The scene
Reading Club · New books tableThe club’s signed bookmark ended up hidden in a privately owned book. The person distributing the books arranged three of them by the display rule; a camera shows that the second was chosen.
The rule compares the number of words in each title first. Only in a tie does it count letters in the first word. Count the original titles quoted in Spanish, not their English meanings; no knowledge of Spanish or the authors is needed.
What we know for certain
One of these people put the bookmark inside their own book. The titles are exactly those stated, with no subtitles. Ignore punctuation when counting; each space separates words. Nobody changed books after they were sorted.
The three accounts
Yago Serra
Editor«My book’s original title is El faro distante.»
Zaira Font
Reader«Mine is Noche abierta.»
Aina Mas
Bookseller«I brought Un río.»
Examine the evidence
0 of 5 openedOpening these five clues does not cost points.
01The first comparison
The books are sorted from the fewest to the most words in their titles.
02The tiebreaker
Among titles with the same number of words, the one with fewer letters in its first word comes first. Alphabetical order is not used.
03The complete titles
The covers confirm Yago: ‘El faro distante’ (meaning ‘The distant lighthouse’); Zaira: ‘Noche abierta’ (‘Open night’); Aina: ‘Un río’ (‘A river’). Only the original titles count; the English meanings are not printed on the covers.
04The selected book
The recording shows the bookmark going into the second book after sorting was complete. This does not mean the second book to reach the table.
05The intact covers
No words were hidden and no notes were added to the titles. All three books remained with their respective owners.