# 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:** 13
**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 14, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/241 "2017-07-14T01:35:45Z")
ETA, and he’s outside, so elevator doesn’t work. ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/242 "2017-07-14T01:39:52Z")
It’s at this point I find these things tedious. You already know it’s a blind guy who hears a bell that tells him it’s safe to move but it’s not the bell he thought it was. After this it’s just nit-picking details and I’ve heard the same thing more than one way and you could make up more variations like one with a train. Solution follows: [spoiler]It’s a blind man walking near the shore following a friend who rings a bell. He hears the sound of a bell buoy and walks towards it over a cliff. That’s the way I first heard it. Okay, same problem with music stopping, why would his friend take him near the cliff in the first place? So there’s another version where they are supposed to be swimming in the ocean instead. The blind man hears the buoy and starts swimming toward it. Then he hears his friends bell and swims towards that. Then back and forth until eventually he’s moved to far toward the buoy and doesn’t have enough strength to swim back to shore. Or maybe he steps in front of a bicycle that has a bell. Or a train. Once you get the basic premise that it’s a blind guy following a bell it’s all pretty much the same.[/spoiler] ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/243 "2017-07-14T01:42:40Z")
Erm… if you’re going to put spoiler boxes, might be useful to say what’s under them, otherwise the only way to find out is, you know, to look! Is the answer as implausible as the tightrope walker? If so, I’m going to give up. If not, I’d rather think some more to try to get it. ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/244 "2017-07-14T01:44:33Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Erm… if you’re going to put spoiler boxes, might be useful to say what’s under them, otherwise the only way to find out is, you know, to look! > > Is the answer as implausible as the tightrope walker? If so, I’m going to give up. If not, I’d rather think some more to try to get it. Not as implausible I guess. I don’t know what would be satisfactory for you but I don’t find it interesting past this point. ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/245 "2017-07-14T01:49:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not as implausible I guess. I don’t know what would be satisfactory for you but I don’t find it interesting past this point. Well, I guess I’m confused by you saying there are _multiple_ possible answers, because I find it hard to believe that there are _a lot_ of plausible situations where blind people might go charging around in response to bells! But perhaps there really is an obvious situation that we haven’t yet thought of that makes sense, where it will click and we will go “of course!”? ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/246 "2017-07-14T01:58:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Well, I guess I’m confused by you saying there are _multiple_ possible answers, because I find it hard to believe that there are _a lot_ of plausible situations where blind people might go charging around in response to bells! But perhaps there really is an obvious situation that we haven’t yet thought of that makes sense, where it will click and we will go “of course!”? I don’t know about charging around, but it’s plausible a blind man is responding to the sound of a bell. From that point it’s hard to say where in the range between possible and plausible these things are. I don’t find the tightrope walker plausible because she doesn’t need to be cued by the music, the musician can just stop playing when it’s time for her to step off. In this case there’s the positive action of a bell ringing which makes sense as a cue for a blind man to move. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/247 "2017-07-14T04:05:21Z")
Here’s an original: I live about five miles (as the crow flies) from [Wintergreen, Virginia](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.virginia.org/cities/Wintergreen&ved=0ahUKEwiFq6Lx7ofVAhXJND4KHQiqDGYQFgieATAX&usg=AFQjCNG_SiabKgGahW7z8iqv8sOlSXHvlA). The town is little more than a resort. It’s a place for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. It’s got golf, vacation rentals, and lots of pretty views. It also has something in common with just a very few other towns/cities in the United States. This common factor is shared by Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as well as Omaha, Nebraska and Spokane, Washington. There are a few others as well. One city that does not share the common factor is Miami, Florida. But here’s the thing: \* If Wintergreen, Virginia didn’t have the common factor, then Miami, Florida would!\* What is the common factor? ---
**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 14, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/248 "2017-07-14T04:58:33Z")
The best I can come up with, without asking questions: a supercentenarian (110-year-old) resident. I thought maybe you knew the one who lives in Wintergreen; and if they moved – well, old people always move to Florida, right? Or maybe their great-grandchildren live in Miami. But it doesn’t seem to be true. > **[List of American supercentenarians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supercentenarians_from_the_United_States)** > > American supercentenarians are citizens or residents of the United States who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. As of January 2015\[update\], the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 782 American supercentenarians. As of April 7, 2023, it lists the oldest living American-born person as Spanish emigrant Maria Branyas (born in San Francisco, California, on March 4, 1907), aged 116 years, 34 days. The oldest American resident is listed as Edie Ceccare Be... ---
**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 14, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/249 "2017-07-14T05:02:17Z")
Ok, some questions: Does it relate to geographic position in some way? Does it relate to a natural physical feature? Does it relate to a man-made physical feature? Does it relate to the characteristics of the overall population in some way? Does it relate to particular individuals who live there? Does it relate to businesses or organizations located there? ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/250 "2017-07-14T05:37:23Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Ok, some questions: > > Does it relate to geographic position in some way? > > Does it relate to a natural physical feature? > Does it relate to a man-made physical feature? > > Does it relate to the characteristics of the overall population in some way? > Does it relate to particular individuals who live there? > > Does it relate to businesses or organizations located there? All 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 14, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/251 "2017-07-14T06:31:09Z")
Well, that narrows things down! Does it relate to the name of the town/city? ---
**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 14, 2017, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/252 "2017-07-14T06:43:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s at this point I find these things tedious. You already know it’s a blind guy who hears a bell that tells him it’s safe to move but it’s not the bell he thought it was. After this it’s just nit-picking details and I’ve heard the same thing more than one way and you could make up more variations like one with a train. > > Solution follows: > > [spoiler]It’s a blind man walking near the shore following a friend who rings a bell. He hears the sound of a bell buoy and walks towards it over a cliff. That’s the way I first heard it. > > Okay, same problem with music stopping, why would his friend take him near the cliff in the first place? So there’s another version where they are supposed to be swimming in the ocean instead. The blind man hears the buoy and starts swimming toward it. Then he hears his friends bell and swims towards that. Then back and forth until eventually he’s moved to far toward the buoy and doesn’t have enough strength to swim back to shore. > > Or maybe he steps in front of a bicycle that has a bell. Or a train. Once you get the basic premise that it’s a blind guy following a bell it’s all pretty much the same.[/spoiler] Ok, I gave up and looked. And glad I gave up - that’s a completely stupid solution. The idea of a blind person being led around for a walk by a friend walking ahead ringing a bell is contrived and silly, it doesn’t happen. Even if they did (as you say) the friend would hardly lead them close to a precarious cliff; and even if they did _that_, a large distant bell does not sound at all like a small nearby bell. I can’t be bothered to figure out how to spoiler this, it’s really not worth spoilering. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/253 "2017-07-14T07:27:03Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Well, that narrows things down! > > Does it relate to the name of the town/city? Yes. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/254 "2017-07-14T07:58:13Z")
Did something happen once that could have gone 2 ways. the way it did go means Wintergreen is valid, but if the other thing had happened Miami would be ad the expense of Wintergreen? For example if the valid thing was names shared by US Presidents and in 1924 there was an election and David Winter beat Charles Miam ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/255 "2017-07-14T08:02:07Z")
Could something happen today that would make Wintergreen invalid but Miami valid? ---
**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 14, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/256 "2017-07-14T08:09:39Z")
Ah, very good question. ---
**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 14, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/257 "2017-07-14T14:01:53Z")
Is it a picture of Wintergreen? ---
**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 14, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/258 "2017-07-14T14:06:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Ok, I gave up and looked. And glad I gave up - that’s a completely stupid solution. The idea of a blind person being led around for a walk by a friend walking ahead ringing a bell is contrived and silly, it doesn’t happen. Even if they did (as you say) the friend would hardly lead them close to a precarious cliff; and even if they did _that_, a large distant bell does not sound at all like a small nearby bell. I can’t be bothered to figure out how to spoiler this, it’s really not worth spoilering. Blind people are actually led around by people ringing a bell. Would a bell buoy sound like that bell? Probably not. But all of the classic versions of this game I’ve heard of, and even the modern ones, have this naivety to them, something like Victorian mystery stories. Such absurd things do happen in life, some people are stupid, but I don’t find them a good basis for riddling either. OTOH I recall **Biotop** ’s riddle about a number that when spelled out has a certain number of vowels in it. Brilliant, devious, and what I consider a true riddle because the answer could be derived from the information provided in the riddle itself. ---
**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 14, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/259 "2017-07-14T14:17:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Blind people are actually led around by people ringing a bell… Really? If that’s the case I apologize for my reaction. But I have never heard of such a thing. It seems ridiculous to me. If were going for a stroll with a blind friend I would walk alongside them and talk to them, just like any other friend, with an occasional word of guidance about what’s ahead. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/260 "2017-07-14T14:39:51Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Did something happen once that could have gone 2 ways. the way it did go means Wintergreen is valid, but if the other thing had happened Miami would be ad the expense of Wintergreen? > > For example if the valid thing was names shared by US Presidents and in 1924 there was an election and David Winter beat Charles Miam Yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=14)