue. The cats suffered from 4. Bob’s cat did not wear blue or have fleas.
three different afflictions: fleas, hairballs
5. Flabby had fleas.
and depression. Based on the clues, match
the owners with their cat’s names, their
collar colors and their afflictions.

Bill Bob Bel

Tabby Tabby Tabby
Flabby Flabby Flabby
Crabby Crabby Crabby

red collar red collar red collar

yellow collar yellow collar yellow collar
blue collar blue collar blue collar

fleas fleas fleas

hairballs hairballs hairballs
depression depression depression

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 LEVEL B

Bill Bob Bel

Tabby Tabby Tabby
Flabby Flabby Flabby
Crabby Crabby Crabby

red collar red collar red collar

yellow collar yellow collar yellow collar
blue collar blue collar blue collar

fleas fleas fleas

hairballs hairballs hairballs
depression depression depression

THE CAT COUNTRY SOLUTION
Bill, Bob and Bel owned cats with three different names. Their names were Tabby, Flabby and Crabby.
The cats wore three different colored collars. Their collars were red, yellow and blue. The cats
suffered from three different afflictions: fleas, hairballs and depression. Based on the clues, match the
owners with their cat’s names, their collar colors and their afflictions

CLUE #1 is useless until you have done the work on clue #2. Often, when doing logic problems, you
have to go back to previous clues.
CLUE #2 allows you to cross off Tabby under both Bill and Bob. This means Tabby must belong to Bel.
Circle Tabby under Bel and cross off Flabby and Crabby under Bel. Now we can refer back to clue #1
and we should see that Tabby had to be the cat suffering depression. Circle depression under Bel and
cross off fleas and hairballs under Bel. We also cross off depression under Bill and Bob.
CLUE #3 tells us that the cat suffering depression wore red. We know that Bel’s cat was depressed, so
we circle red under Bel. We cross off yellow and blue under Bel. We cross off red under Bill and Bob.
CLUE #4 tells us to cross off blue and fleas under Bob. After crossing off blue under Bob, we see that
yellow is the only remaining possibility under Bob, so we circle it and cross off yellow under Bill,
leaving blue to be circled under Bill as the only possible choice. If we look now, we should see that
hairballs is the only remaining choice under Bob, so we circle hairballs under Bob. We then cross off
hairballs under Bill and circle fleas under Bill by using the process of elimination.
Clue #5 tells us that the cat suffering from fleas was Flabby. We know Bill’s cat had fleas so we circle
Flabby under Bill and cross off Crabby under Bill. We cross off Flabby under Bob and circle Crabby
under Bob to finish the puzzle.
As you can see from the above step-by-step solution of the logic puzzle above, there is an enormous
amount of thinking required for even the simplest of puzzles. This is the virtue of logic problems and
the reason why our circle and cross out technique is so effective.

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 LEVEL B

1 Ice Cream Club

THE STORY THE CLUES
Holly, Harvey, Harry, Hal and Herb,
1. Holly, Harvey and Harry did not have Starke as a last name and
whose last names were Clarke, Darke,
did not eat the bottom of the cone first.
Starke, Parke and Smith, belonged to a
private club dedicated to the art of eating 2. Harry and Hal liked to use their tongues.
ice cream cones. They each liked to eat
their cones differently. They liked to lick 3. The cone eater was Starke.
it from the top, lick it all the way around 4. The side licker had a last name that did not rhyme with the
the side, take a big bite out of it, eat the other last names, and it was not Harry.
bottom of the cone first, or wait for it to
melt and then suck it up through a straw. 5. The straw user was Harvey.
Based on the clues, match the children
6. Harry was not Parke or Darke.
with their last names and how they
preferred to eat their ice cream cones. 7. The biter was Parke.

Holly Harvey Harry Hal Herb

Clarke Clarke Clarke Clarke Clarke
Darke Darke Darke Darke Darke
Starke Starke Starke Starke Starke
Parke Parke Parke Parke Parke
Smith Smith Smith Smith Smith

lick the top lick the top lick the top lick the top lick the top
lick the side lick the side lick the side lick the side lick the side
big bite big bite big bite big bite big bite
cone first cone first cone first cone first cone first
straw straw straw straw straw

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 LEVEL B

2 Pecking a Pizza
THE STORY THE CLUES
Five birds named Beaky, Bob, Billy,
1. The seagull, whose name was not Billy, did not order his favorite
Bosco and Brainy decided to go to
cricket pizza this time.
their local Pizza Nest for a pizza.
They all wanted a different topping, 2. The milk drinker ordered worm pizza.
so they each ordered their own
individual pizza. The birds were a 3. The juice drinker was a crow, and the robin ate slugs.
seagull, an owl, a pigeon, a robin 4. Bob did not order cola or iced tea.
and a crow. The toppings they
ordered were worms, crickets, 5. The owl, who was not Bosco or Brainy, ordered cricket pizza and iced tea.
slugs, ants and seeds. To drink, they
6. Billy, who was not an owl, did not drink juice or iced tea.
ordered cola, root beer, iced tea,
milk and juice. Based on the clues, 7. Bob did not drink milk or juice.
match the birds with their types,
their pizza toppings and their drinks. 8. Billy and Bosco never drank cola or ate seeds.
9. The cola drinker did not eat ants or seeds.

Beaky Bob Billy Bosco Brainy
seagull seagull seagull seagull seagull
owl owl owl owl owl
pigeon pigeon pigeon pigeon pigeon
robin robin robin robin robin
crow crow crow crow crow

worms worms worms worms worms

crickets crickets crickets crickets crickets
slugs slugs slugs slugs slugs
ants ants ants ants ants
seeds seeds seeds seeds seeds

cola cola cola cola cola

root beer root beer root beer root beer root beer
iced tea iced tea iced tea iced tea iced tea
milk milk milk milk milk
juice juice juice juice juice

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 LEVEL B

3 Daredevil Ducks
THE STORY THE CLUES
Five young ducks named Dandy, Dilly,
1. The duck grounded for three days suffered an injured tail and
Doosy, Drake and Dodie decided to
was not Dandy, Doosy or Wood.
try their wings at stunt flying. Their last
names were Mallard, Wood, Black, Decoy 2. The duck grounded for one week was Wood,
and Pintail. The first stunt they tried was who injured a wing.
to fly upside down. Of course, they all
quacked up and crashed. They suffered 3. Dilly and Dodie were grounded for less than
injuries to a beak, a wing, a neck, a tail a week.
and a foot. Their parents went quackers 4. Dodie, who was not Pintail, was grounded for more than five
when they found out about all this and days.
grounded them for 3 days, 5 days, 6 days,
7 days and 14 days. Based on the clues, 5. Dandy was Decoy, who was grounded the longest.
match the ducks first and last names, what
6. Doosy was not Black or Pintail.
they injured and the lengths of time they
were grounded. 7. Mallard injured a foot, and Decoy did not injure his neck.

Dandy Dilly Doosy Drake Dodie

Mallard Mallard Mallard Mallard Mallard
Wood Wood Wood Wood Wood
Black Black Black Black Black
Decoy Decoy Decoy Decoy Decoy
Pintail Pintail Pintail Pintail Pintail

beak beak beak beak beak

wing wing wing wing wing
neck neck neck neck neck
tail tail tail tail tail
foot foot foot foot foot

3 days 3 days 3 days 3 days 3 days

5 days 5 days 5 days 5 days 5 days
6 days 6 days 6 days 6 days 6 days
7 days 7 days 7 days 7 days 7 days
14 days 14 days 14 days 14 days 14 days

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 LEVEL B

4 Flying Cows
THE STORY THE CLUES
Five cows named Jessie, Sally, Rickey, Rolanda and
1. The cow in the purple crash helmet flew three times as far
Phillipa decided that it would be fun to learn how to
as the cow that landed on the tractor.
fly. They formed a flying club and called themselves
the “Jersey Jets!” They all went out and bought 2. Phillipa flew twice as far as Rolanda.
themselves crash helmets for their first flight. The
helmets were all a different color and were red, 3. Jessie, Sally and Rickey did not land on either the picket
yellow, brown, purple and green. For their first flight, fence or the reaper.
they decided to climb to the top of Farmer Brown’s 4. The cow in the red helmet landed on the manure pile and
silo and jump off while flapping whatever it was they flew half as far as the cow that landed on the chicken.
could flap. The flights went well but the landings
were rather rough. They each landed on something 5. Jessie flew twice as far as Sally.
different. They landed on a picket fence, a tractor, a 6. Rolanda did not wear a green helmet.
reaper, a manure pile and a chicken. They all traveled
a different distance; they flew 4 feet, 6 feet, 7 feet, 12 7. Phillipa just missed hitting the reaper, which was parked
feet and 14 feet. Based on the clues, match the cows right next to the picket fence, and her helmet was not
with their helmet colors, what things they landed on either yellow or brown.
and the distances they flew.
8. Rolanda’s helmet was not yellow, and Jesse wasn’t the
best flyer.

Jessie Sally Rickey Rolanda Phillipa

red red red red red
yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow
brown brown brown brown brown
purple purple purple purple purple
green green green green green

picket fence picket fence picket fence picket fence picket fence
tractor tractor tractor tractor tractor
reaper reaper reaper reaper reaper
manure pile manure pile manure pile manure pile manure pile
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

4 feet 4 feet 4 feet 4 feet 4 feet

6 feet 6 feet 6 feet 6 feet 6 feet
7 feet 7 feet 7 feet 7 feet 7 feet
12 feet 12 feet 12 feet 12 feet 12 feet
14 feet 14 feet 14 feet 14 feet 14 feet

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 LEVEL B

Solutions to Puzzles

1. Ice Cream Club

Holly Harvey Harry Hal Herb
Parke Darke Clarke Smith Starke
big bite straw lick the top lick the side cone first

2. Pecking a Pizza
Beaky Bob Billy Bosco Brainy
owl seagull pigeon crow robin
crickets seeds worms ants slugs
iced tea root beer milk juice cola

3. Daredevil Ducks
Dandy Dilly Doosy Drake Dodie
Decoy Pintail Mallard Wood Black
beak tail foot wing neck
14 days 3 days 5 days 7 days 6 days

4. Flying Cows
Jessie Sally Rickey Rolanda Phillipa
purple red yellow brown green
chicken manure tractor reaper fence
12 feet 6 feet 4 feet 7 feet 14 feet

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