>>And once the boat lands on the opposite side of the river, there are two cannibals and one missionary. I had thought too originally that those in the boat didn't count, but if you look in the other branch of this thread, they do. You have to include them with the people on the shore they land on.
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>That rule makes this puzzle rediculous. If I were one of the missionaries i'd be the first one on the boat to get away from the cannibals, and who cares about getting the rest of the cannibals across the river with us...

The puzzle is quite solvable. Myself and another have already posted the solution. Trick is to remember that two people can always ride the boat back to the original shore.