Saturday, February 21, 2009

Cannibals and Missionaries

Puzzle #1: Three cannibals and three missionaries must cross a river. Their boat can only hold two people. If the cannibals outnumber the missionaries, on either side of the river, the missionaries are in trouble (I won't describe the results). Each missionary and each cannibal can row the boat. How can all six get across the river? Try it before looking at the answer, below.

Puzzle #2: A similar puzzle concerns a farmer, a fox, a goose, and a bag of corn. The farmer wants to get all of this stuff across a different river. His boat will only hold himself, and one of the other three items. The fox will eat the goose if the farmer is not present, and the goose will eat the corn if the farmer is not present. How can the farmer transport all three items across the river? Try this too, before looking at the answer, below.

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