# 53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 9, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868 "2017-07-09T19:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/181 "2017-07-13T16:10:12Z")
Hmm. A blindfolded woman, indoors, is listening to music as from a radio. The music stops and she performs an action that she believes is safe to perform but that belief is incorrect and she dies violently in a way that is not attributable to another person. Does the music ending lead her to believe that her location has lost electrical power? Is she a magician’s assistant and the music stopping leads her to believe that she should start or stop doing something that interfered with the magician’s trick? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/182 "2017-07-13T16:12:57Z")
So, she’s blindfolded, but doesn’t know she’s going to die. So not an execution. Was she playing a game? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/183 "2017-07-13T16:18:50Z")
ETA: just checked, already asked - she was NOT playing a game. So, if not an execution, not a game, what reasons are there for a person to be blindfolded? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/184 "2017-07-13T16:23:09Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Over here, traffic lights play a noise so that the visually impaired know when it’s safe to cross. So I’m guessing that she stepped into the road just too late and got run over. That could happen. So could my electrocution thing. But with these puzzles there’s more than one circumstance that leads to the result, so solving is about figuring out exactly which one. If I have the right one then here’s another hint: Maybe too much of a hint, so don’t look if you want to solve this on your own.She has a friend called Annette and she was working without her friend. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/185 "2017-07-13T16:23:09Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Is she a magician’s assistant and the music stopping leads her to believe that she should start or stop doing something that interfered with the magician’s trick? This is the best idea yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/186 "2017-07-13T18:01:37Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > 1. Does the music ending lead her to believe that her location has lost electrical power? > > 2. Is she a magician’s assistant and the music stopping leads her to believe that she should start or stop doing something that interfered with the magician’s trick? 1. No. 2. No to all of it. > [@Riemann](#): > > Was she playing a game? No > [@TriPolar](#): > > That could happen. So could my electrocution thing. But with these puzzles there’s more than one circumstance that leads to the result, so solving is about figuring out exactly which one. > > If I have the right one then here’s another hint: Maybe too much of a hint, so don’t look if you want to solve this on your own.She has a friend called Annette and she was working without her friend. Dude, zip it! Why are you giving them hints? They are doing fine. They are going to get it all on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/187 "2017-07-13T18:14:55Z")
Was she engaged in a performance of any kind? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/188 "2017-07-13T19:04:03Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Was the music performed by human musicians present? > … > 2. No. OK, that rules out something along the lines of wandering in front of the 1812 Overture cannons. Was the entity playing the music aware that it was being used as a signal for something? Did the woman know that doing whatever-she-did before the appropriate time would be dangerous? Was the woman blindfolded willingly? Was the woman blindfolded by her own choice? If the woman were not blindfolded, would she have taken the action that resulted in her death? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/189 "2017-07-13T19:07:13Z")
That pesky Kim Jong-un finally figured out how to lob a big one across the pond, and ground zero was the radio transmission tower. The blindfolded woman (who was being held captive by her own government) was vaporized a millisecond after the music on the radio stopped playing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/190 "2017-07-13T19:25:02Z")
I already asked if the music stopping and the woman dying had a common cause. The answer was no. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/191 "2017-07-13T19:46:01Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Was she engaged in a performance of any kind? Yes. > [@Chronos](#): > > 1. Was the entity playing the music aware that it was being used as a signal for something? > 2. Did the woman know that doing whatever-she-did before the appropriate time would be dangerous? > 3. Was the woman blindfolded willingly? > 4. Was the woman blindfolded by her own choice? > 5. If the woman were not blindfolded, would she have taken the action that resulted in her death? 1. Yes, though it was not a live performance. The individual who pressed “play” to play the music knew. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. 4. Yes. 5. No. > [@Muffin](#): > > That pesky Kim Jong-un finally figured out how to lob a big one across the pond, and ground zero was the radio transmission tower. The blindfolded woman (who was being held captive by her own government) was vaporized a millisecond after the music on the radio stopped playing. No. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/192 "2017-07-13T19:54:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I already asked if the music stopping and the woman dying had a common cause. The answer was no. Good point. She must have tripped on the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/193 "2017-07-13T20:01:20Z")
She was blonde. The music she was listening to? A recording of someone singing “breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/194 "2017-07-13T20:02:12Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > The music she was listening to? A recording of someone singing “breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.” > > 😛 No. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/195 "2017-07-13T20:11:54Z")
So we need to figure out what kind of performance involves a blindfold. I think you have already said not a magician’s assistant. Was she a magician? Was she a circus performer? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/196 "2017-07-13T20:13:52Z")
And I don’t think we’ve asked yet - Did she die by falling from height? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/197 "2017-07-13T20:14:38Z")
Was this the woman’s job? Not the dying part but the blindfold and performing a certain action? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/198 "2017-07-13T20:15:15Z")
I’m thinking that there are blindfold trapeze acts, and perhaps the person with the blindfold is cued to release from the trapeze and fly toward the catcher by the music stopping. The music stops accidentally, with nobody there to catch her. Seems a bit obscure though. But does tie in with her being female, since the lighter performer would be the catchee. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/199 "2017-07-13T20:16:30Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Was she a circus performer? :eek: Is she something like a tightrope walker or trapeze artist and the music cue normally tells her when to start walking on the tightrope or grab the trapeze and the blindfold prevented her from seeing that the other elements were not in place for her act? eta: dangit, Riemann. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/200 "2017-07-13T20:21:54Z")
…and if that’s what happened, Health & Safety should get involved – the cue system is not fail-safe! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=11)