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    • River Crossing Puzzles >
      • The fox, the goose, and the grain
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      • Soldiers and children
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      • The farmer, his children, and their pets
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    • Sudoku-Type Puzzles >
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    • About the Solutions
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Soldiers and Children

Two soldiers have to cross a river. They have discovered a small boat in which is being rowed by two children. The boat can only carry two children or a single soldier. How did the soldiers get across the river and afterwards leave the two children with their boat?

This is from 536 puzzles and curious problems by H. E. Dudeney, edited by Martin Gardner. Scribners, 1967. Dudeney's puzzle is called Crossing the river, and had 358 soldiers and asked for the total number of trips required. If you can solve it for 2 soldiers, you can solve it for 358.

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