Source: Sterling, Brain Teasers, p. 30

[DaveC426913]

No^4.

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.

 

[davee123]

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

 

[DaveC426913]

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.

I'm not sure how that would work. I'd have to second-guess what questions you'd ask. I whole point of the exercise is asking the right questions.

1) Was the man planning on definitely killing himself before eating the soup (no matter what the outcome)? (I assume no)

No.

2) Was the man planning on potentially killing himself before he ate the soup (IE as a *possible* outcome)?

Yes.

3) Was the act of tasting the soup that which convinced him to kill himself?

Yes.

4) Is the taste or flavor of the soup the inspiration for him to kill himself?

Yes.

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)

No.

6) Did the soup taste amazingly good?

No.

7) Did the soup taste moderately good?

No.

8) Did the soup taste normal (IE not actually good or bad, just satisfactorily normal)

Yes.

9) Was the soup itself cooked by someone he knew?

No.

10) Was the soup prepared (IE poured, served) by someone he knew?

No.

11) Was someone he knew intending to make him desire to kill himself?

No.

12) Did the man have a personal connection with the restaurant?

No.

13) Did the man have a professional connection with the restaurant?

No.

14) Was he eating by himself?

Yes.

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)

No.

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)

No.

17) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of paying for the soup and exiting the restaurant?

No.

18) Did he do anything else significant between the acts of exiting the restaurant and shooting himself?

No.

19) Was it the man's intention to kill himself when he shot himself?

Yes.

20) Did the man think the act of shooting himself would definitely not kill him?

No.

21) Did the man think the act of shooting himself might not kill him?

No.

22) Did the man think the act of shooting himself would do him injury?

Yes.

23) Did he take more than one taste of the soup?

No.

24) Did he take a taste of the soup with a spoon from a bowl (as we might expect)?

Yes.

25) Was he forced by someone to taste the soup?

No.

26) Did he finish any of the rest of his meal?

No.

27) Is there a significant reason he ordered soup instead of something else?

Yes.

28) Would it be possible for the sake of the riddle to replace soup with (say) wine?

No.

29) Did he ask for a table the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?

No.

30) Did he order soup the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?

Yes.

31) Did he eat his soup the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?

Yes.

32) Did he "pay" in the way a normal customer at a restaurant would?

Yes.

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?

Um. I don't know. Would a man who's about to commit suicide leave a tip?

36) Was someone intentionally communicating a message by means of the soup?

No.

37) Was the message (if applicable) intended for him?

As above.

38) Did anyone else taste his soup?

No.

39) Did anyone else expect that he might react badly to the soup?

Yes.

40) Did anyone else expect that he might kill himself after tasting the soup?

No.

41) Did the man often carry a gun?

No.

42) Was the gun owned by the man?

Irrelevant.

43) Was the soup a normal variety of soup? (IE something one would find in a typical restaurant)

Not really.

44) Was the man so dismayed that he elected to commit suicide without outside influence?

Too vague.

45) Was the man influenced or coerced by someone else into committing suicide?

No.

46) Is the man's professional (not necessarily financial) life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?

No.

47) Is the man's family life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?

Sort of.

48) Is the man's social life (disregarding family) directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?

No.

49) Is the man's personal life (IE pride, shame, etc) directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?

Yes.

50) Is the man's religious life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?

Sort of.

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

Yes. All things about the restaurant, staff and patrons are normal; and about him entering the restaurant, ordering and tasting the soup, paying and leaving are outwardly normal. (By outwardly, I am excluding his thoughts and decisions, which, of course, were not those of a happy man).

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Was it albatross soup?

 

[davee123]

I'm not sure how that would work. I'd have to second-guess what questions you'd ask. I whole point of the exercise is asking the right questions.

Yeah, it's more of a 20 questions game rather than a Brain Teaser, I guess. Interesting in some regards, but atypical because we're known from the start not to be able to correctly get the answer before more information is given.

Um. I don't know. Would a man who's about to commit suicide leave a tip?

Why would a man who's about to commit suicide bother to pay for his meal, which was clearly stated in the question? Why would he bother to leave the restaurant? Clearly, I'd say the question is warranted because something is already amiss if the man is bothering to pay for his meal. I was trying to establish the manner in which he paid.

The point of the question is to establish the normalcy to which he treated the waiter and his meal experience. If he tipped the waiter normally, then chances are he had no quarrel with the waiter. If the waiter had done something mean-spirited, however, it might be expected that although the man paid (which you established), that he did not leave a tip at all or left a small one. Alternatively, it's possible that the waiter did exactly what the man wanted, and that the man was asking for something outrageous that the waiter did anyway. In this case, the man was likely happy with the waiter (depite the fact that he was about to kill himself), and would likely tip the waiter generously.

So. The things that seemed enlightening:

> 3) Was the act of tasting the soup that which convinced him to kill himself?
> Yes.
> 4) Is the taste or flavor of the soup the inspiration for him to kill himself?
> Yes.
> 8) Did the soup taste normal (IE not actually good or bad, just satisfactorily normal)
> Yes.
> 27) Is there a significant reason he ordered soup instead of something else?
> Yes.

So, it's not some other factor than the soup that makes his decision, thereby we know it's not some sort of signal he was giving to someone else, but that the decision was made at the moment he tasted the soup. Further, from questions asked later, we know that there's nothing unusual going on, like someone delivering him new information on the spot that convinces him to kill himself.

> 2) Was the man planning on potentially killing himself before he ate the soup (IE as
> a *possible* outcome)?
> Yes.

So, he apparently was prepared to kill himself already. The act of eating the soup therefore was probably some sort of test he devised beforehand to test the validity of a suspicion he had. IE, "if the soup tastes like X, I'll have to kill myself, if the soup tastes like Y, I won't". And, just to be sure:

52) Did he plan before coming to the restaurant to order the soup in particular as a test to see whether he should kill himself?

I assume if the answer is "no", that it's more a matter of timing. Therefore, in anticipation of a "no":

53) Did he plan before being seated at the restaurant to order the soup in particular as a test to see whether he should kill himself?
54) Did he plan before ordering the soup to order the soup in particular as a test to see whether he should kill himself?
55) Did he plan before eating the soup to use the taste of the soup as a test to see whether he should kill himself?

> 39) Did anyone else expect that he might react badly to the soup?
> Yes.
> 40) Did anyone else expect that he might kill himself after tasting the soup?
> No.

That's ... odd. The implication is that someone else knows the reason *why* he killed himself, but was not aware of the strength of the man's convictions. That is (for example) someone else knew he might learn of his wife's affair (say), but nobody else suspected that he might kill himself for learning of it. Alternatively, it's possible that whoever knew he might react badly did not know the *full* implications of what would be revealed through eating the soup. Ok, then:

56) Were the reasons the man killed himself known to anyone else before he did so?
57) Did anyone know that he was actually going to go and try the soup?

> 47) Is the man's family life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
> Sort of.
> 49) Is the man's personal life (IE pride, shame, etc) directly involved with the
> decision to shoot himself?
> Yes.
> 50) Is the man's religious life directly involved with the decision to shoot himself?
> Sort of.

... Well, that's pretty wide open, but sounds like he's ashamed of something-- sort of religious, sort of familial.

58) Did the man kill himself for being ashamed of something?
(assuming yes...)
59) Was the man ashamed of something he had done?
60) Was the man ashamed of something someone else had done?
61) Was he ashamed of something he did to nobody in particular (IE a job badly done or personal shortcoming)
62) Was he ashamed of something he did to somebody else?
63) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done directly to him?
64) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done to someone apart from him directly?
65) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done to nobody in particular? (Again, a shoddy job, or disbelief in something ,etc)

> 43) Was the soup a normal variety of soup? (IE something one would find in a
> typical restaurant)
> Not really.

... Ok ... I guess this means either it was a special order soup (one that wasn't on the menu), or it was a rare thing to order, and isn't typically available at other restaurants (IE it's a specialty restaurant of some type).

66) Was the type of soup he ordered on the menu?
67) Did the man ask for some sort of special treatment of a normal dish? That is, did he order something like a "normal" chicken soup, but ask that it have some sort of special treatment?
68) Did he order soup that wasn't on the menu, but without any special treatment? As in, did he order something unusual like penguin soup, but not give any further special instruction?
69) Did he order a soup from off the menu, with further special treatment?
70) Did he accurately receive the soup that he ordered? (IE, did the soup receive special treatment or wind up unusual without his asking for the unusualness?)

Assuming there was some sort of special treatment for the soup:

71) Was something added to the soup?
72) Was something withheld from the soup?
73) Was the soup prepared in a different manner? (IE boiling too long, etc)
74) If something was added, was it something someone would normally expect in a soup?
75) Again, assuming an added ingredient, was it something someone would not expect in a soup, but something that would normally be served at a restaurant?
76) Again, assuming addition, was the addition edible?
77) Again, assuming addition, was the addition something that is normally eaten?

DaveE

 

[DaveC426913]

Was it albatross soup?

Ahem. Yes.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yeah, it's more of a 20 questions game rather than a Brain Teaser, I guess.

Yes. I was follwing from the earlier posts, which were similar.

52) Did he plan before coming to the restaurant to order the soup in particular as a test to see whether he should kill himself?

Yes.

That's ... odd. The implication is that someone else knows the reason *why* he killed himself, but was not aware of the strength of the man's convictions.

56) Were the reasons the man killed himself known to anyone else before he did so?

No (though it might have been surmised afterward.)

57) Did anyone know that he was actually going to go and try the soup?

No.

58) Did the man kill himself for being ashamed of something?
(assuming yes...)
59) Was the man ashamed of something he had done?

Yes. Yes.

60) Was the man ashamed of something someone else had done?

Tricky. Umm. Not directly relevant.

61) Was he ashamed of something he did to nobody in particular (IE a job badly done or personal shortcoming)
62) Was he ashamed of something he did to somebody else?

No. Yes.

63) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done directly to him?
64) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done to someone apart from him directly?
65) Was he ashamed of something someone else had done to nobody in particular? (Again, a shoddy job, or disbelief in something ,etc)

No. no. no.

66) Was the type of soup he ordered on the menu?
67) Did the man ask for some sort of special treatment of a normal dish? That is, did he order something like a "normal" chicken soup, but ask that it have some sort of special treatment?
68) Did he order soup that wasn't on the menu, but without any special treatment? As in, did he order something unusual like penguin soup, but not give any further special instruction?
69) Did he order a soup from off the menu, with further special treatment?
70) Did he accurately receive the soup that he ordered? (IE, did the soup receive special treatment or wind up unusual without his asking for the unusualness?)

Tricky. Whether it was on the menu or not is not really relevant. It was an unusual type of soup, yes. He receive that soup, yes. no, it was not treated unusually.

71) Was something added to the soup?
72) Was something withheld from the soup?
73) Was the soup prepared in a different manner? (IE boiling too long, etc)
74) If something was added, was it something someone would normally expect in a soup?
75) Again, assuming an added ingredient, was it something someone would not expect in a soup, but something that would normally be served at a restaurant?
76) Again, assuming addition, was the addition edible?
77) Again, assuming addition, was the addition something that is normally eaten?

All no.

 

[davee123]

Ahem. Yes.

Huh, I guess I hadn't heard that one before. So, effectively, my original answer #4 was more-or-less correct, at least in terms of the reasoning-- he could not live with himself for having eaten someone. That's a relief, I suppose, since those 5 options (the 4 I suggested, plus jimmy's) were the only basic underlying principles I could think of, even if the details differed. That is:

1) By tasting the soup, he knew he was going to suffer, and so killed himself to avoid the suffering
2) By tasting the soup, he is ashamed at his own competance
3) He is delivered bad news via the flavor of the soup
4) He cannot live with himself for having eaten someone (whose flavor is revealed in the soup)

Hm... And I guess that 5th option was more of a variant on the 2nd, really-- that of shame of his own incompetance.

DaveE

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned this before but it's quite lateral.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/365143

8mb: takes a while to load, fiendishly impossible and addictive flash quiz.

For those who haven't got time to wait, here's one that's not too hard.

Dennis hated doing the laundry, so his mother told him that if he was out after 1am, then for each 15 minutes he was late he'd have to do one extra load of laundry. However one day he arrived home half an hour after 1am, but he waited outside for 30 more minutes before going in. Why would he do that?

 

[ManDay]

Know this one a long time already. And I agree: It's somewhat impossible. I gave up after like 2 weeks trying to finish that.

 

[ManDay]

As for the first post in this thread I'll try to give the answers as I've never done it:

1.) Pull the cork in
2.) She was on foot
3.) Throw it upwards
4.) They are not facing each other, got their eyes closed - etc. Or the table is stacked vertically
5.) True. Only two capital T
6.) Train B.
7.) A bridge, probably?
8.) None
9.) One time. Afterwards it's 30 you are subtracting from
10.) Nelly
11.) These where gradmother, mother and daughter
12.) None. The boat soars
13.) Put sand in the bags so they would get heavier
14.) "Where would you send people, asking you the way to Trueville, if you were from the other town?" Then walk the opposite way.
15.) Hm... the cheaper one?
16.) One cat, one dog

100%? Well, I will check the answers.

€: As regards 15.) I didn't get the point. I understood that the barber "did", not "has" a bad haircut. Well I'd have answered this correctly, too, if I just have had read it correctly.

 

[K.J.Healey]

for 9 I can subtract 2 from 32 at LEAST seventeen times, watch:
32-2 = 30
32-2 = 30
32-2 = 30 and so forth.

 

[ƒ(x)]

1. a) Drill a hole in either the cork or the bottle.
b) The cork has a hole in it.
c) The cork was never actually pushed into the opening of the bottle; turn the bottle upside down.
d) Push the cork all the way through the opening of the bottle.
e) Heat the bottle, expanding the glass--or melting it for that matter.

2. She was not driving down the street.

3. You throw the ball straight up in the air.

4. One is sitting on top of the desk, the other under; the desk blocks their views.

5. True. The question is asked whether or not there are two T's in the phrase, meaning capital T's.

6. Assuming that they might side by side, they will be the same distance from the coast.

7. There was a bridge across the river, or some other means of travel--such as a boat--that prevented Scuffy from getting wet.

8. There is not dirt, a hole is empty space.

9. Assuming that you do not add two after subtracting, you can only subtract once; after you subtract 2 from 32, you are no longer subtracting from 32.

10. If the dog's names were Blackie, Whitey, and Brownie, then the fourth dog's name must be Nelly.

11. The shoppers were grandmother, mother, and daughter.

12. None of the rungs will be underwater since the boat is floating.

13. He took a different route, one that did not involve passing a stream, to the market.

14. He could ask her if she was a girl--or any other obvious question for that matter. If she said yes then she was from Trueville, or vice versa.

15. Go to the barber with the bad haircut. His shop is covered in hair, indicating that he has recently had a lot of customers and has not had sufficient time to cut his own hair. A second way to look at this is that a barber cannot cut his own hair. From this fact one can deduce that the barber with the clean shop gave the other his haircut.

16. She has one cat and one dog.

 

[regor60]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned this before but it's quite lateral.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/365143

8mb: takes a while to load, fiendishly impossible and addictive flash quiz.

For those who haven't got time to wait, here's one that's not too hard.

End of day light saving's...clock gets pushed back an hour, oila not late

 

[texasblitzem]

OK, here's one:

A man walks into a restaurant, orders a bowl of soup. He takes one spoonful, pays and exits the restaurant. Outside, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself dead.

You amy ask any Yes/No questons you want.

I just found this thread but no answer was ever given!
why did the guy kill himself Dave?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I just found this thread but no answer was ever given!
why did the guy kill himself Dave?

A ship sinks in the ocean and three survivors are washed up on the shore of a deserted island. They have nothing to eat, but albatross are abundant. For many days, they try to catch an albatross without success. Near starvation, one survivor kills another and cooks him up in a soup. He serves it to the other survivor telling him that it is albatross soup. When he asks what happened to the other survivor, he tells him that he went crazy, tried to swim away and drowned. Years later, after they are rescued, he sees a sign on a restaurant saying 'Albatross soup'.

A man walks into a restaurant, orders a bowl of soup. He takes one spoonful, pays and exits the restaurant. Outside, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself dead.

For he realized by the taste that he was a cannibal.

 

[texasblitzem]

Oh, well now that's a perfectly plausible situation. Thanks!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

When we eat out, there's a 5 star restaurant in town, Chez Lounge, that I like a great deal. But a new 4 star restaurant, Le Roi de la Hache, opened up nearby, and my wife dragged me over there, my fingernails scraping the ground as we went. Determined to make the best of a bad situation, I ordered a roasted wild mushroom soup with pickled spring onions and toasted almond. Much to my dismay, it was better than the chow you get at Chez. I don't think I'm going to kill myself over it, but I have a friend who has never been inside of a 4-star and he just might.

 

[thrill3rnit3]

Where can I find these kinds of puzzles online? Any links to specific websites?

 

[27Thousand]

Where can I find these kinds of puzzles online? Any links to specific websites?

Thrill, here's an online Lateral Thinking Forum you may like http://www.lateralpuzzles.com/

Here is an online website where you have the option of asking for hints:
http://www.iriddler.com/riddles/puzzles/lights.htm

Here's an "aha" puzzle website
http://www.ahapuzzles.com/

Another website http://www.puzz.com/lateral.html

These are just a few.

 

[Office_Shredder]

I've got one I made up myself that's a bit more lateral than normal maybe. A group of gangsters are playing a high stakes game of Texas Hold 'Em. Each player starts with 26 chips, small blind one chip, big blind two chips. The first hand, Bob calls the big blind, then folds. On the next hand, as the dealer shuffles he starts counting his chips. As the dealer finishes shuffling, Bob finishes counting, says "Whoops, must have dropped one" and ducks down under the table. He springs back up with a gun in his hand and...

get shot by the dealer. What happened?

 

[texasblitzem]

Did Bob see the dealer cheat(by his shuffling technique), but then the dealer noticed that Bob saw him cheat so beat him to the draw?

 

[Soca fo so]

How about this:

The loser of the first hand has to duel with the dealer, who is a crack shot from 23 yards and lousy from 24. The game is that the dealer "shuffles" the amount of yards equal to the amount of chips the loser has left, turns and fires, all while the loser counts his chips in a regular rhythm. The rhythm is set so that the dealer shuffles one yard for every one count (a second or whatever). So Bob, knowing he has a decent chance against the dealer from 24 yards, decides to call the big blind and fold leaving him with 24 chips. Now Bob has something else up his sleeve, he decides to play dirty and pretend to drop a chip, however this strategy backfires fatally when the dealer totally misses and shoots Bob as he is getting up.

Any good?

Or alternatively, Bob ducks under the table using an extra one count, but doesn't figure on the delay in the bullet reaching him which was also a one count.

 

[hunterddog]

2. she was on foot
3.throw the ball directly up
4. they where facing the opposite ways
5. true there is only Two capital T's
7. the dog used a bridge
8. it'z a hole there is no dirt in it
9. infinate ammounts becaus of the -numbers
10. nelly. because there was only four dogs three with names of colours and nelly
11. The "middle" woman was the daughter of the oldest woman and the mother of the youngest
12. All of them: as the water rises, so does the boat, and thus so does the ladder
13. he put large sacks of cotton on the donkey, when cotton gets wet it weights a lot
14. Ask "Which way do I go to get to your town?" and go whichever way he's directed.
15. The East Street barbershop, because the barber from West Street must get his hair cut at the East Street shop, and his hair looks better.
16. 1 cat, 1 dog.

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[James008]

2: She was walking?
6: They are the same distance from the west coast
8: Since it is a hole there should be no dirt left in it.
9: As many times as you want.
10: Nelly
11: One of the mothers is the daughter of the other mother.
15: The barber with the bad haircut. Since the other barber must have given him that bad cut.

This puzzle can be transferred as a Flash quiz to engage more people. A sample like this is more appealling.

 

[micromass]

Here's a fun one:

A man walks into a bar and order a glass of water. The bartender takes a gun and shoots. The man dies.

What happened? You can ask yes/no questions all you want

 

[The legend]

Here's a fun one:

A man walks into a bar and order a glass of water. The bartender takes a gun and shoots. The man dies.

What happened? You can ask yes/no questions all you want

that's pretty easy.

man has hiccups...wants water to stop them. Bartender is a clever guy.

 

[micromass]

Correct! I guess that was a bit to easy

 

[The legend]

here's another easy one

A truck-driver was turning left into a one-way street the wrong way. Halfway down, he was seen by a policeman, who made no attempt to stop him.

Why?

 

[micromass]

Some possibilities:

- The truck driver was walking.
- The truck driver was the head of the maffia and the police was to scared to stop him.
- The truck driver was family to the officer.
- The police officer lost his speech and was unable to stop him.

 

[Millacol88]

here's another easy one

A truck-driver was turning left into a one-way street the wrong way. Halfway down, he was seen by a policeman, who made no attempt to stop him.

Why?

Maybe he turned without signaling (i.e. the "wrong way"). The police officer halfay down the street wouldn't have seen it?

 

[The legend]

Some possibilities:

- The truck driver was walking.

Correct! this is the actual answer.

- The truck driver was the head of the maffia and the police was to scared to stop him.

I gave this answer when i was first asked (except mafia was gang-leader in my sentence)...and it yet remains my favorite one

 

[regor60]

Correct! this is the actual answer.

:

It's not the wrong way if you're a pedestrian, only if you're a driver

 

[micromass]

It's not the wrong way if you're a pedestrian, only if you're a driver

Yes, that's why it was an excellent lateral thinking puzzle!

 

[crawler666]

Question 1.
How bout just smashing the bottle

 

[micromass]

Question 1.
How bout just smashing the bottle

Yes, except that it specifically says not to break the bottle

 

[BeetsMe]

"Dennis hated doing the laundry, so his mother told him that if he was out after 1am, then for each 15 minutes he was late he'd have to do one extra load of laundry. However one day he arrived home half an hour after 1am, but he waited outside for 30 more minutes before going in. Why would he do that?"

The answer for this one, please.

 

[davee123]

I'm guessing daylight savings time, but I doubt his mother would let him off the hook quite so easily.

DaveE

 

[nismaratwork]

"Dennis hated doing the laundry, so his mother told him that if he was out after 1am, then for each 15 minutes he was late he'd have to do one extra load of laundry. However one day he arrived home half an hour after 1am, but he waited outside for 30 more minutes before going in. Why would he do that?"

The answer for this one, please.

With so few constraints... couldn't disobedience simply be the cause?

 

[KCW]

If he waits for 30 minutes, the 15 minute sets would occur "after the 2.00 AM hour" and not "after the 1.00 AM hour".

 

[DaveC426913]

If he waits for 30 minutes, the 15 minute sets would occur "after the 2.00 AM hour" and not "after the 1.00 AM hour".

Spring forward, fall back.

If this were in the autumn, then he went inside at 12:45.