Word Problem pulled from old Harvard entrance exam....circa 1969.?

Question

John is 15 and has a younger sister. Susie is 14 and and has a twin sister. Bill is 17 and has a younger brother, 2 years younger then him but twice the age of his best friends 2nd sibling. John and Reggie are related to Craig. Sarah and Susie have the same brother. Craig is older then Susie. Nick is 3 years older then half the age of his older sisters combined age. Sarah and Nick are friends.

So if Sarah is 9 and Craig is 15, then how old is Reggie?

Answer 1

Sounds like Harvard didn't know the difference between "then" and "than" when making up this question.

Give Harvard a D for English.

Will edit answer later...

EDIT: Since Nick has older sisters, (older relative to a younger sister, Sarah, not older than him, presumably), they must be Susie and twin, which makes their combined age 28, and half that 14.  Nick must be 17.

Nick17, Susie14, TwinSis14, and Sarah9 are all related.  But, since the question declares Nick and Sarah to be friends instead of siblings, the whole question is contradictory.

Also, the problem is listed in integers.  Saying Bill is 17, puts his younger brother at 15.  Half of that is 7.5, for the age of a friend's sibling, which doesn't fit the pattern.