[OliveOyl3471]

Do you like this kind of puzzle? If you want to find more, type "Lateral Thinking Puzzles" in the search bar.

Quote from http://www.rinkworks.../latreal1.shtml

"Lateral Thinking Puzzles, unlike most puzzles, are inexact. In a sense, they are a hybrid between puzzles and storytelling. In each puzzle, some clues to a scenario are given, but the clues don't tell the full story. Your job is to fill in the details and complete the story. Obviously, there is usually more than one answer to any given puzzle, but, in general, only one solution is truly satisfying.

You can try solving these puzzles on your own -- that's certainly a legitimate way to go about this -- but usually you can have more fun if you involve other people. The way this works is, you look at the answer (maybe you want to try the puzzle on your own first!), then read just the clues to your friends. Your friends must determine the answer by asking questions about it, which you may answer only with yes, no, or doesn't matter. You can adjust the difficulty of the puzzle by varying the initial clues, throwing in red herrings, and so forth.

Warning: For some reason, these puzzles have a tendency to be rather morbid.

The scenarios given on this page are realistic, if unlikely. The clues can all be taken at face value, although that's not to say their implications can't be misleading."


Can you figure this one out?

A man leaves town on horseback, on Saturday. He comes back in exactly four days, on Friday. How can this be?

[Ellie]

WTF

Quote

A man goes into a restaurant, orders albatross, eats one bite, and kills himself.

Solution: The man, his wife, and a second man were in a ship that was wrecked on a desert island. The man's wife died in the wreck. When there was no food left, the second man brought what he said was an albatross but was really part of the dead wife. Later they were rescued, and at some point, the first man decides to order albatross at a restaurant. It tastes nothing like what he was told was albatross on the island, which makes him realize he really ate his wife. Unable to cope with the realization, he kills himself.

[OliveOyl3471]

Ellie, on 23 May, 2008 - 07:39 AM, said:

WTF

Quote

A man goes into a restaurant, orders albatross, eats one bite, and kills himself.

Solution: The man, his wife, and a second man were in a ship that was wrecked on a desert island. The man's wife died in the wreck. When there was no food left, the second man brought what he said was an albatross but was really part of the dead wife. Later they were rescued, and at some point, the first man decides to order albatross at a restaurant. It tastes nothing like what he was told was albatross on the island, which makes him realize he really ate his wife. Unable to cope with the realization, he kills himself.

Yeah...some of them are kinda strange. Can you figure out the one about the man who left town, in the above post?

[Ellie]

While he was gone, an albatross ate 2 weekdays, leaving only 4 days from Saturday to Friday.

[OliveOyl3471]

Ellie, on 23 May, 2008 - 08:54 AM, said:

While he was gone, an albatross ate 2 weekdays, leaving only 4 days from Saturday to Friday.

Haha...no. It's something that could actually happen.

[OliveOyl3471]

Here's another one that could actually happen (and probably has).

A bus driver is traveling down Main St. U.S.A. He goes by three stop signs without stopping, does not yield to pedestrians, and then turns down a one way street, going the wrong direction.

Yet, he has not broken any traffic laws. Why not?

[Amadeus]

I'm assuming this refers to Main Street USA in Disney. As such, it would not be subject to standard traffic laws. Off the top of my head, anyway.

[OliveOyl3471]

Amadeus, on 23 May, 2008 - 10:07 AM, said:

I'm assuming this refers to Main Street USA in Disney. As such, it would not be subject to standard traffic laws. Off the top of my head, anyway.

Good guess but not right. He's going down just any street in the U.S.A.

[Amadeus]

Then nuts to you and your demented parlour games!

[OliveOyl3471]

Amadeus, on 23 May, 2008 - 10:31 AM, said:

Then nuts to you and your demented parlour games!

Would you like to know the answer now or wait to see if anyone can figure it out first?

hint* for both of these puzzles, the means of transportation is what makes it possible. If you had the same
means as they did, you could do it too.

does that help?

This post has been edited by OliveOyl3471: 23 May 2008 - 10:40 AM

[skyhawk133]

I'm gonna guess he's riding a bike on the sidewalk.

[OliveOyl3471]

skyhawk133, on 23 May, 2008 - 10:40 AM, said:

I'm gonna guess he's riding a bike on the sidewalk.

We have a winner!
Actually, I was thinking that he is walking, but a bike would work too.


Other possible solutions:
He is a little boy playing with a toy bus.

He has diplomatic immunity.

Now, what about the other guy, the one who left town on a horse, on Saturday and came back exactly four days later on Friday???

This post has been edited by OliveOyl3471: 23 May 2008 - 10:49 AM

[WolfCoder]

He can has a DeLorean. Just because he left town on a horse doesn't mean he isn't Doctor Brown.

This post has been edited by WolfCoder: 23 May 2008 - 12:05 PM

[OliveOyl3471]

WolfCoder, on 23 May, 2008 - 12:04 PM, said:

He can has a DeLorean. Just because he left town on a horse doesn't mean he isn't Doctor Brown.

lol.

But how did he leave on Saturday and come back 4 days later on Friday?

[Nova Dragoon]

Saturday is the name of his horse