And the answer is...

The other morning Julie and the boys called. They were waiting on Jason while he attended to some errand and were working mind puzzles while they waited. They were discussing the old Farmer, Fox, Goose and Corn conundrum - how the farmer could get all his possessions safely across the river carrying only one at a time, etc. They couldn't remember exactly how the puzzle went so called for assistance; unfortunately we couldn't remember clearly, either. So after Googling the puzzle I offer this belated solution, in case they haven't already worked it out.

- The farmer takes the goose across and comes back empty handed.
- The farmer takes the corn across and comes back, bringing the goose.
- The farmer takes the fox across and comes back empty handed.
- Finally the farmer takes the goose across and they all continue on their journey.

Which made me think of puzzles that I learned as a boy and have remembered all my life - such as "A bottle and a cork cost a dollar and a dime. The bottle cost one dollar more than the cork. How much did the cork cost?"

And the "Brothers and Sisters have I none, but this man is my father's son."

And then one I really love:

Three men checked into a run-down hotel and paid $10 each to share a room. When the manager came in, he said the room was not worth $30 - the clerk should refund a total of $5.00 to the men. The clerk, thinking that he could not make an even refund of $5, gave each man back $1 and kept the remaining $2 for himself. Therefore the 3 men each paid $9 - a total of $27 and the clerk kept $2 for a grand total of $29.

What happened to the other dollar?