Puzzle – Farmer crossing river

A farmer has a chicken, a bag of grain, and a fox. He needs to cross a river, but his boat can only hold him and one other item at a time. If he leaves the chicken alone with the grain, the chicken will eat the grain. If he leaves the fox alone with the chicken, the fox will eat the chicken. How can he get all three items across the river safely?

Puzzle: Farmer Crossing River

Solution:

The farmer must make several trips to get everything across the river safely. Here’s how he can do it:

• He takes the chicken across the river and leaves it on the other side.
• He goes back and takes the fox across the river, leaving it on the other side with the chicken.
• He takes the chicken back across the river and leaves it on the original side.
• He takes the grain across the river and leaves it on the other side with the fox.
• He goes back and takes the chicken across the river again
• Now, everything is safely on the other side of the river. The key is to always leave the chicken on one side or the other so that it doesn’t have a chance to eat the grain or get eaten by the fox.