Five Sheets, One Pile
Read the puzzle
Five patterned sheets lie in one pile: C with teal stripes, E with red dots, A with green checks, D with purple zigzags and B with a yellow grid. Where they overlap: E lies on top of C. A lies on top of E. D lies on top of C and on top of A. B lies on top of C, E, A and D, and nothing covers B. Which sheet was placed SECOND?
Which sheet was placed SECOND?
SHEET E
Order: C, E, A, D, B. Lift them off and see.
How to solve it
The rule is simple: a sheet whose edge lies on top was placed later. So build the order from the bottom up.
Step one: find the sheet that is covered but covers nothing. C, the striped sheet, has edges from E, D and B lying across it and never lies over any other sheet. C went down first.
Step two: find what sits directly on C next. E's red dotted sheet lies over C, and the only sheets over E are A and B. Since A also lies over E, A came after E, so E is the second sheet.
Step three: finish the order to make sure it is consistent. A covers E, D covers A, and B covers everything. That gives C, E, A, D, B, with no sheet ever lying under one placed earlier.
The usual wrong answer is A or D, picked because they look large and low in the picture. Size and position on the page do not matter; only which edge is on top. A quick check: lift the sheets off in reverse order, B, D, A, then E, and C is left alone at the bottom.
