Logic puzzles tend to be popular

[chuckro]

Check me for multiple solutions, unnecessary clues, and the like. Edits made based on comments. Please note the new clues 2 and 8.

Six friends (Morgan, Lee, River, Pat, Sam, and Chris) are lining up for a photo. Three of them are in the front row and three are in the back. Who stands where?

1. There are three men and three women. Each row contains at least one person of each gender.
2. Chris, being the tallest, got stuck in the back, on the left side.
3. Two of the women have red hair, one of those two is in the front row.
4. No two people with the same hair color are next to each other in their row.
5. Lee and River, being an overly affectionate heterosexual couple, stand together.
6. River has dark hair. Sam and Pat are blond.
7. The blond woman is jealous of Chris’s dark hair.
8. Pat is standing in front of River.

Comments

[esprit-du-tigre.livejournal.com]

Maybe I figured this one wrong, but I think there are multiple possible answers to this puzzle. Furthermore, you can solve it without determining Pat's or Sam's gender. The only two people whose row matters are those who were explicitly assigned a row (Pat and Chris).

We know that Chris and River have dark hair (given). We know that Pat and Sam have blond hair (given). We know that Morgan and Lee have red hair (two women have red hair, and there are only two people whose hair color we don't know, so they must both have red hair and be female).

We know Morgan and Lee are female (as above). We know River is male (because he is in a heterosexual relationship with female Lee). We know Chris is male (there is a blond woman and two redheaded women, none of which can be Chris, because he has dark hair). As far as I can tell, we have no information on the gender of Pat and Sam, but we do know that one is male and the other female (only three of each gender).

The way I see it, we can form any placement that keeps River and Lee together, and has Chris in the front and Pat in the back. Some are excluded by Rule #4.

The first one I came up with was:

S M C (back)
L R P (front)

River and Lee are together, Pat is in the front, Chris is in the back, and no two people with the same hair color are together. There are definitely at least one male and one female in both rows, even without knowing Sam and Pat's genders.

Another solution could be:

R L C
S M P

R and C have the same hair color, but are separated by redheaded L. S and P, whose gender we don't know, are with female M, but this is okay because we know one of S and P is male and the other female, so the rule is still followed.

I'm sure I missed a simple piece of information that invalidates this entire analysis. Feel free to correct me.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I realized after posting this that there were at least two solutions; I think you're right, and that means there are at least four. I'll need to add another clue.

This is why I post them with a request for "playtesting".

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

Heh :) I don't read the comments before I start your puzzles, Chuck. But maybe I should. :)

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

hmm.

Perhaps I am missing something, but I get two solutions that I'm ok with.

Morgan is a redheaded lady.
Lee is a redheaded lady.
River is a brunette man.
Chris is a brunette man.
Pat is blond.
Sam is blond.

Both of the following arrangements seem to satisfy the conditions, because we know that with Pat and Sam (the blonds), one must be a man and the other must be a woman.

CLR
PMS

CMS
PLR

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Same as above--of course, only one answer if I take "stands next to" as "stands in the same row," as long as I don't care about order within row.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Order is important, and should only have one solution now, if I set this up right.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Well, I just got:
CLR
SMP

Chris male dark
Lee female red
River male dark
Morgan female red
Sam blond
Pat blond

You can't determine S + P's gender, which is annoying. But I think that's the same as everyone else has said. And I solved after your edits and got a unique solution.

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Yup, unique solution with the edits. Nice puzzle.

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

Nice fix. :)

[esprit-du-tigre.livejournal.com]

All this annoyance over Sam and Pat makes me try to come up with their back stories... Pat was probably a figment of River's imagination the whole time. River was always a troubled child growing up as the less-talented sibling of Joaquin... River probably even formed a secret club where everyone causes mayhem while he was under the Pat persona. As for Sam, well... Can you say "post-op"?

Gender confusion in logic puzzles is always fun.