[A] For 24 points. Mel, Geri and Victoria are three strapping Hildebeeste. Each has written a weighty academic tome on Edwardian voting patterns in suburban Shropshire. The author of The Lust to Vote is Mel's older sister. Victoria is younger than the author of Passion at The Polls. And if Mel wrote Passion at The Polls, then Geri is the author of A Shropshire Lass. Can you sort out who wrote what?
[B] For 15 points. Assuming that there are more dons in Oxford than hairs on any one don's head, can you prove that at least two dons have the same number of hairs?
[C] For 36 points. Alison, Brenda and Clarissa live in different rooms on staircase 12, which is numbered from 1 to 20. Each knows her own number, and that the total of their numbers is 10, but that is all. Alison thinks she knows where the others live. That is because she recently asked Brenda “Are you odd or even?” and deduced the numbers from Brenda's reply. But Brenda lied, and in fact lives at a lower number than Alison thinks.
Where do they all live?
[D] For 25 points. “One of them passed the port the wrong way,” raged the Master of Balliol, “and I intend to find out which. The guilty party lives on JCR food for a week.” At this, the five suspects fell over themselves to speak.
“It wasn't me” quavered the Dean.
“It was him” sneered the Bursar.
“It was the Bursar or the Chaplain” whined the Senior Tutor.
“It wasn't the Bursar” snivelled the Steward.
The Chaplain smiled a Machiavellian smile. “Exactly three of the five of us,” he deposed blandly, “have made false statements.”
“In that case,” triumphed the Master, “it's JCR food for….”
Who?
As always, solutions should aim for accuracy, rigour, brevity, elegance and wit. The Editor's decision is final.
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