Can You Solve This Insider-Trading Puzzle in Seven Clues or Less?
Keep your pen and paper handy.
Akiko, Elena, Mukhtar and Sam were all exhausted after a long day of corporate hobnobbing in Sun Valley, Idaho. To relax, they gathered in Mukhtar’s pied-à-terre to play Conquest!, a game of world domination. While they did, each had a different drink and talked about their jobs—all at different companies.
Months later, investigators from the US Securities and Exchange Commission would reconstruct the evening as part of an inquiry into alleged stock market manipulation by one of the executives. Despite the SEC’s efforts, the investigators couldn’t figure out two details from the night in question. Using the clues and illustration below, can you name the person …
A. Who drank the Scotch?
B. Who won the game?
1. The players quickly concentrated their power in a few select territories, leaving the rest of the world untouched. At the end of the game, the players’ performance was ranked by the number of armies in their chosen territory.
2. The CFO from the energy company ¡Zap! was the clear winner thanks to their position in Africa.
3. The CEO of Agrikorn made a side bet with the COO of Umami Media. Elena saw it but didn’t get in on the action. Sam was oblivious to the whole thing, because he was looking for orange slices.
4. Sam didn’t find an orange slice for his Negroni because the ¡Zap! CFO used the last one in their seltzer.
5. Elena was not the head chef of Motel 7, but another player was.
6. Akiko is allergic to ginger and avoided the ginger beer, even though it was probably artificially flavored.
7. Mukhtar had two more armies than the COO. He tried to be a good sport about it, but his smile might have shown his pride.