There is an advert running on UK television for Barclays Life Skills. A young lady is shown attempting to solve a puzzle, and then later shown fixing a problem with a wind turbine. The puzzle that she is solving is not shown in full, but if you know the puzzle you can infer what it is. Many of you will be unfamiliar with it, so being topical, it is given below.
A farmer is heading to market with a fox, a chicken and a bag of corn. No, we don’t know why he’s selling a fox, but it is needed for the puzzle. On his journey he reaches a river, which he has to cross using a small rowing boat. So small is the boat that it can only carry him and one of the items he’s taking to market at any one time. He needs to get the fox, the chicken and the bag of corn to market, so he has to get himself and the three items across the river somehow.
The problem he has is that the fox and the chicken are ravenously hungry, so if the fox is left with the chicken or the chicken left with the bag of corn, he will very quickly have only two items for sale. He has no means of keeping them apart while they are left.
How does he get the fox, the chicken, the corn and himself across the river without anything getting eaten?
As usual you can post the answers as a comment on this website, reply to the post on Facebook, or retweet or reply on Twitter @quizmastershop.
Answer at 9.00 on Monday
Take the chicken over first leaving the fox with the corn. Go back over and pick up the fox and take the fox over the river. Pick the chicken up and return the chicken to the river bank where they started. Pick up the corn and take that over and leave the corn with the fox. Go back and collect the chicken then make the final trip to the side of the river they need to be at
But then he leaves the Chicken with the Corn!
The man takes the fox first goes back and gets the corn and then goes to get the chicken.
Does he take the chicken across, leaving the fox with the corn. He comes back and takes the fox across, but brings back the chicken. Then he takes the corn across. He comes back and gets the final item which is the chicken.