Experience tells me that beginners at the Great Game are often very good at their Logic. And equally often very bad at presenting their deductions concisely, accurately and elegantly. Hence a practice round, where you may attempt the questions, and later see model solutions and commentary, so that you have a clear idea of the standard required. And without further ado, your first set of questions:
[A] “They all seem to have a motive, sir,” said Lewis, surveying the mangled remains of Jobsworth the porter, “so the problem is whether or not the Bursar is telling the truth. I'm assuming, of course, that everyone is either lying or telling the truth, but not both.”
“Well done, Lewis!” cried Morse, “In Logic there are no surprises. And if the Bursar is telling the truth, so is the Chaplain.”
“What's more, sir,” said Lewis, “the Chaplain and the Dean have given conflicting statements, so they can't both be telling the truth.”
“Excellent, Lewis!” exclaimed the great detective. “We'll make a copper of you yet. But nor are the Dean and Warden both lying. And if the Warden is telling the truth, the Chaplain isn't.”
“I think I follow that, sir. But we still don't know if the Bursar is lying.”
[B] The chamberpot was still cemented firmly to the topmost spire of St. Justin's chapel, despite all attempts to remove it. The three suspects trembled in the Dean's office and deposed as follows:-
Locke: “ Berkeley did it.”
Berkeley : “That's a lie.”
Hume: “It was Locke.”
Locke: “Hume's next statement will be true.”
Berkeley : “Locke's last statement was false.”
Hume: “Locke has made two false statements.”
“Oh dear,” muttered the Dean, “that doesn't seem to help.”
“On the contrary,” said the Nintendo Gameboy Professor of Logic, “the culprit is…”
[C] When the Heads of House of Corpus, Keble, Oriel and eight other colleges met recently to elect a new darts captain as a mark of respect for Diana, Emeritus Princess of Wales, there was a great deal of handshaking. No-one shook the hand of the same person more than once, as protocol requires, and only the Warden of Keble and the President of Corpus shook the same number of hands.
-oOo-