DaveC426913 said:
Silly Dave. You're supposed to ask open questions that narrow down the possibilities. We could grow old and die before you hit on the correct scenario by chance.
Given that you knew ahead of time that more information would be necessary, I probably would have preferred it if you provided all the clues necessary in whited out text or something so that we don't have to wait for your input. Anyway, with that in mind, let me just ask a bunch of questions, so I can try and have as much information as expediantly as possible, rather than waiting around each time I ask something:
1) Was the man planning on definitely killing himself before eating the soup (no matter what the outcome)? (I assume no)
2) Was the man planning on potentially killing himself before he ate the soup (IE as a *possible* outcome)?
3) Was the act of tasting the soup that which convinced him to kill himself?
4) Is the taste or flavor of the soup the inspiration for him to kill himself?
5) Did the act of taking the taste (not the flavor itself) make him kill himself? (That is, the act of preparing a spoonful, removing said spoonful from the bowl, or using the spoon with his mouth, etc)
6) Did the soup taste amazingly good?
7) Did the soup taste moderately good?
8) Did the soup taste normal (IE not actually good or bad, just satisfactorily normal)
9) Was the soup itself cooked by someone he knew?
10) Was the soup prepared (IE poured, served) by someone he knew?
11) Was someone he knew intending to make him desire to kill himself?
12) Did the man have a personal connection with the restaurant?
13) Did the man have a professional connection with the restaurant?
14) Was he eating by himself?
15) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of entering the restaurant and ordering soup? (By "significant" I mean a clue that pertains to why he killed himself)
16) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of tasting the soup and paying for his meal? (Like finish the rest of the soup, finish his meal, have a conversation, buy a gun, etc)
17) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of paying for the soup and exiting the restaurant?
18) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of exiting the restaurant and shooting himself?
19) Was it the man's intention to kill himself when he shot himself?
20) Did the man think the act of shooting himself would definitely not kill him?
21) Did the man think the act of shooting himself might not kill him?
22) Did the man think the act of shooting himself would do him injury?
23) Did he take more than one taste of the soup?
24) Did he take a taste of the soup with a spoon from a bowl (as we might expect)?
25) Was he forced by someone to taste the soup?
26) Did he finish any of the rest of his meal?
27) Is there a significant reason he ordered soup instead of something else?
28) Would it be possible for the sake of the riddle to replace soup with (say) wine?
29) Did he ask for a table the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?
30) Did he order soup the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?
31) Did he eat his soup the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?
32) Did he "pay" in the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?
33) Did he leave a tip (by tip I mean monetary)?
34) Did he leave a cheap tip?
35) Did he leave an excessive tip?
36) Was someone intentionally communicating a message by means of the soup?
37) Was the message (if applicable) intended for him?
38) Did anyone else taste his soup?
39) Did anyone else expect that he might react badly to the soup?
40) Did anyone else expect that he might kill himself after tasting the soup?
41) Did the man often carry a gun?
42) Was the gun owned by the man?
43) Was the soup a normal variety of soup? (IE something one would find in a typical restaurant)
44) Was the man so dismayed that he elected to commit suicide without outside influence?
45) Was the man influenced or coerced by someone else into committing suicide?
46) Is the man's professional (not necessarily financial) life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
47) Is the man's family life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
48) Is the man's social life (disregarding family) directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
49) Is the man's personal life (IE pride, shame, etc) directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
50) Is the man's religious life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
Alright, this is going on a bit too long. Answer those and I'll have a go at round 2.
[edit]Admittedly, in re-reading, I notice that it doesn't say he actually ate any of the soup. It says "he takes one spoonful", but it doesn't even say that he took a spoonful of the soup that he ordered. For that matter, it doesn't say that the soup was delivered to him, nor that anyone took his order. It's possible that he's the sole survivor in an atomic aftermath, and that he goes into a restaurant, orders a bowl of soup (which obviously doesn't come), and therefore, in taking a spoonful of nothing, he realizes that he's doomed to be alone, and decides to go kill himself.
Hence, I will posit this as a question:
51) Does the order of events match the following?
A. A healthy, living man enters a restaurant that's normally staffed and open for business
B. The man is seated at a table
C. The man requests of the waitstaff a bowl of soup
D. The waitstaff successfully delivers the bowl of soup to the man
E. The restaurant has provided a spoon for the man
F. The man uses the spoon provided to taste at least one "bite" of the soup that was delivered to him
G. The man pays for his meal
H. The waitstaff accepts his payment
I. The man exits the restaurant
J. The man puts a gun in his hand
K. The man shoots himself with the gun
L. The resulting gunshot kills the man
If the answer to the above is "no", then it's safe to assume that questions 52 through 63 are whether are not A - L above are true.
[/edit]
DaveE
minimum information lateral puzzle.
spoiler: