Then we would make our first three clues, which are as follows, and go from there, but we won't do this problem. From the first two examples, I think you can see how one might be able to go ahead and add further clues to it.

1) The five couples are the Olivia and the her finace, Lillie and her finace, the woman who got engaged to Benjamin, the woman who received the black onyx engagement ring, and they woman who got engaged in July.
2) When Daniel gave his high school sweetheart a diamond engagement ring, he did it the old- fashioned way by getting down on his knee and asking for her hand in marriage.
3) The woman who received the emerald got engaged sometime earlier in the year than Pauline, but later in the year than the woman who got engaged to Edward.

Further clues shouldn't be too hard if you have done some practicing up to this part. And most logic problems do use a combination or they all begin to look the same after a while. On the first page, I mentioned that when practicing with someone elses, changing them around, etc., to remember that they are someone else's clues and not use them as your own. However, one problably can't help but have clues that are similar in many ways, and might be similar to those in another problem by someone else, but as long as they are YOURS and not someone elses, no matter how alike they are, that is okay.

This section will deal mostly with where to get ideas for your logic problem. Actually, it can be summed up in just one word - "Anywhere!" Yes, ideas can come from anywhere. Out of the blue, so to speak. I've gotten ideas from something I read in the paper, a book, a TV show, a magazine, watching a game, playing a game, going shopping. . . .there really is no limit.

However, having constructed logic problems for extra income for so long, I tend to have my mind automatically geared to 'listen' and 'look' for ideas. It is second nature with me. For a newbie, you may have to actually think about what you want to write about, but that isn't too hard. :-)

Existing logic problems are good places to begin. Take the logic problem we used for an example on the preceding pages. One might change it by giving it a different scenario. For example, "Over the summer, Pastor Tom Smith married five couples. It was quite a coincidence that each man's first name was Tom, but more astounding was that each man married a woman whose last name was Smith! Each man had given his bride-to-be an engagement ring with a different type of stone, and each couple were married in a different month. From the clues can you determine each man's surname, the brides first name, the type of engagement ring each woman received, and the month each couple was married."

So you can see, while working away on solving logic problems, one can get ideas simply from the ones they are solving or ones they have solved in the past. There are so many scenarios for any situation. In the introduction above, we added a bit of humor in that Pastor Tom Smith married five men named Tom and five women surnamed Smith. In the problem one is simply using a man's surname instead of his first name. Naturally, if one did this, they would want to give the women new first names, and probably use different months. However, if they like the idea of having a couple months with the same letter, instead of April/August and June/July, they might use March/May, and January/June (or July), or simply use all months with different letters.

The months might be consecutive to be able to use the overlap method, or a month or two apart. For example, Jan - March - April - June - July. We have March and April as consecutive months, and June and July; but, also January is 4 month before April and April is 4 months before June. This combination can give a couple clues toward solving the problem when used in combination with one of the the other variables under another category. :-)

Another way to get ideas is to start at the the first of the alphabet and think of subjects - like under A would be airplanes, astronauts, actors/actresses/academy awards, etc. Then under B, butterflies, birds, berths in a train, boats, and so on. After making a list of dozens of subjects, under each letter, take one subject and think what one might do with it. For example, butterflies.

One could do a logic problem on children taking a field trip and each child spots a different type of butterfly. So you might have the child's first name, last name, type of butterfly, and what flower it was near when spotted, or in what order it was spotted. Or perhaps the teacher was a substitute teacher and not really too familiar with the student's names yet, so one might say the student with red hair, the one with freckles, the one who wore glasses, etc.

We live in a society where most countries have a mixture of nationalities and culture. Therefore, it is a good idea to use a variety of names. For example, unless the problem calls for something specific, one might use five surnames such as Dawson, Erichsen, O'Malloy, Sandovich, and Wong. In other words, use names from different cultures as those from different countries and cultures will be solving the problems.

And unless you are constructing a logic problem where one needs to determine the gender of a person who has a name which could be either male or felmale, it is best to use names that are definitely either male or female. If the introduction doesn't specify that there are say, three men and who women, and you have a Chris, Ivan, John, Susan, and Kate, then one might not be able to determine if Chris is a male or female. Be sure you are always clear in your introduction exactly what it is you want them to find. If your introduction states there are three men, then there is no problem, but if it doesn't mention it, but a clue here and there says "the woman who. . ." or "the man who. . .", etc., solving the problem may be impossible.

Avoid subjects that are offensive such as weight, accidents where someone is hurt, etc. Logic problems should not only be fun to work, but the subjects should be fun too. Also avoid subjects which raise controversary, such as race, religion, and politics. That is, be reasonable. No reason at all not to construct one where five members of a community are running for various positions such as mayor, county commissioner, etc., but avoid political views and such.

I think we can wrap this up now. I've given you many ideas and tips and hints and you are probably ready to set out and start constructing your own. I just hope you decide to send some to me so that I can post them here for others to work. You can even ask for feedback from solvers if you like, and be well on your way to being able to send for those guidelines from publications! And good luck!

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