Advanced SQL Puzzles

Scott Peters
https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/

Last Updated: 12/02/2023

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Welcome
I hope you enjoy these puzzles as much as I have enjoyed creating them!

As my list of puzzles continues to grow, I have decided to combine the puzzles into one document
broken down into two sections.

In the first section, I have 64 of the most difficult puzzles I could create, randomly organized and in no
specific order. These are primarily set-based puzzles, interspersed with a small number of puzzles that
require knowledge of constraints, specific data types, cursors, loops, etc...

Working through these puzzles will give you an understanding of the SQL language and what types of
problems the SQL language solves best. Remember that SQL is a declarative and not an imperative
language, and always think in sets when providing a solution.

I collected all the puzzles related to permutations, combinations, and sequences in the second set of
puzzles. Solving these puzzles will require a deeper knowledge of your SQL thinking, focusing on such
constructs as using recursion or sequence objects to reach the desired output (and, of course, some will
require using traditional set-based thinking). Ultimately, these puzzles resolve to creating number
tables, which can be used to fill in gaps, create ranges and tallies, provide custom sorting, and allow you
to create set-based solutions over iterative solutions. I also included a few puzzles from Part 1 into this
set as they ultimately deal with creating a numbers table.

I hope navigating through the GitHub repository to find the solutions is straightforward. The first set of
puzzles are combined into one single SQL document, and the second set has a separate folder with
individual solutions, as these solutions are a little more involved in solving. For my sanity, it is easiest
not to embed the SQL solutions into this text document and instead provide them separately as SQL files
in the GitHub repository. If you have any issues navigating the website or GitHub, please contact me
and I would be happy to help.

Answers to these puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository:

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

I welcome any corrections, new tricks, new techniques, dead links, misspellings, bugs, and especially any
new puzzles that would be a great fit for this document.

Please contact me through the contact page on my website or use the discussion board in the GitHub
repository.

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/

Happy coding!

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PART I
Thinking in Sets

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Puzzle #1
Shopping Carts
You are tasked with providing an audit of two shopping carts.

Write an SQL statement to transform the following tables into the expected output.

Item Item
Sugar Sugar
Bread Bread
Juice Butter
Soda Cheese
Flour Fruit

Here is the expected output.

Item Cart 1 Item Cart 2

Sugar Sugar
Bread Bread
Juice
Soda
Flour
Butter
Cheese
Fruit

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #2
Managers and Employees
Given the following hierarchical table, write an SQL statement that determines the level of depth each
employee has from the president.

Employee ID Manager ID Job Title

1001 President
2002 1001 Director
3003 1001 Office Manager
4004 2002 Engineer
5005 2002 Engineer
6006 2002 Engineer

Here is the expected output.

Employee ID Manager ID Job Title Depth

1001 President 0
2002 1001 Director 1
3003 1001 Office Manager 1
4004 2002 Engineer 2
5005 2002 Engineer 2
6006 2002 Engineer 2

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #3
Fiscal Year Pay Rates
For each standard fiscal year, a record exists for each employee that states their current pay rate for the
specified year.

Can you determine all the constraints that can be applied to this table to ensure it contains only correct
information? Assume that no pay raises are given mid-year. There are quite a few of them, so think
carefully.
CREATE TABLE #EmployeePayRecord
(
EmployeeID INTEGER
FiscalYear INTEGER,
StartDate DATE,
EndDate DATE,
PayRate MONEY
);

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #4
Two Predicates
Write an SQL statement given the following requirements.

For every customer that had a delivery to California, provide a result set of the customer orders that
were delivered to Texas.

Customer ID Order ID Delivery State Amount

1001 1 CA $340
1001 2 TX $950
1001 3 TX $670
1001 4 TX $860
2002 5 WA $320
3003 6 CA $650
3003 7 CA $830
4004 8 TX $120

Here is the expected output.

Customer ID Order ID Delivery State Amount

1001 2 TX $950
1001 3 TX $670
1001 4 TX $860

• Customer ID 1001 would be in the expected output as this customer had deliveries to both
California and Texas.
• Customer ID 3003 would not appear in the result set as they did not have a delivery to Texas.
• Customer ID 4004 would not appear in the result set as they did not have a delivery to
California.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #5
Phone Directory
Your customer phone directory table allows individuals to set up a home, cellular, or work phone
number.

Write an SQL statement to transform the following table into the expected output.

Customer ID Type Phone Number

1001 Cellular 555-897-5421
1001 Work 555-897-6542
1001 Home 555-698-9874
2002 Cellular 555-963-6544
2002 Work 555-812-9856
3003 Cellular 555-987-6541

Here is the expected output.

Customer ID Cellular Work Home

1001 555-897-5421 555-897-6542 555-698-9874
2002 555-963-6544 555-812-9856
3003 555-987-6541

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #6
Workflow Steps
Write an SQL statement that determines all workflows that have started but have not been completed.

Workflow Step Number Completion Date

Alpha 1 7/2/2018
Alpha 2 7/2/2018
Alpha 3 7/1/2018
Bravo 1 6/25/2018
Bravo 2
Bravo 3 6/27/2018
Charlie 1
Charlie 2 7/1/2018

Here is the expected output.

Workflow
Bravo
Charlie

• The expected output would be Bravo and Charlie, as they have a workflow that has started but
has not been completed.
• Bonus: Write this query using only the COUNT function with no subqueries. Can you figure out
the trick?

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #7
Mission to Mars
You are given the following tables that list the requirements for a space mission and a list of potential
candidates.

Write an SQL statement to determine which candidates meet the mission's requirements.

Candidates
Candidate ID Description
1001 Geologist
1001 Astrogator
1001 Biochemist
1001 Technician
2002 Surgeon
2002 Machinist
2002 Geologist
3003 Geologist
3003 Astrogator
4004 Selenologist

Requirements
Description
Geologist
Astrogator
Technician

Here is the expected output.

Candidate ID
1001

• The expected output would be Candidate ID 1001, as this candidate has all the necessary skills
for the space mission.
• Candidate ID 2002 and 3003 would not be in the output as they have some but not all the
required skills, and Candidate ID 4004 has none of the needed requirements.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #8
Workflow Cases
You have a report of all workflows and their case results.

A value of 0 signifies the workflow failed, and a value of 1 signifies the workflow passed.

Write an SQL statement that transforms the following table into the expected output.

Workflow Case 1 Case 2 Case 3

Alpha 0 0 0
Bravo 0 1 1
Charlie 1 0 0
Delta 0 0 0

Here is the expected output.

Workflow Passed
Alpha 0
Bravo 2
Charlie 1
Delta 0

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #9
Matching Sets
Write an SQL statement that matches an employee to all other employees who carry the same licenses.

Employee ID License
1001 Class A
1001 Class B
1001 Class C
2002 Class A
2002 Class B
2002 Class C
3003 Class A
3003 Class D
4004 Class A
4004 Class B
4004 Class D
5005 Class A
5005 Class B
5005 Class D

Here is the expected output.

Employee ID Employee ID Count

1001 2002 3
2002 1001 3
4004 5005 3
5005 4004 3

• Employee IDs 1001 and 2002 would be in the expected output as they both carry a Class A, Class
B, and a Class C license.
• Employee IDs 4004 and 5005 would be in the expected output as they both carry a Class A, Class
B, and a Class D license.
• Although Employee ID 3003 has the same licenses as Employee ID 4004 and 5005, these
Employee IDs do not have the same license as Employee ID 3003.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #10
Mean, Median, Mode, and Range
• The mean is the average of all numbers.
• The median is the middle number in a sequence of numbers.
• The mode is the number that occurs most often within a set of numbers.
• The range is the difference between the largest and smallest values in a set of numbers.

Write an SQL statement to determine the mean, median, mode, and range of the set of integers
provided in the following DDL statement.

CREATE TABLE #SampleData

(
IntegerValue INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO #SampleData

VALUES(5),(6),(10),(10),(13),
(14),(17),(20),(81),(90),(76);

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #11
Permutations
You are given the following list of test cases and must determine all possible permutations.

Write an SQL statement that produces the expected output. Ensure your code can account for a
changing number of elements without rewriting.

Test Case
A
B
C

Here is the expected output.

Test Cases
A,B,C
A,C,B
B,A,C
B,C,A
C,A,B
C,B,A

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #12
Average Days
Write an SQL statement to determine the average number of days between executions for each
workflow.

Workflow Execution Date

Alpha 6/1/2018
Alpha 6/14/2018
Alpha 6/15/2018
Bravo 6/1/2018
Bravo 6/2/2018
Bravo 6/19/2018
Charlie 6/1/2018
Charlie 6/15/2018
Charlie 6/30/2018

Here is the expected output.

Workflow Average Days

Alpha 7
Bravo 9
Charlie 14

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #13
Inventory Tracking
You work for a manufacturing company and need to track inventory adjustments from the warehouse.

Some days the inventory increases, on other days the inventory decreases.

Write an SQL statement that will provide a running balance of the inventory.

Date Quantity Adjustment

7/1/2018 100
7/2/2018 75
7/3/2018 -150
7/4/2018 50
7/5/2018 -100

Here is the expected output.

Date Quantity Adjustment Inventory

7/1/2018 100 100
7/2/2018 75 175
7/3/2018 -150 25
7/4/2018 50 75
7/5/2018 -100 -25

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #14
Indeterminate Process Log
Your process log has several workflows broken down by step numbers with the possible status values of
Complete, Running, or Error.

Your task is to write an SQL statement that creates an overall status based on the following
requirements.

• If all steps of a workflow are of the same status (Error, Complete, or Running), then return the
distinct status.
• If any steps of a workflow have an Error status along with a status of Complete or Running, set
the overall status to Indeterminate.
• If the workflow steps have a combination of Complete and Running (without any Errors), set the
overall status to Running.

Workflow Step Number Status

Alpha 1 Error
Alpha 2 Complete
Alpha 3 Running
Bravo 1 Complete
Bravo 2 Complete
Charlie 1 Running
Charlie 2 Running
Delta 1 Error
Delta 2 Error
Echo 1 Running
Echo 2 Complete

Here is the expected output.

Workflow Status
Alpha Indeterminate
Bravo Complete
Charlie Running
Delta Error
Echo Running

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #15
Group Concatenation
Write an SQL statement that can group concatenate the following values.

Sequence Syntax
1 SELECT
2 Product,
3 UnitPrice,
4 EffectiveDate
5 FROM
6 Products
7 WHERE
8 UnitPrice
9 > 100

Here is the expected output.

Syntax
SELECT Product, UnitPrice, EffectiveDate FROM Products WHERE UnitPrice > 100

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #16
Reciprocals
You work for a software company that released a 2-player game and you need to tally the scores.

Given the following table, write an SQL statement to determine the reciprocals and calculate their
aggregate score.

In the data below, players 3003 and 4004 have two valid entries, but their scores need to be aggregated
together.

Player A Player B Score

1001 2002 150
3003 4004 15
4004 3003 125

Here is the expected output.

Player A Player B Score

1001 2002 150
3003 4004 140

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #17
De-Grouping
Write an SQL Statement to de-group the following data.

Product Quantity
Pencil 3
Eraser 4
Notebook 2

Here is the expected output.

Product Quantity
Pencil 1
Pencil 1
Pencil 1
Eraser 1
Eraser 1
Eraser 1
Eraser 1
Notebook 1
Notebook 1

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #18
Seating Chart
Given the set of integers provided in the following DDL statement, write the SQL statements to
determine the following:
• Gap start and gap ends
• Total missing numbers
• Count of odd and even numbers

CREATE TABLE #SeatingChart

(
SeatNumber INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO #SeatingChart VALUES

(7),(13),(14),(15),(27),(28),(29),(30),
(31),(32),(33),(34),(35),(52),(53),(54);

Here is the expected output.

Gap Start Gap End

1 6
8 12
16 26
36 51

Total Missing Numbers

38

Type Count
Even Numbers 8
Odd Numbers 9

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #19
Back to the Future
Here is one of the more difficult puzzles to solve with a declarative SQL statement.

Write an SQL statement to merge the overlapping time periods.

Start Date End Date

1/1/2018 1/5/2018
1/3/2018 1/9/2018
1/10/2018 1/11/2018
1/12/2018 1/16/2018
1/15/2018 1/19/2018

Here is the expected output.

Start Date End Date

1/1/2018 1/9/2018
1/10/2018 1/11/2018
1/12/2018 1/19/2018

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #20
Price Points
Write an SQL statement to determine the current price point for each product.

Product ID Effective Date Unit Price

1001 1/1/2018 $1.99
1001 4/15/2018 $2.99
1001 6/8/2018 $3.99
2002 4/17/2018 $1.99
2002 5/19/2018 $2.99

Here is the expected output.

Product ID Effective Date Unit Price

1001 6/8/2018 $3.99
2002 5/19/2018 $2.99

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #21
Average Monthly Sales
Write an SQL statement that returns a list of states where customers have an average monthly sales
value that is consistently greater than $100.

Order ID Customer ID Order Date Amount State

1 1001 1/1/2018 $100 TX
2 1001 1/1/2018 $150 TX
3 1001 1/1/2018 $75 TX
4 1001 2/1/2018 $100 TX
5 1001 3/1/2018 $100 TX
6 2002 2/1/2018 $75 TX
7 2002 2/1/2018 $150 TX
8 3003 1/1/2018 $100 IA
9 3003 2/1/2018 $100 IA
10 3003 3/1/2018 $100 IA
11 4004 4/1/2018 $100 IA
12 4004 5/1/2018 $50 IA
13 4004 5/1/2018 $100 IA

Here is the expected output.

State
TX

• Texas would show in the result set as Customer ID 1001 and 2002 each have their average
monthly value over $100.
• Iowa would not show in the result set because Customer ID 4004 did not have an average
monthly value over $100 in May 2018.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #22
Occurrences
Write an SQL statement that returns all distinct process log messages and the workflow where the
message occurred the most often.

Workflow Message Occurrences

Bravo Error: Cannot Divide by 0 3
Alpha Error: Conversion Failed 5
Charlie Error: Conversion Failed 7
Alpha Error: Unidentified error occurred 9
Bravo Error: Unidentified error occurred 1
Charlie Error: Unidentified error occurred 10
Alpha Status Complete 8
Charlie Status Complete 6

Here is the expected output.

Workflow Message Occurrences

Bravo Error: Cannot Divide by 0 3
Charlie Error: Conversion Failed 7
Charlie Error: Unidentified error occurred 10
Alpha Status Complete 8

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #23
Divide in Half
You work for a gaming company and need to rank players by their score into two categories.

Players that rank in the top half must be given a value of 1, and the remaining players must be given a
value of 2.

Write an SQL statement that meets these requirements.

Player ID Score
1001 2343
2002 9432
3003 6548
4004 1054
5005 6832

Here is the expected output.

Quartile Player ID Score

1 2002 9432
1 3003 6548
1 5005 6832
2 1001 2343
2 4004 1054

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #24
Page Views
Write an SQL statement that retrieves records 5 to 10 ordered by the Order ID column.

Order ID Customer ID Order Date Amount State

1 1001 1/1/2018 $100 TX
2 3003 1/1/2018 $100 IA
3 1001 3/1/2018 $100 TX
4 2002 2/1/2018 $150 TX
5 1001 2/1/2018 $100 TX
6 4004 5/1/2018 $50 IA
7 1001 1/1/2018 $150 TX
8 3003 3/1/2018 $100 IA
9 4004 4/1/2018 $100 IA
10 1001 1/1/2018 $75 TX
11 2002 2/1/2018 $75 TX
12 3003 2/1/2018 $100 IA
13 4004 5/1/2018 $100 IA

Here is the expected output.

Order ID Customer ID Order Date Amount State

5 1001 2/1/2018 $100 TX
6 4004 5/1/2018 $50 IA
7 1001 1/1/2018 $150 TX
8 3003 3/1/2018 $100 IA
9 4004 4/1/2018 $100 IA

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #25
Top Vendors
Write an SQL statement that returns the vendor from which each customer has placed the most orders.

Order ID Customer ID Count Vendor

1 1001 12 Direct Parts
2 1001 54 Direct Parts
3 1001 32 ACME
4 2002 7 ACME
5 2002 16 ACME
6 2002 5 Direct Parts

Here is the expected output.

Customer ID Vendor
1001 Direct Parts
2002 ACME

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #26
Previous Year’s Sales
Write an SQL statement that shows the current year’s sales, along with the previous year’s sales, and
the sales from two years ago.

Year Amount
2018 $352,645
2017 $165,565
2017 $254,654
2016 $159,521
2016 $251,696
2016 $111,894

Here is the expected output.

2018 2017 2016

$352,645 $420,219 $411,217

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 29

Puzzle #27
Delete the Duplicates
Given the set of integers provided in the following DDL statement, write an SQL statement that deletes
the duplicated integers (1 and 3).

CREATE TABLE #SampleData

(
IntegerValue INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO #SampleData VALUES

(1),(1),(2),(3),(3),(4);

Here is the expected output.

Integer Value
1
2
3
4

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 30

Puzzle #28
Fill the Gaps
The answer to this problem is often referred to as a data smear or a flash fill.

Write an SQL statement to fill in the missing gaps.

Row Number Workflow Status

1 Alpha Pass
2 Fail
3 Fail
4 Fail
5 Bravo Pass
6 Fail
7 Fail
8 Pass
9 Pass
10 Charlie Fail
11 Fail
12 Fail

Here is the expected output.

Row Number Workflow Status

1 Alpha Pass
2 Alpha Fail
3 Alpha Fail
4 Alpha Fail
5 Bravo Pass
6 Bravo Fail
7 Bravo Fail
8 Bravo Pass
9 Bravo Pass
10 Charlie Fail
11 Charlie Fail
12 Charlie Fail

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 31

Puzzle #29
Count the Groupings
Write an SQL statement that counts the consecutive values in the Status column.

Step Number Status

1 Passed
2 Passed
3 Passed
4 Passed
5 Failed
6 Failed
7 Failed
8 Failed
9 Failed
10 Passed
11 Passed
12 Passed

Here is the expected outcome.

Min Step Number Max Step Number Status Consecutive Count

1 4 Passed 4
5 9 Failed 5
10 12 Passed 3

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 32

Puzzle #30
Select Star
Your developers have many bad practices; the worst of them being they routinely deploy procedures
that do not explicitly define which columns to return in their SELECT clause.

Modify the following table in such a way that the statement SELECT * FROM Products will return an
error when executed.

CREATE TABLE #Products

(
ProductID INTEGER,
ProductName VARCHAR(MAX)
);

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 33

Puzzle #31
Second Highest
Given the set of integers in the following DDL statement, how many different SQL statements can you
write that will return the second-highest integer?

CREATE TABLE #SampleData

(
IntegerValue INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO #SampleData VALUES

(3759),(3760),(3761),(3762),(3763);

Here is the expected output.

Integer Value
3762

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 34

Puzzle #32
First and Last
Write an SQL statement that determines the most and least experienced Spaceman ID by their job
description.

Spaceman ID Job Description Mission Count

1001 Astrogator 6
2002 Astrogator 12
3003 Astrogator 17
4004 Geologist 21
5005 Geologist 9
6006 Geologist 8
7007 Technician 13
8008 Technician 2
9009 Technician 7

Here is the expected output.

Job Description Most Experienced Least Experienced

Astrogator 3003 1001
Geologist 4004 6006
Technician 7007 8008

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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Puzzle #33
Deadlines
How many different SQL statements can you write that determines if an order will be fulfilled by the
requested delivery date?

Orders
Order ID Product Days to Deliver
1 Widget 7
2 Gizmo 3
3 Doodad 9

Manufacturing Time
Part Product Days to Manufacture
AA-111 Widget 7
BB-222 Widget 2
CC-333 Widget 3
DD-444 Widget 1
AA-111 Gizmo 7
BB-222 Gizmo 2
AA-111 Doodad 7
DD-444 Doodad 1

Here is the expected output.

Order ID Product
1 Widget
3 Doodad

• Order ID 1 and 2 would be in the output as these orders have a promised delivery date that is
equal to or greater than the days to manufacture.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 36

Puzzle #34
Specific Exclusion
Write an SQL statement that returns all rows except where the Customer ID is 1001 and the Amount is
$50.

Order ID Customer ID Amount

1 1001 $25
2 1001 $50
3 2002 $65
4 3003 $50

Here is the expected output.

Order ID Customer ID Amount

1 1001 $25
3 2002 $65
4 3003 $50

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 37

Puzzle #35
International vs. Domestic Sales
You work in a sales office that sells widgets both domestically and internationally.

Write an SQL statement that shows all sales representatives who either had a domestic sale or an
international sale, but not both.

Invoice ID Sales Rep ID Amount Sales Type

1 1001 $13,454 International
2 2002 $3,434 International
3 4004 $54,645 International
4 5005 $234,345 International
5 7007 $776 International
6 1001 $4,564 Domestic
7 2002 $34,534 Domestic
8 3003 $345 Domestic
9 6006 $6,543 Domestic
10 8008 $67 Domestic

Here is the expected output.

Sales Rep ID
3003
4004
5005
6006

• Sales Rep IDs 3003, 4004, 5005, and 6006 would appear in the result set as they had either an
international sale or a domestic sale, but not both.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 38

Puzzle #36
Traveling Salesman
Here is a well-known problem that is called the Traveling Salesman.

Write an SQL statement that shows all the possible routes from Austin to Des Moines. Which route is
the most expensive? Which route is the least expensive?

Note the data represents a cyclic graph.

Route ID Departure City Arrival City Cost

1 Austin Dallas $100
1 Dallas Austin $100
2 Dallas Memphis $200
2 Memphis Dallas $200
3 Memphis Des Moines $300
3 Des Moines Memphis $300
4 Dallas Des Moines $400
4 Des Moines Dallas $400

Here is the expected output.

Route Path Total Cost

Austin --> Dallas --> Des Moines $500
Austin --> Dallas --> Memphis --> Des Moines $600

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 39

Puzzle #37
Group Criteria Keys
Write an SQL statement that provides a key based upon the distinct combination of the columns
Distributor, Facility, and Zone.

Order ID Distributor Facility Zone Amount

1 ACME 123 ABC $100
2 ACME 123 ABC $75
3 Direct Parts 789 XYZ $150
4 Direct Parts 789 XYZ $125

Here is the expected output.

Criteria ID Order ID Distributor Facility Zone Amount

1 1 ACME 123 ABC $100
1 2 ACME 123 ABC $75
2 3 Direct Parts 789 XYZ $150
2 4 Direct Parts 789 XYZ $125

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 40

Puzzle #38
Reporting Elements
You must provide a report of all distributors and their sales by region. If a distributor did not have any
sales for a region, provide a zero-dollar value for that day. Assume there is at least one sale for each
region.

Region Distributor Sales

North ACE 10
South ACE 67
East ACE 54
North ACME 65
South ACME 9
East ACME 1
West ACME 7
North Direct Parts 8
South Direct Parts 7
West Direct Parts 12

Here is the expected output.

Region Distributor Sales

North ACE 10
South ACE 67
East ACE 54
West ACE 0
North ACME 65
South ACME 9
East ACME 1
West ACME 7
North Direct Parts 8
South Direct Parts 7
East Direct Parts 0
West Direct Parts 12

• In the result set, Ace and Direct Parts each have a fabricated record with 0 sales.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 41

Puzzle #39
Prime Numbers
A prime number is a natural number greater than one that has no positive divisors other than one and
itself.

Write an SQL statement to determine which of the integers provided in the following DDL statement are
prime numbers.

CREATE TABLE #PrimeNumbers

(
IntegerValue INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO #PrimeNumbers VALUES

(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10);

Here is the expected output.

Integer Value
2
3
5
7

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 42

Puzzle #40
Sort Order
Write an SQL statement that sorts the following values into the expected output. Can you find the most
elegant solution?

City
Atlanta
Baltimore
Chicago
Denver

Here is the expected output.

City
Baltimore
Denver
Atlanta
Chicago

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 43

Puzzle #41
Associate IDs
The following table shows two hierarchical structures.

1. The first is the association between Anne, Betty, Charles, Dan, and Emma.
2. The second is the association between Francis, George, and Harriet.

Write an SQL statement that creates a grouping number for each hierarchical association and display the
member in the associations.

Associate 1 Associate 2
Anne Betty
Anne Charles
Betty Dan
Charles Emma
Francis George
George Harriet

Here is the expected output.

Grouping Associate
1 Anne
1 Betty
1 Charles
1 Dan
1 Emma
2 Francis
2 George
2 Harriet

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 44

Puzzle #42
Mutual Friends
The following table shows a cyclic data structure.

Given the following list of friend connections, determine the number of mutual connections between
the friends.

Friend 1 Friend 2
Jason Mary
Mike Mary
Mike Jason
Susan Jason
John Mary
Susan Mary

Here is the expected output.

Friend 1 Friend 2 Mutual Friends

Jason Mary 2
John Mary 0
Jason Mike 1
Mary Mike 1
Jason Susan 1
Mary Susan 1

• Jason and Mary have 2 mutual friends: Mike and Susan.

• John and Mary have 0 mutual friends.
• Jason and Mike have 1 mutual friend: Mary.
• etc..…...

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 45

Puzzle #43
Unbounded Preceding
Determine the minimum quantity for each record between the current row and all previous rows for
each Customer ID.

Order ID Customer ID Quantity

1 1001 5
2 1001 8
3 1001 3
4 1001 7
1 2002 4
2 2002 9

Here is the expected output.

Order ID Customer ID Quantity Min Value

1 1001 5 5
2 1001 8 5
3 1001 3 3
4 1001 7 3
1 2002 4 4
2 2002 9 4

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 46

Puzzle #44
Slowly Changing Dimension Part I
Give the following table, write an SQL statement to create a Type 2 Slowly Changing Dimension.

Customer ID Balance Date Amount

1001 10/11/2021 $54.32
1001 10/10/2021 $17.65
1001 9/18/2021 $65.56
1001 9/12/2021 $56.23
1001 9/1/2021 $42.12
2002 10/15/2021 $46.52
2002 10/13/2021 $7.65
2002 9/15/2021 $75.12
2002 9/10/2021 $47.34
2002 9/2/2021 $11.11

Here is the expected output.

Customer ID Start Date End Date Amount

1001 10/11/2021 12/31/9999 $54.32
1001 10/10/2021 10/10/2021 $17.65
1001 9/18/2021 10/9/2021 $65.56
1001 9/12/2021 9/17/2021 $56.23
1001 9/1/2021 9/11/2021 $42.12
2002 10/15/2021 12/31/9999 $46.52
2002 10/13/2021 10/14/2021 $7.65
2002 9/15/2021 10/12/2021 $75.12
2002 9/10/2021 9/14/2021 $47.34
2002 9/2/2021 9/9/2021 $11.11

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 47

Puzzle #45
Slowly Changing Dimension Part II
Given the following table with overlapping timeframes. Write an SQL statement to identify the
overlapping records.

Customer ID Start Date End Date Amount

1001 10/11/2021 12/31/9999 $54.32
1001 10/10/2021 10/10/2021 $17.65
1001 9/18/2021 10/12/2021 $65.56
2002 9/12/2021 9/17/2021 $56.23
2002 9/1/2021 9/17/2021 $42.12
2002 8/15/2021 8/31/2021 $16.32

Here is the expected output.

Customer ID Start Date End Date Amount

1001 9/18/2021 10/12/2021 $65.56
2002 9/1/2021 9/17/2021 $42.12

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 48

Puzzle #46
Negative Account Balances
How many different SQL statements can you write to determine all accounts whose balance has never
been positive?

Account ID Balance
1001 $234.45
1001 $-23.12
2002 $-93.01
2002 $-120.19
3003 $186.76
3003 $90.23
3003 $10.11

Here is the expected output.

Account ID
2002

• Account ID 2002 would appear in the result set as this account has never had a positive balance.
• There are a multitude of ways to write this statement, can you think of them all?

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 49

Puzzle #47
Work Schedule
Given a table of employee shifts, and another table of their activities, merge the two tables and write an
SQL statement that produces the desired output. If an employee is scheduled and does not have an
activity planned, label the time frame as “Work”.

Schedule
Schedule ID Start Time End Time
A 10/1/2021 10:00 10/1/2021 15:00
B 10/1/2021 10:15 10/1/2021 12:15

Activity
Schedule ID Activity Start Time End Time
A Meeting 10/1/2021 10:00 10/1/2021 10:30
A Break 10/1/2021 12:00 10/1/2021 12:30
A Meeting 10/1/2021 13:00 10/1/2021 13:30
B Break 10/1/2021 11:00 10/1/2021 11:15

Here is the expected output.

Schedule ID Activity Start Time End Time

A Meeting 10/1/2021 10:00 10/1/2021 10:30
A Work 10/1/2021 10:30 10/1/2021 12:00
A Break 10/1/2021 12:00 10/1/2021 12:30
A Work 10/1/2021 12:30 10/1/2021 13:00
A Meeting 10/1/2021 13:00 10/1/2021 13:30
A Work 10/1/2021 13:30 10/1/2021 15:00
B Work 10/1/2021 10:15 10/1/2021 11:00
B Break 10/1/2021 11:00 10/1/2021 11:15
B Work 10/1/2021 11:15 10/1/2021 12:15

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 50

Puzzle #48
Consecutive Sales
For the following Customer IDs, write an SQL statement to determine customers that had a sale in the
current year, plus the previous two consecutive years.

You will need to adjust the test data for the current year, as the test data is coded for the year 2021.

Sales ID Year
1001 2018
1001 2019
1001 2020
2002 2020
2002 2021
3003 2018
3003 2020
3003 2021
4004 2019
4004 2020
4004 2021

Here is the expected output.

Sales ID
4004

• Sales ID 4004 would be in the expected output as this customer had a sale in the current year,
plus the previous two years.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 51

Puzzle #49
Sumo Wrestlers
A group of Sumo wrestlers are forming a line to board an elevator. Unfortunately, the elevator can only
hold 2,000 pounds and not all Sumo wrestlers can board. Which Sumo wrestler would be the last to
enter given the following queue order?

Line Order Name Weight

1 Haruto 611
2 Minato 533
3 Haruki 623
4 Sota 569
5 Aoto 610
6 Hinata 525

Here is the expected output.

Name
Haruki

• The expected output would be Haruki, as this is the last Sumo wrestler to fit in the elevator
before the 2,000-pound maximum capacity is reached.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 52

Puzzle #50
Baseball Balls and Strikes
For this puzzle, you will need to understand the rules of baseball's balls and strike count.

Given a table containing the columns Batter ID, Pitch Number and Result for each pitch. Construct an
SQL statement that returns Start Of Pitch Count and End Of Pitch Count.

Batter ID Pitch Number Result Start Of Pitch Count End Of Pitch Count
1001 1 Foul 0–0 0–1
1001 2 Foul 0–1 0–2
1001 3 Ball 0–2 1–2
1001 4 Ball 1–2 2–2
1001 5 Strike 2–2 2–3
2002 1 Ball 0–0 1–0
2002 2 Strike 1–0 1–1
2002 3 Foul 1–1 1–2
2002 4 Foul 1–2 1–2
2002 5 Foul 1–2 1–2
2002 6 In Play 1–2 In-Play
3003 1 Ball 0–0 1–0
3003 2 Ball 1–0 2–0
3003 3 Ball 2–0 3–0
3003 4 Ball 3–0 4–0
4004 1 Foul 0–0 0–1
4004 2 Foul 0–1 0–2
4004 3 Foul 0–2 0–2
4004 4 Foul 0–2 0–2
4004 5 Foul 0–2 0–2
4004 6 Strike 0–2 0–3

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 53

Puzzle #51
Primary Key Creation
Given the following table whose natural key is a combination of the columns Assembly ID and Part, use
the HASHBYTES and CHECKSUM functions to create two new column that can be used as primary keys.

The goal here is to create a single column that is unique and re-creatable. The benefit of creating a
hashbytes or checksum column is to aid in data profiling and integrity checks when a table contains a
multitude of columns that form the natural key (and some of these columns can be NULL).

Assembly ID Part
1001 Bolt
1001 Screw
2002 Nut
2002 Washer
3003 Toggle
3003 Bolt

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 54

Puzzle #52
Phone Numbers Table
You are creating a table that customer agents will use to enter customer phone numbers.

Create a table with the columns Customer ID and Phone Number, where the Phone Number column
must be inserted with the format (999)-999-9999.

Agents will enter phone numbers into this table via a form, and it is imperative that phone numbers are
formatted correctly when inputted. Create a table that meets these requirements.

Here are a few sample records.

Customer ID Phone Number

1001 (555)-555-5555
2002 (555)-555-5555
3003 (555)-555-5555

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 55

Puzzle #53
Spouse IDs
You are given the following table of individuals and their spouse. Every individual exists both as a
Primary ID and a Spouse ID. You need to create a group criteria key to match the associated records.

Primary ID Spouse ID
Pat Charlie
Jordan Casey
Ashley Dee
Charlie Pat
Casey Jordan
Dee Ashley

Here is the expected output.

Group ID Primary ID Spouse ID

1 Ashley Dee
1 Dee Ashley
2 Jordan Casey
2 Casey Jordan
3 Charlie Pat
3 Pat Charlie

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 56

Puzzle #54
Winning the Lottery
You are part of an office lottery pool where you keep a table of the winning lottery numbers along with
a table of each ticket’s chosen numbers. If a ticket has some but not all the winning numbers, you win
$10. If a ticket has all the winning numbers, you win $100. Calculate the total winnings for today’s
drawing.

Winning Numbers
Number
25
45
78

Tickets
Ticket ID Number
AAA 25
AAA 45
AAA 78
BBB 25
BBB 45
BBB 98
CCC 67
CCC 86
CCC 91

Here is the expected output.

Amount
$110

• The expected output would be $110, as you have one winning ticket with all the winning
numbers, and one ticket that has some but not all the winning numbers.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 57

Puzzle #55
Table Audit
Conduct an audit on the following tables to identify products and their corresponding quantities that are
either matching or unique to each table, and generate the expected output listed below.

Products A
Product Name Quantity
Widget 7
Doodad 9
Gizmo 3

Products B
Product Name Quantity
Widget 7
Doodad 6
Dingbat 9

Here is the expected output.

Type ProductName
Matches in both table A and table B Widget
Product does not exist in table A Dingbat
Product does not exist in table B Gizmo
Quantity in table A and table B do not match Doodad

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 58

Puzzle #56
Numbers Using Recursion
Create a numbers table using a recursive query.

Here is the expected output.

Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

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 P a g e | 59

Puzzle #57
Find the Spaces
Given the following table containing SQL statements, write an SQL statement that displays the following
summary.

Statement
SELECT EmpID FROM Employees;
SELECT * FROM Transactions;

Here is the expected output.

Row Number Quote ID String Starts Ends Word

1 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 1 6 SELECT
2 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 8 12 EmpID
3 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 14 17 FROM
4 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 19 28 Employees;
1 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 1 6 SELECT
2 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 8 8 *
3 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 10 13 FROM
4 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 15 27 Transactions;

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 60

Puzzle #58
Add Them Up
You are given the following table, which contains a VARCHAR column that contains mathematical
equations. Sum the equations and provide the answers in the output.

Equation
123
1+2+3
1+2-3
1+23
1-2+3
1-2-3
1-23
12+3
12-3

Here is the expected output.

Permutation Sum
123 123
1+2+3 6
1+2-3 0
1+23 24
1-2+3 2
1-2-3 -4
1-23 -22
12+3 15
12-3 9

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 61

Puzzle #59
Balanced String
Given a string containing parentheses, brackets, and braces, determine if the string is a balanced string.

A balanced string must have an opening symbol, a corresponding closing symbol, and the symbols
appear in the correct order.

For example, the string "([])" is balanced because the opening square bracket is followed by the closing
square bracket, and the opening parenthesis is followed by the closing parenthesis, and they are in the
correct order. However, the string "([)]" is not balanced because the closing parenthesis appears before
the closing square bracket.

Can you discover an efficient algorithm for determining whether a given string is balanced or not?

ID String
1 ()
2 []
3 {}
4 (({[]}))
5 ()[]
6 ({})
7 ({)}
8 ({)}}}()
9 }{()][

Here is the expected output.

ID String Outcome
1 () Balanced
2 [] Balanced
3 {} Balanced
4 (({[]})) Balanced
5 ()[] Balanced
6 ({}) Balanced
7 ({)} Unbalanced
8 ({)}}}() Unbalanced
9 }{()][ Unbalanced

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 62

Puzzle #60
Products Without Duplicates
Given the below products table, return a result set of all product codes not associated with multiple
products.

Product Product Code

Alpha 01
Alpha 02
Bravo 03
Bravo 04
Charlie 02
Delta 01
Echo EE
Foxtrot EE
Gulf GG

Here is the expected output.

Product Code
EE
GG

• The result set will contain the Product Codes of EE and GG as Product Codes 01, 02, 03, and 04
are associated with Alpha and Bravo, which have multiple entries.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 63

Puzzle #61
Player Scores
For the following dataset, you need to find the difference between each player’s first and current scores,
as well as their last and current scores. If their score improved from their previous score, mark the
record as improved. If each iteration improved, mark the player as overall improved.

Attempt ID Player ID Score

1 1001 2
1 2002 6
2 1001 7
2 2002 9
3 1001 8
3 2002 7

Here is the expected output.

Difference Difference Is Previous Score Is Overall

Attempt ID Player ID Score First Last Lower Improved
1 1001 2 0 -6 1 1
1 2002 6 5 -1 1 1
2 1001 7 6 0 1 1
2 2002 9 0 -1 1 0
3 1001 8 3 2 1 0
3 2002 7 1 0 0 0

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 64

Puzzle #62
Car and Boat Purchase
You won the lottery and want to buy both a car and a boat. However, the car must be $200,000 more
than the boat. What are your options given the following vehicles?

Vehicle ID Type Model Price

1 Car Rolls-Royce Phantom $460,000
2 Car Cadillac CT5 $39,000
3 Car Porsche Boxster $63,000
4 Car Lamborghini Spyder $290,000
5 Boat Malibu $210,000
6 Boat ATX 22-S $85,000
7 Boat Sea Ray SLX $520,000
8 Boat Mastercraft $25,000

Here is the expected outcome.

Car Boat
Lamborghini Spyder ATX 22-S
Lamborghini Spyder Mastercraft
Rolls-Royce Phantom ATX 22-S
Rolls-Royce Phantom Malibu
Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastercraft

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 65

Puzzle #63
Promotion Codes
Identify all orders linked to a single product with a "PROMO" discount value. If an order is associated
with multiple products or multiple discounts, it should not be included in the result.

Order ID Product Discount

1 Item 1 PROMO
1 Item 1 PROMO
1 Item 1 MARKDOWN
1 Item 2 PROMO
2 Item 2
2 Item 3 MARKDOWN
2 Item 3
3 Item 1 PROMO
3 Item 1 PROMO
3 Item 1 PROMO

Here is the expected output.

Order ID
3

• Order ID 3 meets these criteria because it has a connection to only one product. Item 1, and all
the products linked to it have a discount value of "PROMO”. On the other hand, Order ID 1 does
not meet the criteria as it is linked to two different products.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 66

Puzzle #64
Between Quotes
Given the following table of strings that have embedded quotes, return the result based on the
following:

1. If the string has more than two quotes, or has zero quotes, return “Error”.
2. If the string has two quotes and more than 10 characters between the quotes, return “True”.
3. If the string has two quotes and less than or equal to 10 characters between the quotes, return
“False”.

ID String Result
1 "12345678901234" True
2 1"2345678901234" True
3 123"45678"901234" Error
4 123"45678901234" True
5 12345678901"234" False
6 12345678901234 Error

Here is the expected output.

ID String Result
1 "12345678901234" True
2 1"2345678901234" True
3 123"45678"901234" Error
4 123"45678901234" True
5 12345678901"234" False
6 12345678901234 Error

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 67

Part II
Permutations, Combinations, Sequences
and Random Numbers
Building Complex Numbers Table

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
 P a g e | 68

Puzzle #1
Factorials
Create a numbers table of 1 through 10 and their factorial.

Here is the expected output.

Number Factorial
1 1
2 2
3 6
4 24
5 120
6 720
7 5,040
8 40,320
9 362,880
10 3,628,800

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 69

Puzzle #2
All Permutations
Create a numbers table of all permutations of n distinct numbers.

Here is the expected output for the set {1, 2, 3}.

Max Number Permutation

3 1,2,3
3 1,3,2
3 2,1,3
3 2,3,1
3 3,1,2
3 3,2,1

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 70

Puzzle #3
Growing Numbers
Create a numbers table that shows all numbers 1 through n and their order gradually increasing by the
next number in the sequence.

Here is the expected output where n = 5.

Permutation
1
12
123
1234
12345

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

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 P a g e | 71

Puzzle #4
Non-Adjacent Numbers
Given an ordered set of numbers (for example {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}); create a result set of
permutations where no two adjacent entries are adjacent numbers.

For example…

The arrangement {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} would fit the criteria as no two entries are adjacent
numbers.

The arrangement {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 3, 5, 7, 9} would not fit the criteria as 1 and 2 are adjacent numbers.

The arrangement {1, 4, 2, 6, 7, 10, 3, 5, 8, 9} would not fit the criteria as 6 and 7 are adjacent numbers.

The arrangement {1, 3, 2, 6, 7, 10, 9, 5, 8, 4} would not fit the criteria as 3 and 2 are adjacent numbers.

Here is the expected output for the set of {1, 2, 3, 4}.

Permutation
2,4,1,3
3,1,4,2

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #5
Add the Numbers Up
Given an ordered set of numbers 1 through n (for example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), and a + or – sign at
all possible groupings; create all possible permutations and the amount in which they add up to.

Here is the expected output for the set of {1, 2, 3}.

Permutation Sum
123 123
1+2+3 6
1+2-3 0
1+23 24
1-2+3 2
1-2-3 -4
1-23 -22
12+3 15
12-3 9

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #6
Permutations of 0 and 1
Create a result set of all permutations for the combination of 0 and 1 with a length of n digits.

Here is the expected output for permutations with a length of 3 digits.

Permutation
000
001
010
011
100
101
110
111

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #7
Permutations 1 through 10
Display all permutations for the numbers 1 through n, displaying only the first n numbers.

Here is the expected output for all 24 permutations for the set {1,2,3,4}, displaying only the first three
numbers.

Permutation
1,2,3
1,2,4
1,3,2
1,3,4
1,4,2
1,4,3
2,1,3
2,1,4
2,3,1
2,3,4
2,4,1
2,4,3
3,1,2
3,1,4
3,2,1
3,2,4
3,4,1
3,4,2
4,1,2
4,1,3
4,2,1
4,2,3
4,3,1
4,3,2

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #8
Four Vehicles Problem
Here is an example problem involving combinations.

Given the following four vehicles:

• 1-seat motorcycle
• 2-seat sidecar
• 3-seat golf cart
• 4-seat car

There are 10 people in total; 5 are children, and 5 are adults. Only an adult can drive a vehicle.

Create a table of all possible 7,200 arrangements, assuming seating order does not matter.

We can determine there are 7,200 arrangements by using the following equation.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #9
Find the Spaces
Given the following table of SQL statements, provide a numbers table that displays a summary of the
space character for each SQL statement.

Statement
SELECT EmpID FROM Emps;
SELECT * FROM Trans;

Here is the expected output.

RowNumber Id String Starts Position Word TotalSpaces

1 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 1 7 SELECT 3
2 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 8 13 EmpID 3
3 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 14 18 FROM 3
4 1 SELECT EmpID FROM Emps; 19 0 Emps; 3
1 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 1 7 SELECT 3
2 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 8 9 * 3
3 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 10 14 FROM 3
4 2 SELECT * FROM Trans; 15 0 Trans; 3

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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PuzzleSeat #10
Seating Chart
Given the set of integers provided in the following DDL statement, write the SQL statements to
determine the following:
• Gap start and gap ends
• Total missing numbers
• Count of odd and even numbers

CREATE TABLE #SeatingChart

(
SeatNumber INTEGER
);
GO

INSERT INTO #SeatingChart VALUES

(7),(13),(14),(15),(27),(28),(29),(30),
(31),(32),(33),(34),(35),(52),(53),(54);
GO

Here is the expected output.

Gap Start Gap End

1 6
8 12
16 26
36 51

Total Missing Numbers

38

Type Count
Even Numbers 8
Odd Numbers 9

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #11
Count the Groupings
Write an SQL statement that counts the consecutive values in the Status column.

Step Number Status

1 Passed
2 Passed
3 Passed
4 Passed
5 Failed
6 Failed
7 Failed
8 Failed
9 Failed
10 Passed
11 Passed
12 Passed

Here is the expected outcome.

Min Step Number Max Step Number Status Consecutive Count

1 4 Passed 4
5 9 Failed 5
10 12 Passed 3

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #12
Double or Add 1
Create a numbers table where you start with the number 1, and then double the number if the result is
less than 100, else add 1.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #13
Pascal’s Triangle
Solve for any position in Pascal’s Triangle.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #14
Josephus Problem
Solve the Josephus Problem.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #15
High-Low Card Game
Write a program that shuffles a standard deck of cards and plays a game of High-Low.

The game is played by receiving an initial card and then determining if the next card will be of higher or
lower value based on probability. Make a random decision of higher or lower where necessary.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #16
Monty Hall Simulation
Run 10,000 simulations of the Monty Hall problem to prove it is true.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #17
Dice Throw Game
What is the average number of dice throws needed to reach 100 points given the following rules?

• Starting at 0, for each dice throw resulting in 1 through 5, add the dice amount to your
score.
• If you roll a 6 (even on a re-roll), re-roll the dice and reduce your score by this amount. You
cannot go lower than 0 points.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #18
The Birthday Problem
Run 10,000 simulations of the Birthday problem to prove it is true.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #19
Random Walk
Perform a random walk best described by the following puzzle:

As the host of a weekly dinner gathering that includes you and seven friends, you've come up with an
interesting method to decide who will be the host for the upcoming dinner party.
After the meal, all attendees, including yourself, gather around a circular table. You, as the current host,
initiate a game by flipping a fair coin. If the coin lands heads up, you hand the coin to the person sitting
on your right; if it is tails, you pass it to your left.
The person who gets the coin then repeats the process, flipping it and passing it to their right or left
based on the result. This cycle continues until there is only one person left who has not yet received the
coin.
This last remaining individual, who has not touched the coin, is announced as the winner and is given
the responsibility of hosting the next dinner party.
Note that because you were the first to flip the coin in the game, you are immediately disqualified from
the possibility of hosting the upcoming dinner party.
Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.
AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #20
Markov Chain
Perform a Markov Chain best described by the following puzzle:

In Probability Land, on a sunny day, there is an equal probability of the next day being sunny or rainy.
On a rainy day there is a 70% chance it will rain the next day, and a 30% chance it will be sunny the next
day.

On average, how many rainy days are there in Probability Land?

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.
AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #21
100 Prisoners Riddle
Run 10,000 simulations of the 100 Prisonsers Problem to prove it is true.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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Puzzle #22
Non-Overlapping Sets
You are given a table of orders, their line items, and the cost associated with each line item. Your task is
to write an SQL statement that finds the maximum number of non-overlapping sets of line items for
each order, with the condition that the total cost of line items in each set must be greater than or equal
to $10. A set can be no greater than 2 records.

Order ID Line Item Cost

1 1 $9
1 2 $15
1 3 $7
1 4 $3
1 5 $1
1 6 $1
2 1 $10
2 2 $10
2 3 $11
3 1 $3
3 2 $4

Here is the expected outcome.

Order ID Set Count Set Combinations

1 3 (1,5),(2),(3,4)
1 3 (1,6),(2),(3,4)
2 3 (1),(2),(3)
3 0
4 1 (1,2)
5 1 (1,2)
5 1 (1,3)
5 1 (2,3)

• Order ID 1 has 2 possible combinations of line items that total over $10, each with 3 sets.
• Order ID 2 has 1 possible combination of line items that total over $10, which has 3 sets.
• Order ID 3 has 0 possible combinations of line items that total over $10.
• Order ID 4 has 1 possible combination of line items that total over $10, which has 1 set.
• Order ID 5 has 3 possible combinations of line items that total over $10, each with 2 sets.

Answers to the puzzles are located in the following GitHub repository.

AdvancedSQLPuzzles/Advanced SQL Puzzles

https://advancedsqlpuzzles.com/
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THE END

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