Christmas pudding is a popular English festive dessert. Over the years many superstitions have surrounded the making of the Christmas pudding. It should, for example, be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and His Disciples and made by the 25th Sunday after Trinity. Every member of the family or group takes turns stirring the pudding, from east to west, in honor of the Three Kings. One tradition is to put a sixpence in the pudding and when everyone stirs the pudding during the making, each person makes a wish and if he or she got the sixpence in their piece of pudding, then his or her wish would come true. Other coins and charms are often added - each representing a prediction of the future of the person who receives it in his or her helping of pudding.
Recently, Mr. Boddy decided to have a good old-fashioned English Christmas dinner, including the serving of the Christmas pudding. By chance, each of his six guests - Col. Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, and Prof. Plum, had just returned to the States after visiting friends in England. Each suspect visited a different city while there (one person visited Coventry).
Keeping to tradition, Mr. Boddy had each suspect take a turn at stirring the pudding, after he had dropped in the sixpence and five other items - a boot (travel), button (bachelor or spinster), horseshoe (good luck), ring (wedding or engagement), and a silver coin (wealth). From the clues, can you determine the English city visited by each suspect, the order in which each stirred the pudding, and the item each received in his or her helping of Christmas pudding?
1. The person who found the silver coin in his or her helping of pudding stirred the pudding immediately after the person who had recently returned from visiting Gloucester.
2. At least one person stirred the pudding after Mr. Green and before the person who found a button in his or her portion of pudding, and at least one person stirred the pudding after the person who found the button, but before the person who had recently visited Portsmouth.
3. The Bristol visitor (who wasn’t Mrs. Peacock) isn’t the person who found the silver coin in his or her serving of pudding.
4. At least one person stirred the pudding before the person who found the ring in his or her serving of pudding and after the person who had visited Bristol, and at least one person stirred the pudding before the person who visited Bristol and after Miss Scarlet.
5. Mrs. Peacock stirred the pudding immediately after the person who had visited London (who stirred the pudding sometime after the person who found the boot).
6. Exactly two people stirred the pot after the person who found a horseshoe charm in his or her pudding and before Mrs. White (who wasn’t the person who recently visited Gloucester).
7. Prof. Plum, who was the person who got the sixpence and his secret wish, isn’t the person who stirred the pudding immediately after the person who had visited Maidstone.
8. Neither Mrs. White nor Miss Scarlet found the boot charm in their portions of the pudding, and Col. Mustard didn’t find either the boot or the ring in his portion of the pudding.
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| CITY VISITED | ORDER STIRRED | CHARM OR COIN | |
At the Kaser home this Christmas, Everett and members of his family (including wife Sharon, daughter Megan, son Shane, sister Donna, and brother-in-law Jerry) got some really nice gifts in their Christmas Stockings. Each stocking had been lovingly made by one of Everett’s grandmothers years ago and was a different color (blue, gold, green, red, silver, or white) and adorned with a different Christmas decoration (angel, bells, mistletoe, Santa Claus, snowman, or wreath). From the clues, determine the color of each family member’s stocking and its’ adornment, as well as the nice gift each received from “Santa” this year in their Christmas stocking.
1. If Sharon’s stocking was decorated with a wreath, she had the red stocking. Otherwise, Sharon’s stocking was decorated with mistletoe and she had the silver stocking.
2. If the gold stocking is Donna’s, then it was decorated with an angel. Otherwise, the gold stocking was Megan’s stocking and was decorated with mistletoe.
3. If Everett’s stocking was decorated with bells, then he got a cell phone in his Christmas stocking. Otherwise, Everett’s stocking was decorated with a Santa Claus and he got a Walkman in his stocking.
4. If the green stocking was decorated with an angel, then it contained the Palm Personal Data Assistant. Otherwise the green stocking was decorated with a Santa Claus and contained a digital camera.
5. If Donna’s stocking was decorated with bells, then she got the Walkman. Otherwise, Donna’s stocking was decorated with an angel and she got the 5" B/W TV Lantern.
6. If the blue stocking is decorated with a snowman, then it is Shanes. Otherwise, the blue stocking is decorated with a wreath and is Everett’s stocking.
7. If Jerry’s stocking was green, then his stocking contained a 5" B/W TV Lantern. Otherwise, Jerry’s stocking was white and his stocking contained a Gameboy.
8. If the silver stocking is decorated with bells, then it contained the Gameboy. Otherwise, the silver stocking was decorated with mistletoe and contained a Palm Personal Data Assistant.
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| FAMILY MEMBER | STOCKING COLOR | DECORATION | STOCKING GIFT |