AMC 10 Step by Step

Topics / Logic, Statistics & Misc

Logic Puzzles

Truth-tellers/liars, deduction, self-referential statements, ordering puzzles

18
primary-topic problems (1.4% of all)
2
more as a secondary topic
Where it appears
10
P1-10
5
P11-15
1
P16-20
2
P21-25

What you need to know

  • A truth-teller makes only true statements; a liar makes only false ones. If XX says PP, then (XX is a truth-teller)     \iff (PP is true).
  • "Must be true" means true in every scenario consistent with the givens; one counterexample world rejects a statement.
  • "Some AA are BB" means at least one and allows "all." "All AA are BB" says nothing about whether any BB are AA.
  • Nobody can say "I am a liar"; "we are both liars" can only come from a liar with a truth-telling partner.

How AMC 10 tests it

  • Rare, usually positions 5–15, solved by casework rather than formula.
  • "Which statements must be true?" with three Roman-numeral claims; test tiny invented worlds and read "some" literally.
  • Truth-teller/liar tables where people describe each other; find one claim that fixes a relationship in both cases, then propagate.

Standard approaches

  1. Translate every sentence into a symbolic implication before reasoning.
  2. Find the anchor: a statement whose consequence holds whatever the speaker's type.
  3. Case-split on one person's type and propagate; a contradiction kills a branch.
  4. For "must be true," build the smallest world satisfying the hypotheses and see which statements fail.

Worked example

Ava, Ben, Cal, and Dee are each either a truth-teller or a liar. Ava says, "Ben and Cal are both liars." Ben says, "Exactly one of Ava and Dee is a liar." Cal says, "Dee is a truth-teller." Dee says, "Ava is a liar." How many of the four are truth-tellers?

(A) 00 (B) 11 (C) 22 (D) 33 (E) 44

Solution. Dee's statement is the anchor: whether Dee tells the truth or lies, Ava and Dee have opposite types, so exactly one of them is a liar. That is Ben's claim, so Ben is a truth-teller. Then Ava's statement is false, so Ava is a liar and Dee is a truth-teller. Cal's claim about Dee is true, so Cal is a truth-teller. The answer is (D) 3\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 3}.

Pitfalls

  • Reading "some AA are BB" as "some but not all," or reversing "all AA are BB."
  • Stopping at one consistent assignment without checking that the other branch fails.
  • Negating a liar's "PP and QQ" as "both false" instead of "at least one false."
  • Importing real-world facts the problem never asserts.

Traps that recur

  • Starting from red 1 (which fits anywhere) rather than from the most restricted cards, and getting lost in possibilities. (2003 AMC 10A #24)
  • Assuming all alternaters answer alike; those who start truthful say no three times, those who start lying say yes three times. (2022 AMC 10A #12)
  • Assigning Aditi 3 + 4 = 7 before noticing that Oscar's score of 4 already requires cards 1 and 3. (2021 AMC 10B #17)
  • Assuming Ada must return to seat 5 (the right end) or forgetting that Dee and Edie's swap contributes zero net movement. (2016 AMC 10A #13)

Problems, easiest first

2019 AMC 10B · #2Logic Puzzles

Consider the statement, "If nn is not prime, then n2n-2 is prime." Which of the following values of nn is a counterexample to this statement?

2017 AMC 10A · #6Logic Puzzles

Ms. Carroll promised that anyone who got all the multiple choice questions right on the upcoming exam would receive an A on the exam. Which of these statements necessarily follows logically?

2015 AMC 10B · #5Logic Puzzles

David, Hikmet, Jack, Marta, Rand, and Todd were in a 1212 -person race with 66 other people. Rand finished 66 places ahead of Hikmet. Marta finished 11 place behind Jack. David finished 22 places behind Hikmet. Jack finished 22 places behind Todd. Todd finished 11 place behind Rand. Marta finished in 66 th …

2007 AMC 10B · #5Logic Puzzles

In a certain land, all Arogs are Brafs, all Crups are Brafs, all Dramps are Arogs, and all Crups are Dramps. Which of the following statements is implied by these facts?

2025 AMC 10A · #8Logic Puzzles

Agnes writes the following four statements on a blank piece of paper. \bullet At least one of these statements is true. \bullet At least two of these statements are true. \bullet At least two of these statements are false. \bullet At least one of these statements is false. Each statement is either true or …

2022 AMC 10B · #11Logic Puzzles

All the high schools in a large school district are involved in a fundraiser selling T-shirts. Which of the choices below is logically equivalent to the statement "No school bigger than Euclid HS sold more T-shirts than Euclid HS"?

2021 AMC 10A · #7Logic Puzzles

Tom has a collection of 1313 snakes, 44 of which are purple and 55 of which are happy. He observes that - all of his happy snakes can add, - none of his purple snakes can subtract, and - all of his snakes that can't subtract also can't add. Which of these conclusions can be drawn about Tom's snakes?

2021 AMC Fall 10B · #10Logic Puzzles

Forty slips of paper numbered 11 to 4040 are placed in a hat. Alice and Bob each draw one number from the hat without replacement, keeping their numbers hidden from each other. Alice says, "I can't tell who has the larger number." Then Bob says, "I know who has the larger number." Alice says, "You do? Is your number …

2015 AMC 10B · #6Logic Puzzles

Marley practices exactly one sport each day of the week. She runs three days a week but never on two consecutive days. On Monday she plays basketball and two days later golf. She swims and plays tennis, but she never plays tennis the day after running or swimming. Which day of the week does Marley swim?

2013 AMC 10A · #6Logic Puzzles

Joey and his five brothers are ages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. One afternoon two of his brothers whose ages sum to 16 went to the movies, two brothers younger than 10 went to play baseball, and Joey and the 5-year-old stayed home. How old is Joey?

2011 AMC 10B · #8Logic Puzzles

At a certain beach if it is at least 80F80^{\circ} F and sunny, then the beach will be crowded. On June 10 the beach was not crowded. What can be concluded about the weather conditions on June 10?

2022 AMC 10A · #12Logic Puzzles

On Halloween, 3131 children walked into the principal's office asking for candy. They can be classified into three types: Some always lie; some always tell the truth; and some alternately lie and tell the truth. The alternaters arbitrarily choose their first response, either a lie or the truth, but each subsequent …

2021 AMC 10B · #17Logic Puzzles

Ravon, Oscar, Aditi, Tyrone, and Kim play a card game. Each person is given 22 cards out of a set of 1010 cards numbered 1,2,3,,10.1,2,3, \dots,10. The score of a player is the sum of the numbers of their cards. The scores of the players are as follows: Ravon-- 11,11, Oscar-- 4,4, Aditi-- 7,7, Tyrone-- 16,16, Kim-- 17.17. Which …

2016 AMC 10A · #13Logic Puzzles

Five friends sat in a movie theater in a row containing 55 seats, numbered 11 to 55 from left to right. (The directions "left" and "right" are from the point of view of the people as they sit in the seats.) During the movie Ada went to the lobby to get some popcorn. When she returned, she found that Bea had moved …

2010 AMC 10A · #15Logic Puzzles

In a magical swamp there are two species of talking amphibians: toads, whose statements are always true, and frogs, whose statements are always false. Four amphibians, Brian, Chris, LeRoy, and Mike live together in this swamp, and they make the following statements. Brian: "Mike and I are different species." Chris: …

2001 AMC 10 · #13Logic Puzzles

A telephone number has the form ABC-DEF-GHIJ\text{ABC-DEF-GHIJ} , where each letter represents a different digit. The digits in each part of the number are in decreasing order; that is, A>B>CA > B > C , D>E>FD > E > F , and G>H>I>JG > H > I > J . Furthermore, DD , EE , and FF are consecutive even digits; GG , HH , II , and JJ are …

2000 AMC 10 · #21Logic Puzzles

If all alligators are ferocious creatures and some creepy crawlers are alligators, which statement(s) must be true? I. All alligators are creepy crawlers.\textrm{I. All alligators are creepy crawlers.} II. Some ferocious creatures are creepy crawlers.\textrm{II. Some ferocious creatures are creepy crawlers.} III. Some alligators are not creepy crawlers.\textrm{III. Some alligators are not creepy crawlers.}

2003 AMC 10A · #24Logic Puzzles

Sally has five red cards numbered 11 through 55 and four blue cards numbered 33 through 66 . She stacks the cards so that the colors alternate and so that the number on each red card divides evenly into the number on each neighboring blue card. What is the sum of the numbers on the middle three cards?