River Crossing

There is a river to cross using a river raft and there are eight people (father, mother, policeman, thief, 2 daughters and 2 sons). No one knows to operate the raft except the adults and also excluding the thief. Only two people can go in the raft at a time. The raft should keep coming back and forth in order to pick and drop the people.
Rules to be followed:
Father: the father cannot stay in the raft or outside the raft without the presence of the mother.
Mother: the mother cannot stay in the raft or outside the rat without the presence of the father.
Thief: the thief is not allowed to stay with any of the family members unless there is a policeman.
Policeman: the policeman can travel with anyone.
2 sons and 2 daughters: they are not allowed to travel in the raft without the presence of an adult. They cannot either travel in the presence of only thieves without the policeman. The sons cannot be with their mothers without their father's supervision. The daughters are not allowed to be there with their fathers without the supervision of their mothers. But the daughters and the sons can be left unsupervised (as long as the other rules are applied).
What is the sequence that the people should follow in order to cross the river through the raft keeping in mind all the rules?
The rules are applicable not only in the raft but also outside the raft.




Similar Riddles

You have two rectangular wires.

Both of them have property that when you light the fire from one end , it will take 60 minutes to get completely burn.

However, they do not burn at consistent speed (i.e it might be possible 1st 20% burn in 50 minutes and 80% can burn in 10 minutes).

So how could you measure 45 minutes ?

Asked by Neha on 21 Feb 2021


There are 2 cops parked along a one-way street looking for traffic violations. They spot a taxi driver going in the wrong direction, yet they do nothing.

Why?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

Kohli and Dhoni decided to have a paintball match.
Kohli told Dhoni, "Sir it is not right as you got thrice the paintballs I have".

Dhoni instantly gives Kohli 10 hit paintballs.
Kohli replied, "Sir, I believe you still have twice the paintballs than I have".

Dhoni gives "?" more paintballs to Kohli.
Kohli replied, "Sir it is even now, Let us have a match".

What is "?".

Asked by Neha on 02 Mar 2026


A man has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river.

He has a rowboat, and it can only carry him and one other thing.
If the fox and the chicken are left together, the fox will eat the chicken.
If the chicken and the corn are left together, the chicken will eat the corn.

How does the man do it?

Asked by Neha on 04 May 2021

You have two jars of chocolates labelled as P and Q. If you move one chocolate from P to Q, the number of chocolates on B will become twice the number of chocolates in A. If you move one chocolate from Q to P, the number of chocolates in both the jars will become equal.

Can you find out how many chocolates are there in P and Q respectively?

Asked by Neha on 11 Apr 2023

You have a thousand Re. 1 coins with you. You have ten bags with you and you can put any number of coins in each of the bags. The condition is that if someone asks you for any amount between 1 and 1000, you must be able to give that amount by just giving the bag (you are not allowed to open the bag and give coins).

How will you do it?

Asked by Neha on 12 May 2024


Can you count the number of squares in the figure below?

Count the number of squares

Asked by Neha on 14 Aug 2026

It was a dark stormy night and a couple were in a car driving madly to a city. The car broke down and the husband had to go get help from someone who spoke his language. He was afraid to leave his wife alone in the car so he locked the car before leaving. When he came back, the car was in the same state as he had left it but his wife was dead, there was blood on the floor and there was a stranger in the car. What happened?

Asked by Neha on 02 Aug 2024

Three ants are sitting at the three corners of an equilateral triangle. Each ant starts randomly picks a direction and starts to move along the edge of the triangle. What is the probability that none of the ants collide?

Asked by Neha on 05 Sep 2021


There are four 3-link chains. All you have to do is join them into a big 12-link chain. For joining two closed links, one of the links must be cut and placed onto the other link for closing.

How many minimum links will you have to cut to make the big chain?

Asked by Neha on 27 Sep 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword puzzles

In the 1920s, people feared that crossword puzzles would contribute to illiteracy.