Matching Puzzles

A matching puzzle gives you a set of people and two or more attributes (e.g., job, city, favourite colour). Each person has exactly one value for each attribute, and no two people share the same value. Clues let you gradually link people to their attributes.

Draw a grid: people as rows, attributes as columns. Mark ✓ (confirmed) and ✗ (eliminated) in each cell.

1. Draw the grid — one row per person, one column group per attribute.
2. Enter direct clues immediately (e.g., "Aisha is a teacher" → tick Aisha–Teacher).
3. Use a tick to eliminate: once Aisha is confirmed as teacher, cross out Teacher for everyone else.
4. Use negative clues (e.g., "Raj is not in Mumbai") → cross Raj–Mumbai.
5. Derive by elimination: if four people are crossed out for an attribute, the fifth person must have it.
6. Chain clues: "The doctor lives in Delhi" + "Priya lives in Delhi" → Priya is the doctor.

Example 1: Three people (Anya, Ben, Cara), three jobs (Doctor, Teacher, Engineer). Clues:

• Ben is not the teacher.
• Anya is the doctor.
• Cara is not the engineer.

Step 1: Anya = Doctor → cross Doctor for Ben and Cara. Step 2: Cara is not engineer → Cara = Teacher (only option left). Ben = Engineer. Result: Anya–Doctor, Ben–Engineer, Cara–Teacher.

Example 2: Four people (Dev, Ela, Finn, Gita), four cities (Agra, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi). Clues:

• Finn is not in Agra or Delhi.
• Dev is in Chennai.
• Gita is not in Bhopal.
• Ela is in Agra.

Step 1: Dev = Chennai; Ela = Agra → cross Chennai and Agra for all others. Step 2: Finn not in Delhi → Finn = Bhopal. Gita = Delhi. Result: Dev–Chennai, Ela–Agra, Finn–Bhopal, Gita–Delhi.

• Forgetting to eliminate after confirming — once you tick a cell, immediately cross out that attribute for all other people and that person for all other values.
• Reading "not X" as "is Y" — a negative clue only rules out one option; it does not assign the remaining one unless there are only two choices left.
• Ignoring two-attribute chain clues — "The person in red wears glasses" links two columns; create a note and apply it when one column is resolved.

1. Three students (Hina, Iqbal, Jay) like three sports (Cricket, Football, Hockey). Hina does not like Cricket. Jay likes Football. Who likes Hockey?
2. Three colours (Red, Blue, Green) for three people (Lena, Max, Nina). Max is not Red. Lena is Blue. What colour does Nina have?

(Answers: 1 → Hina likes Hockey [Jay=Football, Iqbal gets Cricket, Hina gets Hockey]; 2 → Nina is Red, Max is Green)