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Dysfunctional Crossing (Posted on 2005-09-26) Difficulty: 3 of 5
There are 8 people that need to cross a river. The water is too deep and fast to walk or swim across, and the only transportation device available is a raft. The raft can only be operated by adults, cannot float across the river on its own, and can carry at most two people.

The 8 people are a juvenile delinquent, her jailer, and a dysfunctional family of six: mother, father, two sons, and two daughters. To be clear, the only adults are the jailer, the mother, and the father.

Unfortunately some people fight with each other:

  • The juvenile delinquent will fight with anybody if her jailer is not present.
  • The father fights with either daughter if the mother is not present to mediate.
  • The mother fights with either son if the father is not present to mediate.
  • How can these 8 people cross the river without any fights? How many trips on the raft did it take?

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    See The Solution Submitted by nikki    
    Rating: 4.1538 (13 votes)

    Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
    Solution No Subject | Comment 22 of 30 |

    Let 'J' denote the jailer, 'M' the mother, 'F' the father, 'D' any of the daughters, 'S' any of the sons, and 'del' the deliquent.

    'X+Y ->' means X and Y cross the river to reach the east side; '<- X+Y' means X and Y cross the river to reach the west side.

     

    J+del ->

            <- J

    J+D  ->

            <- J+del

    M+D  ->

            <- M

    M+F   ->

            <- F

    J+del ->

            <- M

    M+F   ->

            <- F

    F+S   ->

            <- J+del

    J+S  ->

            <- J

    J+del ->

    17 crosses in total


      Posted by Michael Kornrade on 2005-11-12 15:41:54
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