hisapprentice | [Puzzle 014]

[Sometimes, in the wake of a foundation-shattering event, all anyone can do is stare at what remains.

That is not true for Luke this time, and hasn't been in the entire two weeks since all of himself came rushing back. All things considered, he's been as upbeat and energetic as ever. Helpful, too - so many others seemed devastated in the aftermath, he felt and still feels like he ought to make up for it somehow.

The first thing he does with the free time in his Monday is go to the bakery and get a dozen of something. Donuts or cupcakes or similar things, anything sweet and delicious. Those treats are going to people he knows, if he can find them, especially the ones that haven't shown their faces of late.

Then it's time for the real substance of his day.

A puzzle.

He handwrites it out first, then reads it out for the benefit of anyone stymied on the writing front.]

A family gathers in a room for a party. In this family, there is a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, an auntie, an uncle, a niece, a nephew, and 2 cousins. However, there are only 4 people in the room. What are their relations to each other?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not really, once you know a little bit more about the family.

...Egyptian royalty?

[That gets a laugh.]

No! I suppose they could be Egyptian royalty if you wanted them to, but it's easy to do with just four people if you think enough.

Sure. Okay, there's a husband, an uncle, a father... Blech.

Okay, so there's two adults, one man and one woman, who are cousins. They were separated at birth, met later on, fell in love, got married and had one kid, who happens to be a hermaphrodite, because of the family connection. The kid considers him and herself both genders. Meanwhile, the man and the woman each got separate spouses afterwards and the man had another kid. And... that's that.

[There's a lot of silence on Luke's end.]

I...should have given everyone a different puzzle.

...What? I didn't cheat.

No, but you didn't get it right either, and it's just confusing more people than it is getting solutions.

That was a solution. I'm pretty sure that covered it. A brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, an uncle, an aunt, two cousins. Right?