# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 183
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3642 "2019-06-16T00:39:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Does “Shut down” refer to one of the down clues in the crossword? **Not the clue.** > > Is “Yesterday” relevant to the answer? **No** Answers in bold. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3643 "2019-06-16T01:30:26Z")
I remember that Thursday (and Sunday) NYT puzzles often have a theme of some kind. E.g.: [Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Gryffindor who founded Gryffindor House at Hogwarts / THU 6-13-19 / East African native / Sedgwick 1960s it girl / Layer of Italiian muffuletta sandwich / Country that lost quarter of its territory in 2011 / Dweller on Arabian peninsula](https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2019/06/gryffindor-who-founded-gryffindor-house.html) Is such a theme the reason Thursday was relevant? Was the Beatles song LOVEMEDO? Was that the correct xword answer? Are you looking for an answer where we figure out why SUICIDE was a wrong answer and (some other word/words, LOVEMEDO or otherwise) was the correct answer? Do we have to guess the clue? ---
**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:** [June 16, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3644 "2019-06-16T03:28:45Z")
Was Shut Down the theme of the Thursday crossword? ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3645 "2019-06-18T20:00:49Z")
Just an FYI (sorry), I PM’d **eschrodinger** to ask for answers/the solution. I am still curious! ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3646 "2019-06-20T19:11:27Z")
Since no one’s been able to open the box and check on eschrodinger, I did some googling to find the answer. If the Beatles’ debut single is LOVEMEDO, then I suspect the puzzle was this one: [Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Commemorative Yevtushenko poem / SUN 2-14-16 / Kirk Douglas Robert Wagner Gregory Peck for Frank Sinatra / Renders harmless as bull / Spectacularly disordered sort / Soldier from down under / Hit song title for Bob Marley Whitesnake Survivor / 1951 #1 Mario lanza hit / Foreign currency unit worth about third of dollar](http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2016/02/commemorative-yevtushenko-poem-sun-2-14.html) (That’s from 2/14/2016.) “Shut down” refers, per post 3639, “not [to] the clue.” Which seems to imply “but (maybe) to the answer.” But I’m darned if I can find an answer in looking over that puzz that relates to “shut” (down) or “shut down.” Let alone one that implies the wrong answer of “suicide.” Anyone? IWANTTOBELIEVE there’s a good answer to this one. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3647 "2019-06-20T19:13:31Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > Since no one’s been able to open the box and check on eschrodinger, I did some googling to find the answer. If the Beatles’ debut single is LOVEMEDO, then I suspect the puzzle was this one: [Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Commemorative Yevtushenko poem / SUN 2-14-16 / Kirk Douglas Robert Wagner Gregory Peck for Frank Sinatra / Renders harmless as bull / Spectacularly disordered sort / Soldier from down under / Hit song title for Bob Marley Whitesnake Survivor / 1951 #1 Mario lanza hit / Foreign currency unit worth about third of dollar](http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2016/02/commemorative-yevtushenko-poem-sun-2-14.html) > (That’s from 2/14/2016.) > “Shut down” refers, per post 3639, “not [to] the clue.” Which seems to imply “but (maybe) to the answer.” But I’m darned if I can find an answer in looking over that puzz that relates to “shut” (down) or “shut down.” Let alone one that implies the wrong answer of “suicide.” > > Anyone? IWANTTOBELIEVE there’s a good answer to this one. This would be easier if I looked at the clues, but I gave up my NYTX subscription some time ago. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3648 "2019-06-20T23:25:44Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > I remember that Thursday (and Sunday) NYT puzzles often have a theme of some kind. E.g.: [Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Gryffindor who founded Gryffindor House at Hogwarts / THU 6-13-19 / East African native / Sedgwick 1960s it girl / Layer of Italiian muffuletta sandwich / Country that lost quarter of its territory in 2011 / Dweller on Arabian peninsula](https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2019/06/gryffindor-who-founded-gryffindor-house.html) Is such a theme the reason Thursday was relevant? **not the theme** > > Was the Beatles song LOVEMEDO? Was that the correct xword answer? **yes** > > Are you looking for an answer where we figure out why SUICIDE was a wrong answer and (some other word/words, LOVEMEDO or otherwise) was the correct answer? \*\* yes\*\* Do we have to guess the clue? **no** Answers in bold. Sorry I was unexpectedly out of cell phone range for awhile. The guesses are all circling around the answer I was looking for. This is not based on a real crossword puzzle, but is based on a real “trick” of NYT Thursday puzzles. Spoilered below. It was a rebus puzzle, where there were only 7 spaces, but “SHUTDOWN” was the answer because both “LOVEMEDO” and that answer had “DO” in a single square. Sorry if it was too hard, and sorry for leaving you hanging. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3649 "2019-06-21T21:21:22Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Answers in bold. Sorry I was unexpectedly out of cell phone range for awhile. > > The guesses are all circling around the answer I was looking for. This is not based on a real crossword puzzle, but is based on a real “trick” of NYT Thursday puzzles. Spoilered below. > > It was a rebus puzzle, where there were only 7 spaces, but “SHUTDOWN” was the answer because both “LOVEMEDO” and that answer had “DO” in a single square. > > Sorry if it was too hard, and sorry for leaving you hanging. Thanks for giving us the answer! Appreciate it. : Who’s up next? EDIT: now “SUICIDE” makes sense. ������♂️ ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3650 "2019-06-21T23:18:52Z")
I was afraid it would be too easy, so i tried to obscure it a little more, but maybe I overshot. The idea was that “End it” was the clue. “SUICIDE” was a possible answer with the right number of letters, but didn’t work with the crosses. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3651 "2019-06-22T00:04:55Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > I was afraid it would be too easy, so i tried to obscure it a little more, but maybe I overshot. The idea was that “End it” was the clue. “SUICIDE” was a possible answer with the right number of letters, but didn’t work with the crosses. SHUT(do)WN crossed with LOVEME(do). Nice. The “down” in SHUTDOWN was a good obfuscator. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3652 "2019-11-04T15:28:56Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/3653 "2019-11-04T15:50:22Z")
Sorry for the accidental bump; was reading through this and confused it with the currently active thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=182)