Directions (25-29): Study the information carefully and answer the questions given below.

Seven friends - P, Q, R, S, T, U, and V - went to attend a cooking class for a week from Monday to Sunday, not necessarily in the same order. Each person prepared a different number of dishes during these classes.

Q prepared the most dishes. The person who prepared the least dishes attended immediately after R. S prepared the 2ndmost dishes and attended on Sunday. T and the person who prepared the second-most dishes attended on consecutive days. Q prepared 5 dishes more than T who prepared 6 dishes more than P. P attended the classes immediately after the person who prepared 9 dishes. The person who prepared 10 dishes attended immediately before the person who prepared 8 dishes. Q attended on Wednesday, while V attended on Friday. There were 2 people between R and the person who prepared 6 dishes. Only One person prepared half number of dishes than the other one.

Who prepared the least number of dishes?

To find who prepared the least number of dishes, let us reconstruct the schedule from Monday to Sunday using the given clues step-by-step:

1. Determine the days of attendance:
- Q attended on Wednesday.
- V attended on Friday.
- S attended on Sunday and prepared the 2^nd most dishes.
- T and the person who prepared the 2^nd most dishes (S) attended on consecutive days. Since S attended on Sunday, T must have attended on Saturday.

2. Determine the positions of P, R, and U:
- There are three days remaining for the other three friends (P, R, and U): Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
- There were 2 people between R and the person who prepared 6 dishes. If R is on Monday, the person with 6 dishes must be on Thursday. If R is on Tuesday, the person with 6 dishes must be on Friday (V). But the person who prepared the least dishes attended immediately after R. If R were on Tuesday, the person with the least dishes would be on Wednesday (Q), which contradicts the fact that Q prepared the most dishes. Therefore, R must be on Monday.
- This means the person who prepared 6 dishes is on Thursday (U), and the person who prepared the least dishes attended on Tuesday (immediately after R). Thus, P must be on Tuesday, leaving U to attend on Thursday.

3. Establish the schedule of days:
- Monday: R
- Tuesday: P (least dishes)
- Wednesday: Q (most dishes)
- Thursday: U (6 dishes)
- Friday: V
- Saturday: T
- Sunday: S (2^nd most dishes)

4. Determine the number of dishes prepared by each person:
- P attended immediately after the person who prepared 9 dishes. Since P attended on Tuesday, the person on Monday (R) prepared 9 dishes.
- The person who prepared 10 dishes attended immediately before the person who prepared 8 dishes. The only consecutive days available for this sequence (10 followed by 8) are Friday and Saturday. Thus, V (Friday) prepared 10 dishes, and T (Saturday) prepared 8 dishes.
- We are given that T prepared 6 dishes more than P:
$T\; =\; P\; +\; 6$
Substituting $T\; =\; 8$:
$8\; =\; P\; +\; 6$
$P\; =\; 2$
- We are also given that Q prepared 5 dishes more than T:
$Q\; =\; T\; +\; 5\; =\; 8\; +\; 5\; =\; 13$
- Since S prepared the 2^nd most dishes, and Q (13) prepared the most, the number of dishes for S must be between 10 (prepared by V) and 13 (prepared by Q).
- Using the rule that only one person prepared half the number of dishes of another, we find that U (6 dishes) is half of S (12 dishes). This satisfies all conditions perfectly.

Comparing the dishes prepared by everyone:
- P: 2 dishes
- U: 6 dishes
- T: 8 dishes
- R: 9 dishes
- V: 10 dishes
- S: 12 dishes
- Q: 13 dishes

Therefore, P prepared the least number of dishes (2 dishes).