THE PUZZLE:
Three people check into a hotel room that costs $30. They each contribute $10, handing $30 to the hotel clerk. Later, the clerk realises the room only costs $25. To rectify this, the clerk gives $5 to the bellboy and asks him to return it to the three guests.
The bellboy, however, decides to keep $2 for himself and gives $1 back to each of the three guests. Now, each guest has paid $9 (totaling $27) and the bellboy has $2, which makes $29.
QUESTION:
Where is the missing Dollar?
FLIP FOR ANSWER
The Answer
The puzzle is designed to be misleading. The guests have indeed paid $27 in total: $25 for the room and $2 for the bellboy. There's no missing Dollar.
The trick is in the way the question is phrased; it leads you to think of the $27 as separate from the bellboy's $2, when in fact it includes it.
