The big idea
Rule things out
Sometimes you can't prove which answer is right just by looking at it. The trick is to attack the puzzle from the other side: show that every OTHER answer is wrong. Whatever is left has to be the answer.
Detectives, doctors, and mechanics all use this — when you can't see the cause directly, you check each possibility and cross out the ones that don't fit. The last one standing is your answer.
- List every possible answer you can see.
- Use each clue to KILL the choices it can't be.
- When only one answer survives, that's the one.