Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/191 - Crossing the Ferry

Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $191$

Crossing the Ferry

Six persons, all related, have to cross a river in a small boat that will only hold two.

Mr. Webster, who had to plan the little affair, had quarrelled with his father-in-law and his son,

and, I am sorry to say, Mrs. Webster was not on speaking terms with her mother or her daugther-in-law.

In fact, the relations were so strained that it was not safe to permit any of the belligerents to pass over together

or to remain together on the same side of the river.

And to prevent further discord, no man was to be left with two women or two men with three women.

How are they to perform the feat in the fewest possible crossings?

No tricks, such as making use of a rope or current, or swimming across, are allowed.

Sources

• 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Crossing River Problems: $191$. -- Crossing the Ferry
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Combinatorial & Topological Problems: Miscellaneous Combinatorial Puzzles: $448$. Crossing the Ferry