Blood Relations

At a glance 9 rules

1. 1Draw the treeOne row per generation, oldest on top: □ for male, ○ for female, = between a married couple, a line down to their children. Mark gender only when a word fixes it.
2. 2Gender comes from wordsOnly words like he, she, Mr, son, daughter, wife or brother fix gender, never a name. If the answer needs a gender nobody gave, it cannot be determined.
3. 3Count generationsOne link up is a parent, two a grandparent, three a great-grandparent, and the same counting works downward. Siblings and spouses stay on the same row.
4. 4Start from the speakerIn 'pointing to a photo' questions, start at 'my' and resolve the innermost phrase first: 'my father's only son', said by a man, is the speaker himself.
5. 5Coded relationsWrite each code in words first ('A × B': A is the sister of B), then read the chain one link at a time. A link that gives no gender leaves that person's gender open.
6. 6Puzzles: couples firstIn a family puzzle, fix the married couples first, then hang the children under them. A count like 'exactly two couples' rules out families that need an outsider.
7. 7Maternal or paternalThrough the mother is maternal, through the father paternal: mother's brother is the maternal uncle, father's sister the paternal aunt, mother's father the maternal grandfather.
8. 8In-lawsSpouse's parent: father- or mother-in-law. Child's spouse: son- or daughter-in-law. Spouse's sibling, or sibling's spouse: brother- or sister-in-law.
9. 9Cousin, nephew, nieceA parent's sibling's child is a cousin, of either gender. A sibling's child is a nephew or niece. A cousin's child sits one row below the cousin.