help me with this confusing math problem it gives me a headache!?

Question

its thanks giving! Maria, her sister, brother, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, uncle bart, and friends mr and mrs.lopez are sitting down to dinner. use the following clues to help you find out where everyone is sitting at the table.
each person is facing the table.

*the table is a rectangel
*maria's mother and father sit at each end of the table.
every male is sitting between two females
*Maria's father is sitting next to two of his children
*maria is sitting next to her father and someone not in her family
*marias grandfather is sitting next to a granddaughter and someone not in the family
*maria's brother sits to the left of his mother and accross uncle bart.

READ ALL OF EM FIRST THEN ANSWER

Answer 1

Ah, LSAT prep. This one appears to have two interchangeable answers, so I'll show both. Here're my steps:

1. -------------------- (There's my rectabgular table)

2. MM------------------MF

(xy) (xx)(xy)(xx)
3 MM-----------------MF
(xy) (xx) (xy)(xx)

(xy) (xx) (xy) (M/S)
4 MM------------------MF
(xy) (xx) (xy) (M/S)

#5 is where it gets ambiguous, since we don't know what side Maria's on. I'll start on one side and switch her if necessary
(xy) (xx) MrL M
5 MM------------------MF
(xy) (xx) (xy) S

(xy) GM MrL M
6 MM------------------MF
(xy) MrsL GF S

B GM MrL M
7 MM------------------MF
U MrsL GF S

This is a correct answer, but it turns out that had I placed Maria on the bottom and her sister on the top, I would've ended up with a different answer that satisfies the same criteria:
B MrsL GF S
MM--------------------MF
U GM MrL M

Answer 2

piece of cake

Since you know who's at the end of the table and each person sits next to the opposite sex. Then

Maria's father is in between of Maria and her sister.
Next to Maria is Mr. Lopez, followed by Maria's grandmother, then Maria's brother. Across from Maria, sits her sister, followed by Maria's grandfather, followed by Mrs. Lopez, and then Uncle Bart.

Answer 3

From left head going clockwise of the table is Maria's mother, then the brother, then the grandmother, then Mr. Lopez, then Maria, then Maria's father (at the other end of the table) then the sister, then grand father, then Mrs. Lopez, and finally Uncle Bart

Answer 4

Going clockwise around the table, you have Mother at one end, then Brother, Grandmother, Mr. Lopez, and Maria. Then at the other end, you have Father, then Sister, Grandfather, Mrs. Lopez, and Uncle Bart.

Answer 5

Starting with mom on one end and going clockwise:
Mom, brother, Grandmom, Mr. Lopez, Maria, Dad, sister, Granddad, Mrs. Lopez, uncle Bart

Another possibility has Maria on her father's left and would be:
Mom, brother, Mrs. Lopez, Granddad, sister, Dad, Maria, Mr. Lopez, Grandmom, Uncle Bart.

As far as I can tell, either of these are possible.

Answer 6

clockwise and starting at head of table: father, Maria, Mr.Lopez, grandmother, uncle bart, mother, brother, mrs.lopez, grandfather, sister.

Answer 7

father
maria sister
mr l grandpa
grandma mrs l
brother uncle bart
mother

Answer 8

pop
maria sis
mr turkey grandad
grandma mrs
bro unc
ma

Answer 9

Okay, so here's how I figured it out:

It says that that the mom and dad sit across from eachother so:

..........____ ...____...____... ___
mom..................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........____...____ ... ____ ...___

Brother is to the left of his mother and accross from Uncle:

..........brother ...____...____... ___
mom..................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........uncle...____ ... ____ ...___

Maria sits next to her father and someone not in her family. The only two people not in her family are Mr. and Mrs. Lopez, and since males MUST sit next to females, she must be sitting next to Mr. Lopez:

..........brother ...____...Mr.L... Maria
mom....................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........uncle...____ ... ____ ...___

Dad is sitting next to two of his children - the only child left is Maria's sister:

..........brother ...____...Mr.L... Maria
mom....................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........uncle...____ ... ____ ...sister


Grandfather is sitting next to his granddaughter. Maria is already sitting next to Mr. Lopez, so that leaves Maria's sister:

..........brother ...____......Mr.L...... Maria
mom....................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........uncle.....____ ... grandpa ...sister


The grandfather is sitting next to someone not in his family, and MUST sit next to a female. The only people not seated yet is the Grandma and Mrs. Lopez. Mrs. Lopez is the only one not in his family so:

..........brother ...____...Mr.L... ....Maria
mom......................................................... .... . .. .dad
..........uncle....Mrs L... grandpa ...sister

Now the only person left is Grandma:

.......brother ...Grandma...Mr.L....... Maria
mom....................................................... .... . ........ .dad
.......uncle........Mrs L......grandpa ...sister

Whew! :)