Explanation • Logic
LG-001
Logic • Difficulty 3/5
The question
Three people Ivy, Mia, and Ava each make one statement. Exactly one of them is true.
Ivy: “Mia is lying.”
Mia: “Ava is lying.”
Ava: “Ivy is lying.”
Who is telling the truth?
Correct answer
Answer: Impossible to determine
Explanation
Try each possibility:
- If Ivy is true, then Mia is lying. That forces Mia's statement to be false, which forces Ava's statement to be true — contradiction.
- If Mia is true, then Ava is lying. That forces Ava's statement to be false, which forces Ivy's statement to be true — contradiction.
- If Ava is true, then Ivy is lying, which forces Ivy's statement to be false, which forces Mia's statement to be true — contradiction.
No assignment makes exactly one statement true, so the correct answer is Impossible to determine (the setup is inconsistent).
Common traps
- Picking the first pattern you see without checking it against all rows/columns.
- Ignoring the simplest rule (counts, rotations, alternations) and jumping to a complex story.
- Not testing your rule on the middle row/column (where many puzzles “break” bad rules).
Practice this skill
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