# 2 Lateral Thinking Problems **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917 "2004-03-01T15:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/61 "2004-03-03T20:39:25Z")
That’s an even better answer than the traditional one. Definitely gives one the … “Well, duh!” feeling that they should’ve known. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/62 "2004-03-03T20:48:44Z")
WAG: The sculptor made the statue with iron from his own blood. He used too much blood. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/63 "2004-03-03T20:56:12Z")
> [@qts](#): > > WAG: The sculptor made the statue with iron from his own blood. He used too much blood. That would be a mighty [small](http://www.posco.co.kr/en/steel/about03_01.html) statue: > [@](#): > > The human body contains between 2 and 6 grams of iron, depending on sex and weight… > > Approximately 60% of the iron in the human body is in the blood… That equates to 1.2 to 3.6 grams of iron in the blood. And that’s ALL of the blood. I don’t think it’s possible to survive much more than 25% blood loss without nearly immediate death. One would think there would be an easier way to make a teeny tiny iron statue. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/64 "2004-03-03T21:42:20Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > …I’m hoping that there are indisputable answers… Such things do not exist. Look at the Wikipedia discussion of this. You are given an example with clear but unstated assumptions (strawman?), and then you change the assumptions until you get an answer that you find intuitively correct. Never mind that “intuitively correct” is quite often an oxymoron. Consider the examples given: > [@](#): > > How long would it take to dig half a hole? The answer is that there is no such thing as half a hole. However, it is just as reasonable to ask, “What is the volume of the comparison hole?” Clearly this makes more sense, since it is not reasonable to think that someone would seriously ask for half a hole. So is she referring to post holes? Basements for new house constructions? > [@](#): > > If a knot in a 5-foot rope takes five minutes to undo, how long would a knot in a 10-foot rope take to undo? The answer five minutes because knot difficulty is not a function of rope length. This person has obviously never worked in a kite shop. I can assure you that if you wind up your string on a Halo winder while the kite is in the air, you will be much more frusterated with 1,000’ of string rather than 500’ of string when the Halo breaks and you are left sorting out the wreckage of this string-grenade. Here the author is making a few unstated assumptions that we are free to change, just as she was free to change the assumptions of the hole-digging question. So we look at the OP. We have a penniless artist who died because he sold a beautiful metal statue. Why? Well, before he didn’t have enough money to drink himself to death. He was so poor that he lived in a crime ridden neighborhood and died in a robbery. He died of heartbreak because he no longer had the statue–he didn’t want to sell it, he had to. Ironically, if you go to DeBono’s L-Game, you find a game that is bound by very rigid rules and ends up being a boring, mechanical exercise. The way to win is to wait for your opponent to mistakenly fail to follow one of the two narrow strategic rules of play. Not very lateral at all, really. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/65 "2004-03-03T21:59:45Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > The body of a climber is found many years after his death 1000 ft below the summit of one of the world’s highest mountains. In his pocket is a diary claiming that he had reached the summit and was on his way down. How was it discovered that he was not telling the truth? Two thoughts: Some of the highest mountains in the world start underwater. If the mountain was (example) 25,000 feet high, but only 900 feet was exposed, that could provide the twist. His body was found 100 feet underwater. Another twist could be volcanos… the height of the mountain could have literally changed in the years since the climbers death. And/or the climber could have become “entombed” in the volcano. Knowing the day the volcano erupted could correlate with a diary entry. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/66 "2004-03-03T22:23:03Z")
**RM Mentock** Okay here are 2 riddles that I think are _not_ inane. Spoliers ahead (but I’m sure everyone has seen these anyway). 1)Someone quoted the legendary puzzle about the surgeon not being able to operate on the boy because he was the surgeon’s son. But the surgeon was NOT the boy’s father. ANSWER - the surgeon was the boy’s MOTHER. Granted that is a groaner to some people but it has a logical premise and a rather definitive answer (as opposed to sculptors dying of lightning strikes and people living on the tenth floor). 1. A customer went into a hardware store and bought seven. The cost was $1.50. Another customer bought three hundred and twenty-one and the cost was $4.50. What were they buying? ANSWER: House Numbers at $1.50 each. Again, maybe these aren’t everybody’s cup of tea but at least _they make some kind of sense_. I’ll return to the puzzle I posted earlier and state the entire “problem”. **The haystack was important because the cloth ripped.** According to the author of the puzzle the alleged “answer” is that a parachutist developed a rip in a parachute causing hin (or her) to fall at a dangerous rate and luckily he landed in a haystack and that’s the reason for its importance. Does that stink on ice or what??? One complication - how many times have parachutes ripped? I believe causes of parachute-related injuries and/or death are due to failure of a parachute’s opening; inexperience of the parachutist; the parachutist getting tangled in the parachute lines, etc. Having the “cloth rip” must rank #1,378 in parachute jumpers’ deaths. Another complication - how many times has a haystack been conveniently available to an unlucky skydiver ? What’s he doing skydiving near a farm anyway? Also, is the haystack sufficiently large with the right amount of cushioning effect to save the skydiver’s life? Are you _sure_ there will not be a pitchfork (or other dangerous implement) in the haystack to ensure the skydiver survives? Also, _in reality_ how many skydivers have had their parachute _rip_ and then luckily had the good fortune to land in a haystack \* and \* survive? The surgeon puzzle and house number puzzles don’t seem so bad now do they? At least those things actually do hppen in reality. Also they do have that kind of “A-Ha” experience when you figure out the answer. Those other puzzles? No thanks. Once again I’m glad I’m not alone on this. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/67 "2004-03-03T22:33:10Z")
> [@Frank #2](#): > > For the 10th floor dweller: > > The buttons in the evelator for the 8th, 9th, & 10th floors are broken. When in the evelator, the highest floor one can reach is the 7th. The call buttons on the floors work fine so you can call the elevator to the 10th floor to go down, but you can’t go back up. That would be plausible, except for the part of the puzzle that stated the man _could_ go up to the 10th floor on rainy days. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/68 "2004-03-04T00:22:34Z")
> [@KP](#): > > “Penniless” implies long term poverty, not using the last of his spare change to pay off a pizza delivery boy that afternoon. People who fast (or near fast) for long periods of time often encounter “refeeding syndrome”: returning instantly to a normal diet can kill them. (Of course, “penniless” doesn’t definitively prove that his larder wasn’t stocked) Of course. He was a starving artist. Ba-da-boom! How about if the climber’s harness was still rigged for climbing and not descending? The harness would have a rappeling device on it, and not as it was found on his body with the harness tied directly to the rope. As for the dwarf, who cares? _Short people got no reason Short people got no reason Short people got no reason To live_ ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/69 "2004-03-04T00:57:45Z")
A Die is used in cutting or embossing metal. To die is to use one. ‘He died soon afterwards’ - he started on another statue? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/70 "2004-03-04T08:58:36Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > That would be plausible, except for the part of the puzzle that stated the man _could_ go up to the 10th floor on rainy days. That’s an added twist. But that solution is usually the first solution guessed–it’s an obvious solution that fits the facts and it’s rejected. That’s what made that problem interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/71 "2004-03-04T10:35:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Futile Gesture and Philster are right, IMHO. You can always provide your own answers to these types of questions. But the key is to find the answer that’s the simplest based on what’s given. This means that you should add as little as possible to the story. > > For example: > > A man is found dead lying in an open field, next to an unopened package. How did he die? > > (trim choices) > > What was the simplest, most elegant answer? Obviously C. I can’t believe more people don’t appreciate these types of puzzles. The reason we don’t appreciate them is that C is not the simplest, most elegant answer. Why would a person falling from a plane with a faulty chute take the chute off in mid air? Did they think they could open it manually and somehow not have it ripped from their arms? If they didn’t take it off why was the package beside them? In fact C is a ridiculously contrived answer that requires the person to act in an irrational and quite likely physically impossible manner? It’s not elegant, it makes requires ridiculous assumptions to make sense. Even if we were to act in the spirit so many here are suggesting, then I can think of a far more elegant answer that still uses all the clues given. The man had a medical condition. He ran out of medicine and went to open a new package in an emergency. He couldn’t open it. On his way to get assistance he took a shortcut across a field and dropped dead. There, see I used all the clues provided. I didn’t shoe-horn the answer at all. But my answer doesn’t require anyone to act like a moron and take of a parachute in mid air. IMO my answer is far les contrived and convoluted than the ‘official’ answer. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/72 "2004-03-04T11:38:02Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Okay here are 2 riddles that I think are _not_ inane. [/ > Granted that is a groaner to some people > [@](#): > > Also they do have that kind of “A-Ha” experience when you figure out the answer. Those other puzzles? No thanks. Once again I’m glad I’m not alone on this. Seems to be subjective. I’m surprised that there are such strong emotions. > [@Blake](#): > > But my answer doesn’t require anyone to act like a moron and take of a parachute in mid air. IMO my answer is far les contrived and convoluted than the ‘official’ answer. Yahbut, that’s not the ‘official’ puzzle. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/73 "2004-03-04T16:24:58Z")
**RM Mentock** other answers (though just as plausible) don’t count unless you give the “official” answer? Returning to my puzzle about 1 customer buying seven for $1.50 and another buying three hundred and twenty-one for $4.50, house numbers @1.50 is the logical answer. You _could_ make up some convaluted “off-the-wall” story that the harware store decided to have a special “321 for the price of $4.50 sale” after the previous customer left, but that is just too “forced”. Here - I’ll make up one just for you. A man was killed after being hit by a truck. The man was nowhere near a street, highway or other thoroughfare. The area around the dead man contained no tire tracks whatsoever even _after_ the truck had hit him. But everyone knew the truck had killed him. So, what happened? Go ahead RM Mentock - have your fun. Oh, and you must give the “official” answer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/74 "2004-03-04T16:41:14Z")
> [@RM Mentock](#): > > > [@Algernon](#): > > > > That would be plausible, except for the part of the puzzle that stated the man could go up to the 10th floor on rainy days. > > That’s an added twist. But that solution is usually the first solution guessed–it’s an obvious solution that fits the facts and it’s rejected. That’s what made that problem interesting. I was puzzled at your response until I went back and re-read the post where this first appeared. I forgot that the rainy day twist was mentioned as an add-on. Probably because I had never heard this puzzle without the rainy day twist. The twist is what makes the answer sensible (rather than the solution where the buttons don’t work for the top floors). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/75 "2004-03-04T16:50:01Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Here - I’ll make up one just for you. A man was killed after being hit by a truck. The man was nowhere near a street, highway or other thoroughfare. The area around the dead man contained no tire tracks whatsoever even _after_ the truck had hit him. But everyone knew the truck had killed him. So, what happened? The truck fell out of an aircraft which was transporting it. They knew the truck killed him because it was still on top of him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/76 "2004-03-04T17:18:53Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > The truck fell out of an aircraft which was transporting it. They knew the truck killed him because it was still on top of him. > 😃 I say the man worked in a truck factory. He was killed by a truck on the assembly line. Which is more elegant? I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/77 "2004-03-04T17:20:55Z")
QED - that would be an acceptable answer. However, I am basing the puzzle on RM Mentock’s menatlity of only accepting the “official” answer (which is mine of course). Just as a point of explantion the truck was NOT on top of the man after he was killed. Yet, the truck left no tire tracks. QED - to me this is an inane puzzle (of my own contrivance) but I just wanted to see how RM Mentock likes this sort of foolishness. So, RM, have you figured it out yet? Hint - the answer has nothing to do with haystacks, parachutes, dwarves, mountain climber’s fountain pens, etc. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/78 "2004-03-04T17:25:01Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Here - I’ll make up one just for you. A man was killed after being hit by a truck. The man was nowhere near a street, highway or other thoroughfare. The area around the dead man contained no tire tracks whatsoever even _after_ the truck had hit him. But everyone knew the truck had killed him. So, what happened? Obviously, Fredrick Randolph Truck, the most ornery of the bellicose Truck family, had too much drink that night. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/79 "2004-03-04T17:29:49Z")
Please folks do not waste your time with this - it’s about as much “fun” as the sculptor and the lightning rod puzzle. I don’t want you folks getting angry with me when I reveal the answer. I want **RM** to try this puzzle. This seems to be his cup oftea so to speak. And therefore, he should not get angry with me when I reveal the answer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917/80 "2004-03-04T17:32:11Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > I say the man worked in a truck factory. He was killed by a truck on the assembly line. > > Which is more elegant? Factories are near streets, and trucks aren’t generally shipped via air. From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): Truck is a noun which means a small piece of wood, usually cylindrical or disk-shaped, used for various purposes, _inter alia_. In this case, “various purposes” includes smashing some poor slob’s head in the middle of a forest when “everyone” just happened to be there to witness it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-lateral-thinking-problems/231917.md?page=5)