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Four Statements, One Culprit (illustration)
FILE No.100Unsolved

Four Statements, One Culprit

Difficulty ★★★about 10 minLogic PuzzleTruth and liesCase analysis
The culprit is one of A, B, C, D. Exactly two of the four statements are true.

Case Record

The final puzzle. The culprit is exactly one of A, B, C and D. They said:

  • A: "The culprit is B or C."
  • B: "The culprit is D."
  • C: "A is lying."
  • D: "C is telling the truth."

Exactly two of the four statements are true, and the other two are lies.

Your question

Who is the culprit?

Case Files

Evidence

Diagram

Exactly two are trueSuspectStatementAThe culprit is B or CBThe culprit is DCA is lyingDC is telling the truthC and D are the same: both true or both false.
Diagram

Timeline

  1. The culprit is one of four.
  2. Four statements. Exactly two are true.

Hints

If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.

Open hint 1

How are the statements of C and D related?

Open hint 2

If C and D are both true, what about A and B?

Open hint 3

If C and D are both false, is there a contradiction?

Solve It

Your question

Who is the culprit?

Choose the answer closest to the truth.

Share: I'm solving this

The Truth

A

The answer is: A.

C says "A is lying" and D says "C is telling the truth", so C and D are either both true or both false. Also, if C is true then A lies, and if C is false then A is truthful. Exactly two statements are true.

  • C and D true: A and B lie. A lying means the culprit is not B or C. B lying means the culprit is not D. So the culprit is A.
  • C and D false: A is truthful, and exactly one more (B) must be true. If B is true the culprit is D, but if A is true the culprit is B or C. Contradiction.

So the culprit is A.

Which gives exactly two true?CulpritABCDTrue countAFFTT2 (match)BTFFF1CTFFF1DFTTT3
Diagram of the solution

Key Points

  • Sort out how the statements depend on each other
  • Split into cases and eliminate the contradiction
  • Use "exactly two are true"

Why people get fooled

People consider each statement separately instead of finding how the statements relate.

Similar tricks

  • The case-analysis type
  • The relate-the-statements type

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