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William Adams Estate - Logic Puzzle Solution

1. Read through the entire problem and start to assemble a list of the names of the in-laws and their characteristics. William Adams had 3 grandsons and 6 great-grandsons. Therefore, there have to be 9 wives in total. From the preamble we learn that Richard married widow Taylor and that she cries a lot. Moving on to clue #4 and combining that with the Note to Solicitor to the effect that there are 3 Carter women we have:

• Margaret Carter who can neither cook nor paint
• Thomasine Carter who was a true Artiste
• Isabel Carter, the niece

From the Note to Solicitor we also have 2 women who must have married 2 brothers as they are described as being sisters-in-law of each other:

Elizabeth Frisby, the humorist and Mary Fugler

Clue #5 give us:

Amy Thomson, who is a beauty

Clue #6 gives us:

Jane (surname unknown), who has cats
Dorothy Philpot, who makes horrible cheese

From Clue #1 we have a sickly lady and a Miss Epps therefore Miss Epps is not the sickly one.

You have now assembled a list of 10 women but there can only be 9 so Miss Epps must be Jane Epps as Jane is the only lady without a surname.

2. Rereading the preamble and combining certain information concerning Richard or Dicky with clue #3 we pick up that Bridget is going to cry over the bequest to the grandson. If Bridget is likely to cry and widow Taylor cries all the time, Bridget and widow Taylor must be one and the same person. And if Bridget Taylor is one person, then Richard must be a grandson. So in Row 1 of the solution box enter the man's name as Richard; relationship-grandson; wife-Bridget Taylor; bequest-one Bible; memorable quality-cries a lot. Richard's father and mother must be Margaret Adams and Harry as no reference is made to John having a family.

3. From clue #1 we can continue to fill in the solution box. Row 2 the man is William and his relationship is stated. Row 3, for the meantime, we can call this person "William's son". Carrying through the deduction of relationships in relation to these two men, we have to say that if William had a son, and William Adams had no son named William, then this William has to be a grandson and his son, a great-grandson of William Adams. We can also fill in 3 parents names in Rows 2 and 3. In Row 2 the parents will be Margaret Adams and Harry and in Row 3 the father will be William. Clue #1 also gives us the bequeath that the great-grandson is to receive $5,000 and the fact that he had married the sickly lady. Her name is not Epps, so for the meantime enter "not Epps" in the wife's box of Row 3.

4. Clue #2 is easy. We already know that Richard is a grandson, so his son, William, must then be a great-grandson and he receives the gold pocket watch. Row 4 of the solution box now contains: name-William; relationship-great-grandson; father-Richard; mother-Bridget Taylor; bequest-gold pocket watch.

5. Jumping to clue #6 we can enter John's name on Row 5 along with his bequest - the Italian curio cabinet. In Row 6 we can enter Simon's name and his bequest - the French carriage clock. We can also pencil in to the wife's box that Simon did not marry Jane nor Dorothy Philpot. From our list of women we know Jane's surname to be Epps. We can also pencil in that John's father was not Simon as he was referred to as being his uncle. John's father had to be either Richard or William. Therefore, to the relationship box in Row 5 we can add that John was a great-grandson. Furthermore, if Simon is the uncle of John, then Simon must be one of the grandchildren of William Adams and the son of Margaret Adams and Harry.

6. With our list of women in hand and reading clue #4 we can enter on Row 7 of the solution box, the following: name-William (Billy); bequest-family portraits. We can also enter his mother's name, that being Thomasine Carter. Taking the deductions one step further, if Thomasine Carter is Billy's mother, and William Adams only had a son-in-law, Harry, then Thomasine, in order to be Billy's mother must have married one of William Adams grandsons. Billy, therefore, is a great-grandson and that relationship can be added to row 7.

7. Clue #5 refers to the husband of Amy Thomson but does not provide us with a name. The Note to Solicitor provides us with 2 clues as to this man's identity. William married an Amy. There is only one woman of the 9 names Amy. And there are only a total of 4 Williams. Accordingly, this fellow's name must be William. Row 8 of the solution should now read: name-William; wife-Amy Thomson; bequest-writing desk; quality-beauty.

Next step: If there can only be 4 Williams and they have all now been identified as well as 1 John and 1 Richard who have also now been identified, that leaves 2 Simons missing from the solution. Consequently, in Row 3 of the solution box you can now change "William's son" to read "Simon". Also add Simon as the man's name in Row 9.

Next, determine the missing relationships. There are only 3 grandsons and all 3 have now been revealed - Richard, William, and Simon. Therefore any remaining men must be great-grandchildren.

The second part of clue #5 refers to William's brother, Simon. This Simon married his cousin who is not sickly. Therefore, this particular man has to be either the son of Simon, or Simon the grandson. Simon the grandson has also been eliminated as a possibility as he received the French carriage clock. Therefore, the Simon in clue #5 is the son of Simon. William is his brother and, therefore, also son of Simon. Solution row 8 can now have the father's name of Simon added to it. Row 9 should read: name-Simon; father-Simon; bequest-diamond bracelet; quality-cousin. Taking this clue one step further we learn that Simon married his cousin. The only family composition that would allow for this event is that of the 2 Carter sisters and their niece, Isabel. In order for Simon to have married his cousin, Simon's father would have to have married a Carter sister and the son would have to have married Isabel. So, add Isabel as the wife in row 9. In Row 6 enter the wife's name as Miss Carter. We have now identified Simon, his 2 sons and all 3 bequests to that family but have to identify Miss Carter's given name. This Miss Carter, of course, will also be the mother of Simon's two sons. Thomasine Carter is already the mother of a William who receives the family portraits. Therefore, this William is not one of Simon's sons and Thomasine is not Simon's wife. His wife must then be Margaret Carter, the other Carter sister named in the Note to Solicitor. Add her name to row 6 as wife, and to rows 8 and 9 as mother.

We also know that Richard, the grandson married Bridget Taylor. Therefore, it is the remaining grandson, William, who married Thomasin Carter. Her name can now be added as wife to row 2. We also know that she is an artiste and that quality can be added to Row 2. To Row 3 we can add the name of William's wife, Thomasine Carter. To row 7 we can add Thomasine Carter's husband, William. The parents of the children in rows 4 and 5 must therefore be Richard and Bridget Taylor.

There are now 4 women left to assign to a husband. Returning to clue #6 we can see that Jane was not the wife of either of these 2 men. Neither was she the wife of Simon in row 3. Therefore, she can only be the wife of William, son of Richard, or William, son of William. Dorothy is noted as not being the sickly wife. From the Note to Solicitor we learn that Mary Fugler and Elizabeth Frisby are sisters-in-law. Therefore, they had to have married 2 brothers. This leaves Dorothy Philpot and Jane Epps as also being sisters-in-law and marrying 2 brothers. Simon in Row 3 did not marry Epps - he married the sickly one. Of the 4 women, Elizabeth was the humorist, Jane kept cats and Dorothy made horrible cheese, so the sickly one had to be Mary Fugler. The other son of William, then, married Elizabeth Frisby and can be entered in Row 7.

Lastly, Jane was not the wife of the man who received the Italian curio cabinet. Therefore, she had to be the wife of William, son of Richard, leaving Dorothy Philpot, cheesemaker, as being the wife of John, son of Richard.

I hope you've enjoyed this puzzling experience. If you would like to see more Logic Puzzles posted on this website, please take the time to drop me a line.

MAN	RELATIONSHIP	WIFE	FATHER	MOTHER	BEQUEST	WIFE'S MEMORABLE QUALITY
Richard	grandson	Bridget Taylor	Harry	Margaret Adams	one Bible	cries a lot
William	grandson	Thomasine Carter	Harry	Margaret Adams	bonds, debentures	artiste
Simon	great-grandson	Mary Fugler	William	Thomasine Carter	$5,000	sickly
William	great-grandson	Jane Epps	Richard	Bridget Taylor	gold pocket watch	cats
John	great-grandson	Dorothy Philpot	Richard	Bridget Taylor	Italian curio cabinet	makes horrible cheese
Simon	grandson	Margaret Carter	Harry	Margaret Adams	French carriage clock	can't cook or paint
William (Billy)	great-grandson	Elizabeth Frisby	William	Thomasine Carter	Family portraits	humorist
William	great-grandson	Amy Thomson	Simon	Margaret Carter	writing desk	beauty
Simon	great-grandson	Isabel Carter	Simon	Margaret Carter	diamond bracelet	cousin

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