The Riddle

[critterlord]

Three men walk into an inn wishing to stay the night. The innkeeper tells them that it will cost 30 dollars for all three of them, 10 dollars each. the real price for a night is 25 dollars. Not knowing the truth, they gladly give him the money and proceed off to their room. The innkeeper tells them in the morning that the real price was 27 dollars. Giving them each 1 dollar back, he keeps the 2 dollars he overcharged, meaning that each of the 3 men paid 9 dollars each. If 9 times 3 makes 27, plus the 2 the Innkeeper kept, where's the extra dollar?

 

[sole seeker]

Lost in the shuffle.

You can't start counting backwards from 30, if you're also counting forward from 1. (Ex: you have ten fingers, counting both your thumbs. Count down from ten on one hand... 10-9-8-7-6; and count up from one on the other hand 1-2-3-4-5. Six plus five equalls eleven... better re-count your fingers!

 

[xylo]

The hotel has $25 for the room, the innkeeper has $2 and the 3 men between them have $3.
25+2+3=30
what extra dollar?

xylo

 

[milagros317]

The flaw in this riddle is that the $2 they were overcharged is part of the $27 that they paid the innkeeper. So adding these two amounts has no meaning; the sum of $29 has no meaning.

And xylo has correctly stated the disposition of the entire $30.