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The Global Insight

Are there two answers to the missing dollar riddle?

Author

James Olson

Updated on February 10, 2026

There seems to be a discrepancy, as there cannot be two answers ($29 and $30) to the math problem. On the one hand it is true that the $25 in the register, the $3 returned to the guests, and the $2 kept by the bellhop add up to $30, but on the other hand, the $27 paid by the guests and the $2 kept by the bellhop add up to only $29.

How to fix a formula without the dollar sign?

In cell B2, the formula without dollars would be “=A2*B1”, but for this formula to work when copied to each column, we need it to always look at column A for the first reference and to work for each row, we need to always look at row 1 for the second. Using the dollar sign to do this, it becomes “=$A2*B$1”.

How much is the missing dollar in the story?

The guests of the hotel paid $27, but also have $3 among their pockets at the story’s end. Their assets are $3, and their liabilities are $27 ($30 = 27 + 3). Thus, the original total is accounted for. From the perspective of the hotel clerk, the hotel has $25 in assets and lost $5 in liabilities ($30 = 25 + 5).

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What’s the puzzle about the missing dollar bill?

Although the wording and specifics can alter, the puzzle runs along these lines: Three guests check into a hotel room. The manager says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later the manager realizes the bill should only have been $25. To rectify this, he gives the bellhop $5 as five one-dollar bills to return to the guests.

Can you transfer US dollars from BMO to questrade?

It took me a day to figure out why I couldn’t do a USD bill payment from my BMO bank account, and another day to realize that, in order to transfer USD to Questrade, you need to do a pre-authorized deposit.