Logic - dating through time

[chuckro]

Four women: Anne, Kat, Deena, Maggie. Four men: Barry, Ed, Jim, Stan. One puzzle that probably needs editing.

One of the girls has dated or hooked up with all four of the guys. Which one, and in what order did she do so?

1. Barry was cheating on Kat with Deena. When Kat found out, she left him and ended up with Stan.
2. Jim and Anne ended their dating careers by getting married.
3. There is only one overlap between Ed and Jim.
4. Maggie dated Barry before Kat did. They liked to double date with Deena and Stan.
5. Anne and Ed were an item for quite some time, which was not surprising, given it was Ed’s first relationship. Anne had dated Barry before that.
6. Maggie’s first date ever was with Ed.
7. Deena only hooked up with guys after Anne had dated them, first.
8. Ed was on his way to pick up Deena when he had his fatal auto accident. He obvious didn’t date much after that, and she didn’t date anyone in this group after that, either.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

So what you're saying is women are sluts? Is that what you're saying? Punk?!?!

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Wow, look at the throbbing vein in my forehead. Somebody solve this so I can declare it my last dating-related puzzle.

At least it was you and not jethrien who made this comment. I don't want to sleep on the couch tonight.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

So what you're saying is women are sluts? Is that what you're saying? Punk?!?!

Hope you like futons...

[feiran.livejournal.com]

I think this puzzle needs some refinement.

Question: Did Jim and Anne end their careers by getting married to each *other*? If they married each other, then it's Anne who's dated all four and that part of the puzzle is very simple.

Assuming that Jim and Anne did get married and that therefore Anne's the one who's dated all four, I can't figure out where to place Stan in Anne's lineup. Barry, Ed, and Jim definitely go in that order, but from the information above, Stan could go either before Barry or after Ed. The only other thing we know is that Anne dated Stan before Maggie and Barry went out. Given that Maggie had to date Ed in between Anne dating Ed and Maggie dating Barry, there would've been time for Anne to squeeze Stan in there, and there's no mention of Anne, Barry, or Stan's first date, so either spot works.

This puzzle needs time bracketing. If there were a set number of rounds in which all the dating occurred, the player could eliminate options and reach a more definitive answer based on the amount of rounds necessary for Anne, Maggie, Ed, and Barry to do their respective things.

Also, you mention that Anne dated Ed "for quite some time." watch out for time references! I think this is just exposition and the point is that it's Ed's first relationship, but the phrasing could imply that Anne dated Ed for long enough that couples could form and break up repeatedly in the meantime.

Also, the throwaway line about Jim and Ed overlapping once seems meaningless--Jim is only ever mentioned dating Anne, so he *can't* overlap Ed more than once.