Einstein’s riddle answer, explained

There are two famous versions of Einstein’s riddle, and they have different answers. Here are both, with the reasoning in short. Each links to a full step-by-step walkthrough.

Who owns the zebra? The Japanese

In the original zebra puzzle, published in Life International in 1962, the Japanese man owns the zebra and the Norwegian drinks water. The Japanese lives in the green house at the right-hand end of the street, drinks coffee and smokes Parliaments.

Why: the Norwegian is in house 1, so house 2 is blue and house 1 must be yellow. That puts Kools in house 1 and the horse in house 2. The only drink the Norwegian can have is water. Trying ivory in house 3 and green in house 4 leads to the Spaniard owning both snails and a dog, which is impossible, so ivory is house 4 and green is house 5. From there the Englishman is in red house 3, the Ukrainian drinks tea in house 2, the Spaniard has the dog in house 4, and the Japanese takes house 5 and the last pet, the zebra.

Read the full zebra puzzle solution

Who owns the fish? The German

In the version shared online as “Einstein’s riddle”, the German owns the fish. He lives in the green house, house 4, drinks coffee and smokes Prince.

Why: the Norwegian is in house 1 and house 2 is blue. Green can only be house 4 (it drinks coffee, and house 3 drinks milk), so white is 5, yellow is 1 and red is 3. House 1 smokes Dunhill and drinks water, which puts Blends and tea in house 2 with the Dane. Beer and Bluemasters go to house 5, so the German, who smokes Prince, is in house 4. Pall Mall and birds are in house 3, the cats are in house 1, the Swede’s dogs are in house 5, and the fish is the only pet left for house 4.

Read the full fish puzzle solution

Common mistakes

• Reading “to the right” as “anywhere to the right”. In both puzzles it means the very next house. Read it loosely and the puzzle has more than one answer.
• Forgetting which way the street runs. House 1 is on the left as you face the houses. Flip it and the green and white (or ivory) clues stop working.
• Guessing at the fork. The zebra puzzle has one point where two layouts look possible. Following one to a contradiction is valid logic, not a guess, but you have to follow it all the way.

Did Einstein write it?

Almost certainly not. The puzzle is credited to Einstein, sometimes to Lewis Carroll, but there is no evidence for either. The earliest known printing is the Life International version from 17 December 1962, which mentions neither. The claim that only 2% of people can solve it is also unsourced.

Try one that hasn’t been spoiled

Every day Lantern Lane publishes a new puzzle in the same style, with one answer and no guessing. There are also collections by difficulty and grid size and printable puzzles with answers.