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

What is the difference between a jeweller and a jailer?

Asked by Neha on 11 Jul 2025


Can anyone tell me a word in the English dictionary which has a silent 'z'?

Asked by Neha on 13 Jan 2024

How many triangles are there in the picture below?

Triangle Count Riddle

Asked by Neha on 12 Feb 2026


Can you count the number of squares in the given picture?

How Many Squares you Find

Asked by Neha on 13 Feb 2024

In a rainy season, one day 3 huge ladies walked under a normal-sized umbrella.
The umbrella is not huge enough to accommodate all 3 ladies yet not a single lady got wet. Why?

Asked by Neha on 19 May 2024

Who always enjoys poor health?

Who enjoys poor health?

Asked by Neha on 22 Sep 2021


A girl was standing near the window thinking something. All of a sudden she decides something and throws something out of the window. She dies very soon after throwing it. She was perfectly healthy and had no disease or allergy. No one killed her and she did not commit suicide.

Can you think of any possible explanation that is logical as well for what happened there?

Asked by Neha on 25 Aug 2021

In order to complete the racing competition, the Mexico racetrack has to submit its top and the most famous three horses to win the competition. Due to an electrical storm, all the records are cleared and no one knows which horse holds the record. They all look identical and it becomes even more difficult to differentiate the horses. There are 25 horses in the Mexico racetrack. But there can be only five horses at a time on the track. What will the least number of races that can be conducted to find out the three fastest horses?

Horse Race in Mexico

Asked by Neha on 24 Mar 2021

Find the next number in the series below

21 32 54 87 131 ?

Asked by Neha on 16 Nov 2023


There are three light switches outside a room. One of the switches is connected to a light bulb inside the room.
Each of the three switches can be either 'ON' or 'OFF'.

You are allowed to set each switch the way you want it and then enter the room(note: you can enter the room only once)

Your task is to then determine which switch controls the bulb?

Asked by Neha on 07 Mar 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Out of the Box

The phrase “thinking outside the box” was popularised from the solution to a topographical puzzle involving 9 dots in a box shape.