|From the introduction, the five contestants on "Melt Down" weighed from a low
of 300 lbs. to a high of 400 lbs., with no two contestants weighing the
same when the show began. Neither Hal (clue 3) nor George (6)
weighed the 400 lbs. By clue 5, Mr. Pound's 30% loss ended up as the most
lbs. shed; since Fred lost a higher percentage of his weight than Pound
but lost fewer lbs., Fred couldn't have weighed the high of 400 lbs.
Since the most Mr. Pound could have lost in clue 5 is 120 lbs. (30% of
400), Ken can't have been the 400 lb.'er or he would have lost 155 lbs.
(2). Therefore, Jack started "Melt Down" at 400 lbs. By clue 1, Jack
isn't Runner or Atkins. If Jack were Pound, he would have melted down
to 280 lbs. (5)--impossible by clue 1. If Jack were Scales, Jack would
have dropped 80 lbs. and Hal would have started at 320 (3). Hal wouldn't
be Runner or Atkins, who weighed less before the game than Jack did
after the game (1). Hal wouldn't be Pound, who had to weigh 280 or
less (5). If Hal were Mr. Craig, George would have carried 295 lbs.
before the contest (6), contradicting the range of starting weights in
the introduction. So, Jack isn't Scales and is Mr. Craig. Then
George weighed 375 lbs. when "Melt Down" began (6). Since the least any
of the five lost is 50 lbs. (7), by clue 1, Runner and Atkins started
at less than 350 lbs. and aren't George. If George were Mr. Pound, he would
have shed 30% (5) of 375 lbs., or 112.5 lbs, to finish at 262.5. Then
Jack would have weighed 302.5 at the end of the show (6), losing 98.5 lbs.
A third contestant would have lost 50 lbs. (7); while by clue 5, Fred
would have shed at least 90 lbs. (over 30% of 300). However, this would
give at least 351 lbs, leaving at most 39 lbs. for the fifth contestant
(7)--no (7). So George is Scales. By clue 3, he lost 75 lbs., so Hal
weighed 300 lbs. when "Melt Down" started. George weighed 340 after the
game (6), having lost 60 lbs. By clue 5, if Hal were Pound, Hal would
have lost a game high of 90 lbs.; however, by clue 5, Fred would have
lost more than 90 lbs., since he started at more than 300 lbs. (from the
intro, no two weighed the same in the contestants' 300-400 lb. starting
range). So Hal isn't Pound. Mr. Pound and Fred each lost more than
90 lbs. (5). Therefore, Hal lost the low of 50 lbs. (7) to finish at
250 lbs. He then isn't Runner, who ended at 225 (4), and is Atkins.
Runner must be Fred and Ken, who ended the game at 245 lbs. (2), Pound.
To get to his end weight of 245 by losing 30% of his girth (5), Ken
Pound started at 350 lbs. (X - .3X = 245,, or .7X = 245. 245 divided by
.7 gives 350). Summing the four weight losses so far (60, 75, 105, 50),
we get 290; so, Fred lost the remaining 100 pounds of the 390 total (7)
and thus began "Melt Down" at 325 lbs. In sum, the five contestants on
the weight-loss reality show "Melt Down" fared as follows:
- Jack Craig, 400 lbs. - 60 lbs. = 340 lbs.
- George Scales, 375 lbs. - 75 lbs. = 300 lbs.
- Ken Pound, 350 lbs. - 105 lbs = 245 lbs.
- Fred Runner, 325 lbs. - 100 lbs. = 225 lbs.
- Hal Atkins, 300 lbs. - 50 lbs. = 250 lbs.