Sevenoaks maths question

[Ahins]

Please can someone help me solve this.Not even sure what topic it comes under. Many thanks.

Four children bought a birthday present for their father. One of the children hid the
present. Their mother asked them who had hidden the present. The four boys involved
made the following statements about the offender:
Alfred: "It was not me!" Benjamin: "It was not me!" Christian: "It was Daniel!"
Daniel: "It was Benjamin!"
It turned out that exactly one of them did not tell the truth. Who was the offender?

[Proud_Dad]

Hint: C and D cannot both be telling the truth.

[Guest55]

Please can someone help me solve this.Not even sure what topic it comes under. Many thanks.

Four children bought a birthday present for their father. One of the children hid the
present. Their mother asked them who had hidden the present. The four boys involved
made the following statements about the offender:
Alfred: "It was not me!" Benjamin: "It was not me!" Christian: "It was Daniel!"
Daniel: "It was Benjamin!"
It turned out that exactly one of them did not tell the truth. Who was the offender?

I would call this topic 'logic' - tackle it systematically.

It was Alfred - A is lying, B is truthful, C is lying, D is lying so it can't be Alfred ... carry on but use PD's hint to get here quickly!

[Ahins]

Makes sense thanks. The question completely threw me but logic does it!

[guest201]

if only one of them didn't tell the truth surely it is Daniel who is not telling the truth and also is the offender.
Or have i misread the question?

[Ahins]

You are right. What steps did you use to arrive at that conclusion?interested in your thought process. Thanks.

[ToadMum]

if only one of them didn't tell the truth surely it is Daniel who is not telling the truth and also is the offender.
Or have i misread the question?

If only one is not telling the truth, then the answer is Daniel, as everyone else's statements are compatible with him being the culprit. It could be Alfred if the question had stated that only one of them was telling the truth.

If Daniel is the culprit:

Alfred: "It was not me!" - True
Benjamin: "It was not me!" - True
Christian: "It was Daniel!" - True
Daniel: "It was Benjamin" - False

[guest201]

You know it is either Christian or Daniel who is lying. If Daniel is telling the truth (it was Benjamin) it means that both Benjamin (it wasn't me) and Christian (It was Daniel) are lying, therefore Daniel must be the offender and the liar