Our October competition: a Hallowe'en Heist logic puzzle

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This month's competition: a Hallowe'en Heist logic puzzle
5 friends went trick-or-treating (nothing like a topical puzzle!) in costume to 5 different houses, and were given 5 different treats - but can you work out who got which treat, where and wearing which costume? The first entry picked by our Randomised and Independent Sorting Hat Information System (RISHI S) will win a £50 Amazon voucher.

Posted by Andy Brown on 29 September 2023

5 friends went trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en wearing Harry Potter themed costumes. They each visited different houses in a terraced row, with various degrees of success. From the clues given below, can you work out who wore which Harry Potter costume, who visited which house and what treat each friend received?

The characters dressed as professors visited houses next door but one to each other (so there was exactly one house between the houses that they visited).
Everyone but Terry wore a costume for a character of the opposite gender (so apart from Terry, all boys wore female characters’ costumes, and all girls wore male characters’ costumes).
The 3 houses which gave out edible treats were the ones at the end of the terrace (ie the houses with the biggest house numbers).
Jake and Rosa visited houses with prime numbers, while the person dressed as Harry Potter visited a house whose number was a perfect square.
Jake’s treat was the most valuable; the one given to the Hermione Granger character was the least valuable.
At the end of the evening the friends gathered to compare their treats. “I got a chocolate bar”, one said. “My Harry Potter glasses kept coming off!”, said a second. “I’ve already eaten my banana sandwich”, said a third, still dressed in his costume.

You may find the following grid useful:

You can also download this file to get an even more helpful Excel workbook, complete with macros to make filling in the grid easier.

The first correct entry picked out of our randomised sorting hat around about the end of October will win a £50 Amazon voucher, but also have to deal with the media attention that being named in our monthly newsletter can generate. Please send your entries to: