Algodoo

The product is 36? 3 x 2 x 6 is the answer then.

i think the answer is 2, 2, 9

i was going to put a scene up with my steps to solve it but i can wait until you reveal it if you want

almost SOLVED! That was amazing! There are five options: 3 x 2 x 6 and 2 x 2 x 9 and 1 x 4 x 9 and 1 x 1 x 36 and 3 x 3 x 4 (because of prime factorization). Here are all the sums:

Option 1: 11
Option 2: 13
Option 3: 14
Option 4: 38
Option 5: 11

Now to analyze: after Clue 2 was said, the census person said it's still not enough information. This means that there was a striking choice between options 1 and 5.

Now I am fully willing to say that the last clue was supposed to say "youngest son" (maybe???) because that would isolate only Option 1, which is 3 x 2 x 6 (because 3 x 3 x 4 has TWO youngest sons). However, I am stuck after this point

42flowermaster
3+3+4 doesnt equal 11, you are missing some products

a_bored_coder - nice observation, will try again later

this means that the comment by the census person "that's not enough information" doesn't matter? Notice that the person probably saw the house number, and all the possible ones are 2 digits, so what does this mean?

42flowermaster
the list of products actually has 8 items
of these 8 there are 2 that have the same sum, which would cause the census taker to need another clue otherwise he would know the 3 ages and not need the 3rd clue

i just realized i've slowly been adding views to this by refreshing for new comments, oops

a_bored_coder -

Oh yes... now I realize my blunder.

We have:
3 x 2 x 6, sum = 11
2 x 2 x 9, sum = 13
3 x 3 x 4, sum = 10
1 x 1 x 36, sum = 38
1 x 2 x 16, sum = 19
1 x 3 x 21, sum = 25
1 x 4 x 9, sum = 14
1 x 6 x 6, sum = 13
...

There are two options which have a sum of 13, that is, 2 x 2 x 9 and 1 x 6 x 6. The third clue singles out 2 x 2 x 9 (notice: "MY oldest son", only ONE oldest son). Thanks! Now the puzzle is as clear as day

a_bored_coder - I was in the middle of reading your reply, and I immediately made the comment above after reading "there are 8 options" and thought of 1 x 2 x 16 and the other 1 x # x # combinations...

I concur with a_bored_coder.

s_noonan - same

where is everyone seeing the houses number?

Cool_S
thats part of the puzzle
you dont know the house number, but you know that the census taker knows the house number

Cool_S - it's that type of puzzle where "I do not know" means something, it means that there cannot be a situation in which there is enough information to know.

Wow, you guys are sharp, but a_bored_coder was the first person to come up with the correct answer. Congratulations!

I figured that there's no point in waiting any longer for more people to chime in with their answers, so here is the logic of how this puzzle is solved:

There are eight different combinations of ages that fall under the first hint, "The product of their ages is 36". They are: 36*1*1, 18*2*1, 12*3*1, 9*4*1, 9*2*2, 6*6*1, 6*3*2, and 4*3*3.
Obviously, the Census Taker could not determine their ages just from this information.

The second hint, "The sum of their ages = the house number" would have provided the answer if all the sums were different, but there are two combinations that produce the same sum: 9+2+2 and 6+6+1. Because the Census Taker told the home owner that he needs more information, his statement indicates that the house number is the same as the sum (13) of each of those two combinations.

When the home owner declared that his "oldest son was born in the month of July", his statement then provided the needed information, that there is an "oldest son". Therefore, 6,6,1 could not be the correct answer. The fact that the son was born in the month of July has nothing to do with the result, but only served to add some confusion!

The son's ages are 9,2,2.

I see, very good puzzle. I guess I can say GG

Thanks, Cool_S. I appreciate your comments!

i didnt know if there was a correct place to ask this but
does the scene description have the same rules as title and scene itself

YES.


For example: Personal messages are not allowed in the scene, the scene title, or the scene description. Personal messages ARE allowed in the comments. A personal message, for example would be: "Hey guys, I'm back!" or "My mom just bought me a new computer!", etc.

Xray
thanks alot, i read the rule page often but it only mentioned the description in the profanity section and i had thought it all applied but wasnt 100% COMPLETE sure

Yeah, I realize that some of the rules are ambiguous, but I think anyone who can read and has common sense should understand them. Of course there are some users who do not read and write English, so they would need to use Google Translate or similar app, or have someone else translate the rules to their native language. Again, people should have common sense that it's not Okay to cuss, and it's not Okay to threaten another person, etc.

Thanks for your question because other people might learn from our little chat!

algobox has peaked at this very moment

Ummm... I'm not sure what you meant by that, alt_lkmoj, but I'll take it as a compliment.