Task:
Thirteen nations competed in a sports tournament but we don't have the final medal table so using following pieces of information recreate the medal table.
1. Turkey and Mexico both finished above Italy and New Zealand.
2. Portugal finished above Venezuela, Mexico, Spain and Romania.
3. Romania finished below Algeria, Greece, Spain and Serbia.
4. Serbia finished above Turkey and Portugal, both of whom finished below Algeria and Russia.
5. Russia finished above France and Algeria.
6. Algeria finished below France but above Serbia and Spain.
7. Italy finished below Greece and Venezuela, but above New Zealand.
8. Venezuela finished above New Zealand but below Greece.
9. Greece finished below Turkey, who finished below France.
10. Portugal finished below Greece and France.
11. France finished above Serbia, who finished above Mexico.
12. Venezuela finished below Mexico, and New Zealand finished above Spain.
1. Turkey and Mexico both finished above Italy and New Zealand.
2. Portugal finished above Venezuela, Mexico, Spain and Romania.
3. Romania finished below Algeria, Greece, Spain and Serbia.
4. Serbia finished above Turkey and Portugal, both of whom finished below Algeria and Russia.
5. Russia finished above France and Algeria.
6. Algeria finished below France but above Serbia and Spain.
7. Italy finished below Greece and Venezuela, but above New Zealand.
8. Venezuela finished above New Zealand but below Greece.
9. Greece finished below Turkey, who finished below France.
10. Portugal finished below Greece and France.
11. France finished above Serbia, who finished above Mexico.
12. Venezuela finished below Mexico, and New Zealand finished above Spain.
Method:
First Approach
My first approach was trial and error by writing down the countries in my book in order of the clues given (from 1 to 12).
I stopped using that method as it was taking too long and after numerous attempts I wasn't getting anywhere close to the answer.
Second Approach
Using the information provided, I wrote down the position clues for each country using the information provided.
Following, I wrote down each country on paper and cut them out individually in rectangles.
Sequentially, starting from Turkey I went down the list and used the position clues to recreate the table.
After working diligently for a while, I successfully re-created the medal table.
I verified the result by reading the clues and checking if it matches on my medal tally. I concluded that my medal tally is correct and matches the clues given.
I chose this method because I thought that recreating the medal table hands on would be more successful.