Okay, here’s how to solve this classic river crossing puzzle:
The trick is that you can’t take the man and the goat across together, because the goat will be tempted to wander off and get lost or into trouble when left alone on the other side.
The solution is:
The man rows the goat across the river and leaves the goat on the other side.
The man then rows back alone.
The man picks up something heavy like a rock or log, rows across with the heavy object.
He leaves the heavy object on the other side and brings the goat back.
Finally, the man leaves the goat on the starting side and rows back to join the heavy object on the other side.
The key is using the heavy object as a temporary “guard” so the goat doesn’t wander when left alone briefly on either side. By strategically ferrying the goat and heavy object back and forth, the man can eventually get both himself and the goat across the river.
Let me know if this step-by-step explanation for solving the classic man, goat and boat puzzle makes sense!
Claude isn’t much better: