Supposedly, this riddle was created by Albert Einstein and, on average, only 2% of solvers will be successful. Are there any logic puzzle experts out there who can verify the source of this riddle? If so, they can add a comment to this puzzle blog.
Einstein's Riddle
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Brain Teasers and Mechanical Puzzles
Sliding block puzzles, tangrams and other mechanical puzzles to enjoy. These brainteaser puzzles encourage creative thinking and problem solving while providing hours of fun for kids of all ages.
Einstein's Riddle
Give Your Brain a Workout!
Brain Teasers and Mechanical PuzzlesSliding block puzzles, tangrams and other mechanical puzzles to enjoy. These brainteaser puzzles encourage creative thinking and problem solving while providing hours of fun for kids of all ages.
Comments
This is soooo stupid… Im in 8th grade and our math teacher gave that to us and EVERYONE solved it…
ok.. so.. whats the answer then? lol
I figured it out…it’s awesome!
hey.Just completed einsteins puzzle at school.I was sitting in english and found it on the net. Was wondering of the answer to see if I was right. I worked out that the German (green house, coffee, prince) owns the fish. Please let me know if i’m right. Manty thanks, good puzzle. Cheers. Woot
you are correct
German? Hmm…that’s not what I got. I would like to think that I got it right and you guys got it wrong, but what are the chances of that?
Anyway, can you explain how you worked it out to come to the conclusion?
Hi, you can play this riddle live at http://www.myhomy.com under teasers
-Kevin
our 9th grade class was given this and about 90% got it right.
The riddle is naturally easy, but do not forget that Einstein said that only 2% can solve it in the 19th century. Surely it is different now…
You also can’t forget that a portion of that 98% could be because most of the world won’t even learn of this riddle.
How can you solve it if you don’t know about it?
Dear All,
Colour: Green,
Nationality: German,
Drink: Coffee,
Smoke: Prince,
Pet: Fish.
Hope this will be right.
This puzzle’s now been posted on About Puzzles about a gazillion times.
Interesting, this puzzle was circulated with the note that Einstein wrote the puzzle as a boy in the 19th century. This has been disproven, since Einstein as a boy would not have heard of Pall Malls, which were not invented until 1899, and did not become popular until the 1900s.
The 2% is meant for those who could solve the puzzle mentally. I’m sure more than 2% could solve this puzzle. I did it in just under any hour using a diagram.
Like Mark said, this riddle is supposed to be done mentally without writing anything down. I’m curious how many people who worked it out on paper would have been able to do it all in their heads.
I did it and I am in 6th grade.
House1 House2 House3 House4 House5
Name Norwegian Dane Brit German Swede
color Yellow Blue Red Green White
drink water tea milk coffee beer
smoke Dunhill Blends Pall Mall Prince Blue Master
pet cats horses birds fish dogs
House1 House2 House3 House4 House5
Name Norwegian Dane Brit German Swede
color Yellow Blue Red Green White
drink water tea milk coffee beer
smoke Dunhill Blends Pall Mall Prince Blue Master
pet cats horses birds fish dogs
lol, there’s a reason why only 2% can solve it. if u got the right answer, u should have gotten it instantly or under a minute or sth. After u find out the answer, u r gonna feel like an idot (like i felt.) THE ANSWER IS NOT GERMAN!!! although i hope it is-_-
lol, there’s a reason why only 2% can solve it. if u got the right answer, u would have gotten it instantly or under a minute. After u find out the answer, u r gonna feel like an idot (like i felt.) THE ANSWER IS NOT GERMAN!!! although i hope it is-_-
This was fun! My daughter printed it out of the computer for me. It took 2 hours, but I wanted to be the 2%! I love brain teasers logic puzzles and all that. But that was one of the hardest puzzles. It does not get me frustrated like some people…
what the heck is tha answer?
cuz my teacher says it’s not the german.
I did it in 7 mins using a paper and pencil.
Seems to me that No One has a fish
http://makezine.com/17/aha/
everyone owns diferent fish.
i solved it and i am in 7th grade… i got house 1(yellow norweigan water dunhill cats)
house 2(blue dane tea blends horses)
house 3(red brit milk pallmall birds)
house 4(green german coffee prince fish)
house 5(white swede beer bluemaster dog)
Hey the puzzle was awesome and finalyy I could figure out that the German owns the FISH. Great feeling because the challenging part of the Puzzle was that Einstein’s name was attached to it. So finally Happy that I solved it.
commment no.18 (by ~__~) and 19(by tom)said that the answer isn’t german… den wat is it? coz i got german too…
comment no. 18 (by~__~) and no. 19 (by tom) said that the answer isn’t german… they may i know wat isit?
geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez
dooooooooooooooooooooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiii care?
seriously, what if einstein meant… 98% COULD solve it?
and 2% couldn’t?
that would b possible…
i just started a minute ago…
it’s german…
im sure of it
my 7th grade class all solved this easyily
Yes, people can figure out the answer that you got, that the German owns the fish, but Einstein wanted people to give the real answer, that you cannot deduce who the fish belongs to from the given information, since it was never said that the missing pet was the fish.
I got the answer in less than half an hour (I know that’s a long time tho)
The answer should be the German, with the green House… um… right???? lol
P.S. I’m in 7th grade
This is something made by Albert Einstein? It’s rude to say it, but I’m sure he can do better than this.
(Yes, people can figure out the answer that you got, that the German owns the fish, but Einstein wanted people to give the real answer, that you cannot deduce who the fish belongs to from the given information, since it was never said that the missing pet was the fish.) ~Quote from Megan
Then why should Albert Einstein ask the question in the first place? After all, there are gazillions of people out there with goldfishes. The main question “who owns the fish” isn’t
right at the first place either. You can just answer any name and it’s a right answer. I know a Tom who has fishes
I solved it in 2 hours 20 minutes and I made it really easy to undrestand. gust follow the link below and you will be surprised that how come people can not solve this easy puzzle.
http://sites.google.com/site/einsteinsriddle/ei
just check out my way of solving it and you will be surprise that how easy it is.
http://sites.google.com/site/einsteinsriddle/ei
The perfect way is to use mathematical notations in logic and convert all statements to logical expressions. The answer will come in just a few minutes in this way.
Neo
I solved it in 3 minutes. Thanks to Calculus!
Solution here: http://longtambang.blogspot.com/2009/11/teka-teki-einstein-terjawab-sudaa.html
I BEAT IT BITCHESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
in half an hour. bam.
Ok, folks, here is my take on it.
1) my initial response was that since the fish was not given in the facts anyplace, you cannot answer the question except to make an assumption that the fifth pet is fish. I think that is wrong, and why he says only 2% will get it. The fish is the ONLY piece of data not given in the facts. Everything else is specifically mentioned.
2) Then I decided to assume the 5th pet is a fish, and I came up with the same answer most of you did. The german in the green house.
3) One thing nobody has mentioned is that he says the green house is “to the left of the white house”. He does not say it is to the left AND next door to the white house.
SO…I came up with another solution with the green house all the way to the left and the white house all the way to the right. (Green is left of yellow still). Here the answer is different with the Norwegian the green house owning the fish:
Left to right:
green-fish-norwegian-coffee-blend
blue-cat-german-water-prince
yellow-dog-swede-milk-dunhill
red-horse-brit-beer-blue master
white-bird-dane-tea-pall mall
Who knows what Einstein (or whoever) really intend. I think it was #1 above.
I guess Einstein was right because out of the 42 people on this list, only one got it right. That makes about 2%. And since I agree with the one person now, I sure there will be another 40 to 50 people to argue with me.
i am 10 in 4th grade and it is German with coffee, smokes Prince, has fish, and lives in a green house.
It was super easy
i quote- “3) One thing nobody has mentioned is that he says the green house is “to the left of the white house”. He does not say it is to the left AND next door to the white house.”
the riddle i got did actually say next to and on the left, as do many ive since found.
Tiburon
You are incorrect. On your number 3. example..
The riddle says. The Green house is “next to”, and on the left of the White house. So your example does not work..
Also Maria don’t be so quick to agree with someone without checking their facts..
I solved this puzzle in late 1967. It was in an issue of Reader’s Digest at the time. Maybe someone can research Reader’s Digest to see what they might have said about the origin. The puzzle was named as “Who Owns the Zebra” at that time. So, the pets were a little different and some of the the brands of cigarettes were different.
I remember solving this in grade 8 the proper way with out a paper and getting that the norwegian owned the fish. I decided to attempt it again (currently in grade 12) and like most people i got the german owning the fish. After reading what Tiburn has said i realised that the one i just solved actually did say that the green house is next to and to the left of the white house. So depending which version you received with this tiny detail actually decides the out come of your answer. Im not sure which one is the correct version though.
My teacher gave it to our 4th grade class to do in our heads on the way to lunch.
We all got it in 3 minutes.
http://www.ssqq.com/archive/einsteinpuzzle.htm
The green house is on the immediate left of the white house as you stare at the front of the 5 houses.
http://www.stanford.edu/~laurik/fsmbook/examples/Einstein%27sPuzzle.html
4. The green house is just to the left of the white one.
What is it then? Because if it`s on the immediate left then most people have got the right answer.
i solved that problem once a time and i have it in my page, until now only 4 friends do it
I finished it about 10 minutes… well really 40 minutes.
I made a grid in Photoshop and locked pieces together from the clues. Yellow/Dunhill, Dane/Tea etc. That took about 30 minutes. Then 10 min or less to drag and drop until everything fit. Went online and confirmed the solution.
yeah, i know that’s sort of cheating. But we use whatever tools are available.
I am 7 years old and solved it under 5 minutes. Easy!
So the answer you get depends largely on the assumptions you are forced to make because all the facts are not clearly stated. You assume the fish is the 5th pet. When determining the first house you have to assume you are coming from one direction or the other. What did Einstein say was the point of his riddle? Was it simply to demonstrate we need all the facts to draw the right conclusion and rarely have them?
I just finished 8th grade and solved this puzzle easily. it was fun!
I got it, … it’s the German. I had to use process of elimination.
As reproduced on this site, the 4th clue is ambiguous:
“The Green house is on the left of the White house.”
If you make the assumption that the Green house is *immediately* on the left of the White house, then there is only 1 solution and the German owns the Fish.
The original version of the puzzle does include the word ‘immediately’: “The green house is immediately to the right[left] of the ivory[white] house.”
If you read the 4th clue, as above, then the Green house can be anywhere to the left of the White house. This leads to multiple solutions. All which are equally valid. It also makes puzzle much much harder.
I have produced full solutions with either the German or the Dane owning the Fish, that fulfill all of the clues.
I solved it in like 10 minutes … Barely wrote down anything
i solved this while i was still in the womb 8 months before i new it existed, so…
I like how half of the people who claim they figured it out fast have trouble with their grammar and can’t even spell. You all make such convincing arguments…/sigh…at least 60) yeahrightso has a sense of humor about it. +1 to him and fail for the rest of you.
Andy you bloody beg! You really wish you solved the puzzle in 7 mins!!
Maybe you did after taking about 10 hours or more to understand the puzzle. But youre still a beg. Why you showing off bruv! My friend Dan solved the puzzle when he was 11 years old in 3 hours. Did he show off?? Bloody loser! And beg…..
answer is german, the question was a cake walk
:P
Sure it’s possible some kids can do this (actually, most can if they spend enough time on it to be honest) but are we supposed to believe that a bunch of 4th graders solved this IN THEIR HEADS and IN UNDER 3 MIN??? Seriously?!? I mean, come on! Make it believable at least! ;P
Took me a little under an hour because the version I had didn’t specify if we’re looking at the houses or looking out from them (important to figure out left and right for green and white house). Reaction when I got it: my life is complete… (until I read how the 2% probably didn’t still hold and then I was like…awwwww….)
u ppl r missing one thing ===== the first house is the Norwegians house and later on riddle claims that the blue house remains next to the Norwegians house…. Which could be the left house of the Norwegians house and it is only possible if we think that houses are placed in a circle………………
Einstein u r a genius
I dnt think Einstein was really serious about what he said!lol Einstain said that cuz like 98% 0f people(well maybe less!) would give up as soon as they hear his statement about the riddle!so they will never be able to solve it!that s it i guess.he might have been playing along!haha
how is it the german????
(43) Maria
You’d like to think you’re smarter than others (that’s typical to human psychology), but answer “German” cannot be wrong. All the answers posted here are valid and people thinking “Oh i’m smarter than all of them” are just egocentric.
I did it by sorting the animals first a bit. For example, the cat can’t be next to the dog or the birds, then i moved on with that on mind.
Done and done
The idea behind this problem is that 98% of people would assume the 5th pet is a fish. If you said the German has the 5th pet but you can’t assume it’s a fish, then you would be in the 2%. The question of who has the fish cannot be answered with the information given though the German is the closest wrong answer.
Also the assumption about the layout of the houses can lead to different answers. Basically, you shouldn’t make assumptions. I think that’s the point of the riddle
German have fish.(Green house,Smoke Prince, Drink Coffee)
After much thought, NO ONE owned the fish!
A pet is usually considered an animal that can be trained and taught to do things they don’t ordinarily do. Fish are generally a food source, in a lake, which is surrounded by five lake homes, inhabited by different peoples on a vacation. Therefore, no one owns the fish- but hunts them to eat. The one animal left out is to throw people off the simple nature of the riddle- as all riddles are intended. The reason only 2% can solve the riddle is because literalists look at what is written and not what is implied. I submit my humble answer for I’m a thinker as Einstein and probably one of that 2%. Think on it…. He sure did before he wrote it- if indeed he wrote it
i got it and im in 5th grade
I figured out the answer in about 1 minute, but not by the “grid” method that I see others have used.
There’s a song called “A Fish Called Prince” (not sure how old) so I assumed that the clue “The German smokes Prince” meant the German was smoking a fish (such as smoked salmon) and not tobacco.
I’m sorry to say you all are wrong. This is a trick question, if you are following a procedure just like I did you are doing it wrong the answer is not German which is the answer that most people get.
No wonder Einstein say only 2 % would get it right.
( hint : the right answer can be spotted in less than 30 sec. If you are carefull when you read)
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