Re^2: Pairing Riddle (OT)

Hi LanX, there is another possibility not mentioned in your spoiler:

To be the niece and the aunt of "Uncle" at the same time, the woman needs to be child of his brother and his grandfather.

=> the mother of the woman has married both of them (not at the same time, of course!)
=> in order to prevent any bloodline-issues, the biological father of the woman is someone completely different and the mother of the woman had no children neither with the brother nor with the grandfather

Or even easier:

the woman was married to the uncle of her uncle ... so she is his aunt
after that marriage was over, she married her uncle

seems to be much easier than originally thought ... but does not involve any graph-theory ...

So long, Rata

Comment on Re^2: Pairing Riddle (OT)

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Re^3: Pairing Riddle (OT) by LanX (Saint) on Apr 27, 2026 at 10:08 UTC
Thanks, Rata. But I think you missed the requirement in the OP that uncle/aunt by marriage doesn't count. > > > "Direct" means blood related, i.e sibling of one parent, not "uncle by marriage". In hindsight it becomes clearer why breeding dogs would be a better setting for this puzzle. Dogs don't know marriage, divorce and soap operas° ... ;) And many breeders rely on incest, restricting them to uncle/aunt relationships would be a "moral" advantage. Update The trivial solution (of many) if "by marriage" was allowed ... ... is to marry your fiancé's uncle/aunt first, like for a day: Boy meets girl at a Perl conference and they discuss this puzzle Both bring their cool nerdy uncle/aunt to the next YAPC in Las Vegas They are cross-marrying the plus ones for a day, and hence are declared uncle and aunt by an Elvis impersonator at the pre conference meeting They get divorced again by an Michael Jackson impersonator during the social event They marry each other with the blessing of an Larry Wall impersonator during a lightning talk The "marry my uncle first" tradition quickly becomes the cultural norm in silicon valley, after 25 years all other partnerships are declared illegal under the reign of emperor Peter Thiel. There is also a same gender marriage version of this riddle, but requires an orange Trump impersonator dressed as Dr. Jesus. Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :) see Wikisyntax for the Monastery} °) X married Bishop Y, her step-grandfather, in 1998* (update: hence this person could have an half-uncle who becomes her nephew by marriage.)	[reply]

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Re^3: Pairing Riddle (OT)
by LanX (Saint) on Apr 27, 2026 at 10:08 UTC

> > > "Direct" means blood related, i.e sibling of one parent, not "uncle by marriage".

In hindsight it becomes clearer why breeding dogs would be a better setting for this puzzle.

Dogs don't know marriage, divorce and soap operas° ... ;)

And many breeders rely on incest, restricting them to uncle/aunt relationships would be a "moral" advantage.

Update

The trivial solution (of many) if "by marriage" was allowed ...

... is to marry your fiancé*'s uncle/aunt first, like for a day:

Boy meets girl at a Perl conference and they discuss this puzzle
Both bring their cool nerdy uncle/aunt to the next YAPC in Las Vegas
They are cross-marrying the plus ones for a day, and hence are declared uncle and aunt by an Elvis impersonator at the pre conference meeting
They get divorced again by an Michael Jackson impersonator during the social event
They marry each other with the blessing of an Larry Wall impersonator during a lightning talk
The "marry my uncle first" tradition quickly becomes the cultural norm in silicon valley, after 25 years all other partnerships are declared illegal under the reign of emperor Peter Thiel.

There is also a same gender marriage version of this riddle, but requires an orange Trump impersonator dressed as Dr. Jesus.

Cheers Rolf
_{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)

see Wikisyntax for the Monastery}

°)

X married Bishop Y, her step-grandfather, in 1998 (update: hence this person could have an half-uncle who becomes her nephew by marriage.)

[reply]