Five houses, five nationalities, five pets — only one owner keeps the zebra
Five houses in a row are each a different colour, and each is home to a person of a different nationality, who drinks a different drink, smokes a different brand, and keeps a different pet. Fifteen clues link them together — for instance, the Englishman lives in the red house, and the Norwegian lives in the first house. Using only logic, can you work out who owns the zebra, and who drinks water?
Reveal the answer
The German owns the zebra, and the Norwegian drinks water — reachable purely by chaining the fifteen clues, no guessing required, though it typically takes real effort. First published anonymously in Life International magazine on 17 December 1962, the puzzle is often billed as 'Einstein's Riddle,' with claims that Einstein invented it as a child or that only 2% of people can solve it — both untraceable myths; the version's mention of specific cigarette brands proves it postdates both Einstein's boyhood and Lewis Carroll's lifetime, to whom it's also sometimes wrongly attributed.