# 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:** 130
**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 25, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2581 "2018-02-25T18:46:34Z")
**reply to Peter Morris** Is the food a natural, single ingredient item such as a banana or an egg? **Yes** Is the food made from several different ingredients combined? **No** Is the food made from a single ingredient processed in some way? (Such as turning cream into butter) **No** Is the food generally eaten raw? **No** Is the food generally eaten cooked? **Yes** Is the food generally eaten chilled? **sometimes** Is the food generally eaten at room temperature? **sometimes** Is the food generally eaten hot? **often** ---
**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 25, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2582 "2018-02-25T19:03:33Z")
Is it a fruit/ vegetable/ nut or other part of a plant? Is it meat? Is it fish? Is it an egg? ---
**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 25, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2583 "2018-02-25T19:05:05Z")
As a weapon, does it do its damage through a chemical process? Does it do its damage through high-energy radiation of any sort? Does it do its damage through making holes in the target? Would it be effective at destroying an inorganic, inanimate object? ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2584 "2018-02-25T21:10:54Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > **_Is it food or weapon?_ Most people would say it is the former but many experts think it is instead the latter. What is it?** 1.)Does the following fairly restate your puzzle? > [@](#): > > I am thinking of a word or phrase. Does this word or phrase represent a food or weapon? Most people would say this word or phrase represents the former but many experts would say this word or phrase represents the latter. What is the word or phrase? 2.)I am replacing the word “former” with “food” and “latter” with “weapon”. Does the following fairly restate your puzzle? > [@](#): > > I am thinking of a word or phrase. Does this word or phrase represent a food or weapon? Most people would say this word or phrase represents the food but many experts would say this word or phrase represents the weapon. What is the word or phrase? 3.)If someone were to view a typical picture of the food, would they in all probability identify the item depicted as a food and not as a weapon? 4.)If someone were to view a typical picture of the weapon, would they in all probability identify the item depicted as a weapon and not as a food? 5.) Is the weapon, by weight, primarily composed of Wood? Metal? Stone? 6.)If I were to ask a truthful, non-deceitful weapon expert, would he say the kinetic energy of the weapon’s projectile comes from Explosive? Chemical Propellant? Human Energy? Animal Energy? Electricity? ---
**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 26, 2018, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2585 "2018-02-26T02:20:05Z")
\*\*reply to Peter Morris \*\* Is it a fruit/ vegetable/ nut or other part of a plant? \*\*No \*\* Is it meat? \*\*No \*\* Is it fish? \*\*No \*\* Is it an egg?\*\*Yes \*\* ---
**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 26, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2586 "2018-02-26T02:22:02Z")
\*\*reply to Chronos \*\* As a weapon, does it do its damage through a chemical process? \*\*No \*\* Does it do its damage through high-energy radiation of any sort? \*\*No \*\* Does it do its damage through making holes in the target? \*\*Yes \*\* Would it be effective at destroying an inorganic, inanimate object?\*\*Yes \*\* ---
**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 26, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2587 "2018-02-26T02:27:21Z")
\*\*reply to newme \*\* 1.)Does the following fairly restate your puzzle? \*\*Close enough \*\* 2.)I am replacing the word “former” with “food” and “latter” with “weapon”. Does the following fairly restate your puzzle? \*\*Yes \*\* 3.)If someone were to view a typical picture of the food, would they in all probability identify the item depicted as a food and not as a weapon? \*\*Yes \*\* 4.)If someone were to view a typical picture of the weapon, would they in all probability identify the item depicted as a weapon and not as a food? \*\*Yes \*\* 5.) Is the weapon, by weight, primarily composed of Wood?\*\*No \*\* Metal? \*\*Yes \*\* Stone? \*\*No \*\* 6.)If I were to ask a truthful, non-deceitful weapon expert, would he say the kinetic energy of the weapon’s projectile comes from Explosive? \*\*Yes \*\* Chemical Propellant? \*\*No \*\* Human Energy? \*\*No \*\* Animal Energy? \*\*No \*\* Electricity? \*\*No \*\* ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2588 "2018-02-26T03:18:10Z")
Fluoride ---
**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 26, 2018, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2589 "2018-02-26T04:16:49Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Fluoride \*\*No \*\* ---
**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 26, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2590 "2018-02-26T04:21:15Z")
Is it an [egg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_39_grenade) [grenade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_17_grenade)? ---
**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 26, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2591 "2018-02-26T04:24:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Is it an [egg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_39_grenade) [grenade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_17_grenade)? \*\*No \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2592 "2018-02-26T04:45:09Z")
Are they virtual eggs being launched in a video game?/animation? ---
**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 26, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2593 "2018-02-26T05:11:57Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Are they virtual eggs being launched in a video game?/animation? \*\*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 26, 2018, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2594 "2018-02-26T10:21:56Z")
Is it a shell? ---
**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 26, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2595 "2018-02-26T12:36:11Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Is it a shell? **Good guess. But no.** ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2596 "2018-02-26T15:34:13Z")
Would the eggs be surprisingly large ? / surprisingly small ? compared to, I don’t know, a chicken egg? ---
**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 26, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2597 "2018-02-26T19:53:16Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Would the eggs be surprisingly large ? / surprisingly small ? compared to, I don’t know, a chicken egg? \*\*Not relevant \*\* ---
**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 27, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2598 "2018-02-27T12:21:29Z")
OK, this is a tough question to ask, so bear with me: Given the statement “Some would say that \_\_\_\_ is a food, while others would say that \_\_\_\_ is a weapon”, is there any single expression which could be inserted into both blanks which would make that statement constitute a solution to this puzzle? Are the experts who would consider “it” a weapon experts in some linguistics-related field? Does this puzzle involve etymology? ---
**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 27, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2599 "2018-02-27T13:34:24Z")
Is it flour? Is it corn dust? Corn starch? All can become explosive if mixed with air. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2600 "2018-02-27T15:34:49Z")
Remind me (it’s a long thread) we’ve ruled out plant-based items for the food? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=129) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=131)