# 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:** 125
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2481 "2018-02-14T18:32:53Z")
**reply to Thing Fish** Was the medal, for some reason, formally awarded to Bob during the (post-1924) Summer Olympics, even though the competition in which he had earned it happened some time previous to that? **No** ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2482 "2018-02-14T18:35:56Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was the medal awarded retroactively? **No** ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2483 "2018-02-14T18:37:24Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Did he “win” the medal in some sense other than being part of a team placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the sport of ice hockey at the Olympics? **Yes. (As noted, there was no ice hockey at the Summer Olympics after 1924)** Having established that; was the medal Bob won identical to those awarded to winning athletes at that particular Olympic Games? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2484 "2018-02-14T18:43:49Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Wait a second…was the “goal” Bob succeeded at winning a medal in ice hockey at the Summer Olympics?:dubious: \*\*No need to be :dubious: The goals achieved were the one stated. Bob wanted to win a medal for Ice Hockey. He wanted to do it at the Summer Olympics. He did these things. He did them after 1924 even though the sport of Ice Hockey had been moved to the Winter Olympics. Quite an achievement. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2485 "2018-02-14T18:47:08Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Having established that; was the medal Bob won identical to those awarded to winning athletes at that particular Olympic Games? \*\*The medal was like all the other medals. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2486 "2018-02-14T18:50:57Z")
Did he win it gambling? Edit never mind see it’s been asked missed it on first read through. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2487 "2018-02-14T18:56:11Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > \*\*No need to be :dubious: > > The goals achieved were the one stated. Bob wanted to win a medal for Ice Hockey. He wanted to do it at the Summer Olympics. He did these things. He did them after 1924 even though the sport of Ice Hockey had been moved to the Winter Olympics. Quite an achievement. > \*\* Can’t be too careful with you Mafia players.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2488 "2018-02-14T19:05:30Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Did he win it gambling? > > Edit never mind see it’s been asked missed it on first read through. \*\*No gambling involved \*\* ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2489 "2018-02-14T19:09:41Z")
OK, let’s get some basics out of the way: Did Bob play ice hockey? Was Bob involved with ice hockey in some way other than playing? Whatever it was that Bob did to get the medal, did he do it at the Summer Olympics? Did he do it at the same Summer Olympics at which he got the medal? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2490 "2018-02-14T19:40:43Z")
\*\*reply to Chronos \*\* \*\*Let me just say the basics are not all that easy to answer:( \*\* OK, let’s get some basics out of the way: Did Bob play ice hockey? **I am not sure. Kind of funny, that. 😃 I doubt it.** Was Bob involved with ice hockey in some way other than playing? **Not a lot of other info out there about Bob. But I do not think so. But I really do not know for sure. You might think there was some connection because of winning the medal, so maybe. But still probably not.** Whatever it was that Bob did to get the medal, did he do it at the Summer Olympics? \*\*No \*\* Did he do it at the same Summer Olympics at which he got the medal?**The medal won was for that Olympics only. Sort of like the guy that won the Gold medal for rugby even though he was a rower (and rugby was no longer an official competition). Yes. Sort of exactly like that. In any case, there were no other Olympics involved in this win.** ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2491 "2018-02-15T01:22:06Z")
Was Ice Hockey a demonstration sport at a Summer Olympics? I know someone who was awarded a medal at the Seoul Olympics for his role in a demonstration sport. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2492 "2018-02-15T01:28:53Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Was Ice Hockey a demonstration sport at a Summer Olympics? I know someone who was awarded a medal at the Seoul Olympics for his role in a demonstration sport. **No** ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2493 "2018-02-15T06:27:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, let’s get some basics out of the way: > Did Bob play ice hockey? > Was Bob involved with ice hockey in some way other than playing? > Whatever it was that Bob did to get the medal, did he do it at the Summer Olympics? > Did he do it at the same Summer Olympics at which he got the medal? **So let me clarify this some more, to be fair. From a review of “Bob”‘s Wiki page, I find nothing at all about his playing or association with the sport of Ice Hockey other than his winning the medal for it. Furthermore, I see no further post-1924 references to Summer Olympics and Ice Hockey other than this single competition which occurred some time after the 1924 games. Bob won his competition at the Summer Olympics, but the wording of Chronos’ questions made me hem and haw. My answers on questions 3 and 4 seem contradictory and this was not my intention other than the usual playful obfuscation that goes with these puzzles. Now I will shut up and let someone solve it.** ---
**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:** [February 15, 2018, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2494 "2018-02-15T11:10:16Z")
Was ice hockey a design on the medal? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2495 "2018-02-15T12:24:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Was ice hockey a design on the medal? \*\*No \*\* ---
**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:** [February 15, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2496 "2018-02-15T13:59:08Z")
Did Bob get the medal because he was the next-of-kin or otherwise designated receiver of a posthumous medal? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2497 "2018-02-15T15:22:00Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Did Bob get the medal because he was the next-of-kin or otherwise designated receiver of a posthumous medal? \*\*No \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2498 "2018-02-16T09:29:50Z")
I think **Quartz** might be on the right track - was there some sort of art/design competition at a Summer Olympics, for Olympic-themed art/design, and Bob won a gold medal for his artwork that depicted Ice Hockey? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2499 "2018-02-16T11:36:18Z")
WAs the medal awarded due to some sort of error? ---
**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:** [February 16, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2500 "2018-02-16T16:17:42Z")
Was “Bob” awarded the medal in recognition of some sort of demonstrated skill? Was the medal which Bob received, in any sense, awarded to someone else? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=124) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=126)