by Dave Youngs and Michelle Pauls
Puzzle Topic
Logic
Puzzle Question
How can you get each royal couple across the gorge without leaving
any prince alone with a princess who is not his own?
Puzzle Background
This puzzle is an adaptation of a classic logic puzzle that has been
around for many years. In the original puzzle, three couples are trying to cross
a river in a boat which only holds two people at a time. Each wife has an objection
to her husband being alone with any other woman in the boat or on either side
of the river.
The challenge is to get the six people across the river without violating the wishes of the wives. In our modified version the challenge is the same, but the story is told in a slightly different way. There is also the option of using manipulatives to make the task easier for students.
Puzzle Presentation
1. Each student will need a copy of the Activity Page.
2. If the students need the aid of manipulatives you can have them cut out
the figures
provided on Activity Page 2 or
create manipulatives of their own design.