mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >

A high school football team received brand new jerseys for this season, and it took the head coach a while to get used to his players wearing different numbers. His four running backs – White, Smith, Davis, and Unser – wore (in no particular order) jersey numbers 21, 34, 25, and 23.
Based on the clues that follow, determine which running back wears which number jersey. Good luck!
Clue 1 = The two digits that make up Unser’s jersey number do NOT add up to 7.
Clue 2 = Only ONE back’s jersey number matches the alphabetical order of the first letter of his last name (A=1, B=2, and so on).
Clue 3 = The number on Davis’ jersey is neither even NOR prime.
i am confused… shouldnt white wear 23 since W is the 23rd letter of the alphabet (clue 2)? and if thats true then you cant tell what smith and davis wore (either 34 or 25)
posted by brandon on 10-19-2009 at 8:28 am
maybe its just too early for me but i got white 23 smith 34 davis 25 unser 21…
posted by brandon on 10-19-2009 at 8:33 am
Brandon, while White=23 could solve clue #2, there may be other match(es) that do so as well. Give that a thought and try it again.
posted by Sandy Wood on 10-19-2009 at 8:46 am
That doesn’t make any sense to me. W=23rd letter. How are you getting that U=21?
posted by Billy Bob on 10-19-2009 at 9:26 am
Try making a logic grid, it’s easier to visualize the correct answers
posted by Spanky on 10-19-2009 at 9:30 am
I was confused by the wording of the second clue until I read the comments to realize that it means:
21 – U
23 – W
25 – Y
34 – none
posted by Greg Tatum on 10-19-2009 at 10:02 am
Billy Bob, think of it this way:
If A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on through the alphabet to Z=26, what would the letter U equal? (And S, for that matter?)
posted by Sandy Wood on 10-19-2009 at 10:27 am
I saw that W=23 first and didn’t bother to look and see that U=21, making Sandy’s answer only possible one.
posted by Bill on 10-19-2009 at 10:32 am
Got it! I really like these, and thought your clues were just fine, Sandy.
Nice to know that I’m relatively awake even on a Monday morning.
posted by B on 10-19-2009 at 11:29 am
@brandon: If White = 23 and Unser = 21, then that fails Clue #2 because then there are two matches instead of just one.
posted by Wilson on 10-19-2009 at 12:06 pm
Got it! Nice on Sandy!
posted by Kelly on 10-19-2009 at 1:37 pm
Ah! I’m usually pretty decent at these, but that second clue threw me.
posted by Lindsey on 10-19-2009 at 2:36 pm
I did it without a grid! I’m so proud of myself, despite the fact that most of you probably did it without a grid also.
posted by Tdl on 10-19-2009 at 7:03 pm