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I recently ran across a "hint" on a logic puzzle that left me even more puzzled than before. In this puzzle:

Logic Puzzle Screenshot showing hint text

The hint says that the two negative matches for "Brown" should tell me something about "Harvard." I don't see what information could be obtained from those squares.

What is this hint suggesting based on those two negative matches?

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2 Answers 2

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Look at the two rows containing the orange cells. Monday must be Harvard or Ohio State. Friday must also be Harvard or Ohio State. That means that Monday and Friday together account for both Harvard and Ohio State, and no other day can. You can therefore eliminate not just that one yellow box, but the 3x2 area (tue-thu for those two columns)
Another way to look at it: If you filled in that yellow box green, that would force both Monday and Friday to be Ohio State, which is not possible.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the "play what-if" hint-- that definitely cleared it up. $\endgroup$
    – Steve Bonds
    Jan 11, 2019 at 15:00
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The clue is

Harvard and Ohio State must be Monday and Friday, as these are the only remaining options for those days

Then

You know that Harvard and Ohio State cannot be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

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