A party consisted of a man, his wife, his four sons and their wives and three children in each son's family. How many were there at the party?

Let's count the number of people attending the party by categories:
1. The primary couple: $1\text{ man}+1\text{ wife}=2$ people
2. The sons and their wives: $4\text{ sons}+4\text{ wives}=8$ people
3. The children of the four sons: $4\text{ families}\times 3\text{ children per family}=12$ people

Summing up all the members present at the party:

$$\text{Total number of people}=2+8+12=22$$