1230.64 – Card Nonsense


This puzzle tests your powers of deduction. Five cards: the ace of diamonds, the 6 of spades, the king of clubs, the 10 of diamonds and the 7 of clubs, are in a stack before you. Using the clues below, deduce the order of these cards in the stack.

  1. Two black cards are adjacent.

  2. A diamond is immediately above the king.

  3. The spade is above exactly one club.

  4. The ten is below the 7 and above the ace.

  5. The king is not the fourth card down.


Solution

The order is: 7 of clubs, 6 of spades, 10 of diamonds, ace of diamonds, king of clubs.

Here's one way to obtain this conclusion. This particular method works from the top down. The top card is not the king (clue #2), or the six of spades (#3), or the 10 of diamonds or ace of diamonds (#4). By elimination the top card is the 7 of clubs.

Continuing: if the king of clubs and the 6 of spades were the two adjacent black cards (#1), then the 6 would be immediately below the king (#2) which contradicts #3. Therefore the king and the 6 are not adjacent. The king is not second (#2 plus the fact that the top card is the 7 of clubs), so the 7 of clubs and the 6 of spades are the adjacent black cards, and the 6 is second of these two. The 10 of diamonds is above the ace of diamonds (#4) so it is also somewhere above the king of clubs (#2). So the 10 of diamonds is the third card. Now we are done, for the king is not the fourth card (#5). It is the fifth and the ace of diamonds is fourth.