Clue Help

[evessal]

The explanation from this hint is not making sense. It's telling me that Nathaniel can't be from Quimby because of this hint:

Hint: There are multiple greater/lesser than clues that place Nathaniel and Quimby both at the same exact step distance from two different items in the same category. This means Nathaniel cannot be equal to Quimby. Mark the highlighted cell as FALSE. (+120 sec. penalty)

I just can't see it. I can't find the different items in the same category. The only other two categories are age and birthdays. For birthday, both Quimby and Nathaniel can have their birthday on Apr.11, and on age, Nathaniel is 6, and Quimby is open to age 6 as well. What am I looking over here?

[BlueChrome]

I was having a difficult time reading the thumbnail that was provided there, but I was still able to spot the contradiction. Leticia is one step distance down from Nathaniel, and Ollie, by contrast, is one step distance down from the child from Quimby. That is the contradiction to the possibility of Nathaniel being from Quimby. The "different items in the same category" here are two of the other children.

[evessal]

I was having a difficult time reading the thumbnail that was provided there, but I was still able to spot the contradiction. Leticia is one step distance down from Nathaniel, and Ollie, by contrast, is one step distance down from the child from Quimby. That is the contradiction to the possibility of Nathaniel being from Quimby. The "different items in the same category" here are two of the other children.

Sorry about the thumbnail, I think the forum software doesn't like png. Re-uploaded it as a JPG.

As to the clue.. I still don't get it. If Leticia is one step down from Nathaniel, how does Ollie being one step down from Quimby negate that Nathaniel can be from Quimby? There seems to be no tie-in between the clues.

[MicahFFX]

If Nathaniel was from Quimby, both Leticia and Ollie would be one step down. Leticia can't be Ollie, so Nathaniel can't be from Quimby.

EDIT: More specifically, clue #5 (Leticia is 4 days after Nathaniel) and clue #8 (Quimby is 4 days before Ollie). Either clue could be flipped to make them read easier to see the conflict. (Leticia is 4 days after Nathaniel) is equivalent to (Nathaniel is 4 days before Leticia). Comparing that to (Quimby is 4 days before Ollie) it is more obvious Leticia cannot be Ollie so Nathaniel is not from Quimby.

[evessal]

If Nathaniel was from Quimby, both Leticia and Ollie would be one step down. Leticia can't be Ollie, so Nathaniel can't be from Quimby.

EDIT: More specifically, clue #5 (Leticia is 4 days after Nathaniel) and clue #8 (Quimby is 4 days before Ollie). Either clue could be flipped to make them read easier to see the conflict. (Leticia is 4 days after Nathaniel) is equivalent to (Nathaniel is 4 days before Leticia). Comparing that to (Quimby is 4 days before Ollie) it is more obvious Leticia cannot be Ollie so Nathaniel is not from Quimby.

Thanks! Yeah, I see it now from the dates. Ollie has to come before Nathaniel no matter what, and if Quimby comes before Ollie then Nathaniel can't be Quimby.

[BlueChrome]

As to the clue.. I still don't get it. If Leticia is one step down from Nathaniel, how does Ollie being one step down from Quimby negate that Nathaniel can be from Quimby? There seems to be no tie-in between the clues.

Then Leticia and Ollie would be the same person, and, obviously, they are not the same person.

The point you have made about the dates actually does not make sense to me.

[evessal]

Then Leticia and Ollie would be the same person, and, obviously, they are not the same person.

The point you have made about the dates actually does not make sense to me.

Ahh grrrr.. so my problem here is that I either A) Read these clues too fast or B) I'm in serious need of some remedial comprehension courses lol.

Ok, so what was not making sense to me was that I read this wrong and thought that Ollie had to come before Quimby. I sort of glossed over MicahFFX's response (sorry!), my mind got jumbled with clue 5 having the keyword "after" and clue 8 having the keyword "before". Now it makes sense as to how if Nathaniel was from Quimby then that would imply that Leticia and Ollie are the same person via clues #5 and #8.

As to how I was able to make sense of it via the dates, well according to the thumbnail I posted Leticia has only two possible birthdays, lets say April 15th is the first scenario and April 19th the second. If the first scenario was true, per clue #5 Nathaniel's birthday must be April 11th, which means Ollie's birthday has to fall on April 7th, and per clue #8 Quimby has to be April 3rd, which means Nathaniel can't be Quimby. In the second scenario, Leticia's birthday on April 19th means Nathaniel's has to be April 15th per clue #5, and Ollie's therefore has to fall on either April 11th or April 7th, which means per clue #8 that Quimby is either April 3rd or April 7th, and since Nathaniel is April 15 again in this scenario Nathaniel can't be Quimby. So either possibility for Leiticia's birthday always ends up negating Nathaniel as being from Quimby.

[BlueChrome]

Ok, so what was not making sense to me was that I read this wrong and thought that Ollie had to come before Quimby. I sort of glossed over MicahFFX's response (sorry!), my mind got jumbled with clue 5 having the keyword "after" and clue 8 having the keyword "before".

Yes, I suppose this is more or less intentional on the part of the algorithm that generates puzzles like these. The intermingling of terms like "before" and "after" is very much meant to lead to as much confusion as possible on the part of the solver. But, of course, the solver must find ways to rise above it!