# 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:** 23
**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:** [July 16, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/441 "2017-07-16T19:00:32Z")
Were the crimes felonies? Were the crimes misdemeanours? Were the teachers actually arrested for the crimes? Were they convicted? ---
**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 16, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/442 "2017-07-16T19:11:33Z")
OK, so they’ve committed crimes, but the crimes are not against the law in any US jurisdiction, but they’re in the US and immigration is not involved. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/443 "2017-07-16T19:36:07Z")
Are the teachers people who failed to enlist for selective service and are teaching at a Quaker school, or other private school that supports pacifism? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/444 "2017-07-16T21:32:10Z")
hehe OK I think I got it. The school consists of teachers that were smuggled across the border by “coyotes.” The students, parents, and police are all Mexican in origin. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/445 "2017-07-16T21:48:54Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > hehe OK I think I got it. > > The school consists of teachers that were smuggled across the border by “coyotes.” The students, parents, and police are all Mexican in origin. I was going to guess that, but the question about whether this involved “immigration” got a “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 17, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/446 "2017-07-17T00:02:06Z")
I’m trying to figure this out, but am stumped. Perhaps my questions are repeats and I apologize. 1. Are any \*federal \*laws of the United States being broken by the teachers? 2. Are the teachers prisoners? 3. Are the teachers parolees or on probation? 4. Did the criminal teachers all commit the same crime? ---
**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 17, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/447 "2017-07-17T00:47:39Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Is “criminal” a nickname for something benign, e.g a local sports team? Yes [Yuma Criminals](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Union_High_School&ved=0ahUKEwj-5vj6io_VAhVIMz4KHTs-ABcQFghQMAw&usg=AFQjCNHc95CO4Pf79lAWhjgQ6he_x2Hafw). The only “Criminals” in the country… thanks to the Coyotes. ---
**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 17, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/448 "2017-07-17T00:51:46Z")
BTW, good lateral thinking \*\*Mr Shine \*\*! I thought surely it would take longer to solve. ---
**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 17, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/449 "2017-07-17T01:00:32Z")
This one comes from a lateral thinking podcast I listen to. I don’t listen all the time, but I sometimes write down ones that make me think. **Two men are sitting in a restaurant eating and having a conversation. A woman approaches them and tells them her occupation. They are both immediately embarrassed. Explain.** ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/450 "2017-07-17T02:00:11Z")
Is the woman an interpreter of some kind, such as a sign language interpreter? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/451 "2017-07-17T02:02:10Z")
Perhaps more broadly, can she understand what the men are saying though they believe they can’t be even understood? ---
**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 17, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/452 "2017-07-17T02:07:57Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Is the woman an interpreter of some kind, such as a sign language interpreter? Ah, I guess it was too easy. A lip-reader specifically. The two men were discussing her and wondering about who she is and what she does. Never mind! ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/453 "2017-07-17T02:16:36Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/454 "2017-07-17T02:30:58Z")
I was thinking the woman was a stripper and the two men were her frequent customers. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/455 "2017-07-17T03:37:50Z")
This one isn’t as clever as some constructed ones, but it has the benefit of being “ripped from the headlines,” so to speak. Apologies if everyone’s heard it before – I didn’t see any posts about it on the Dope in a quick search. A man’s dead body is found in a field. The police initially suspect murder: the man’s mouth is taped shut, there’s no gun next to him, and the gunshot wound that killed him is to the back of the head. However, they eventually conclude that the death was a suicide. How did he die? ---
**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 17, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/456 "2017-07-17T03:40:52Z")
Was the victim trying to make it look like murder? ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/457 "2017-07-17T03:43:14Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Was the victim trying to make it look like murder? Yes ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/458 "2017-07-17T05:38:28Z")
Heading to bed, but anyone’s who’s familiar with the weird news story should feel free to answer in my place. 🙂 ---
**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 17, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/459 "2017-07-17T05:38:49Z")
Did the gun leave the area by some contraption (example: gun tied to a helium balloon?) Did the man die on the ground in the field? Was there any reason for taping his mouth shut other than to make it look like murder? Was the man trying to implicate anyone in particular? ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/460 "2017-07-17T06:38:33Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Did the gun leave the area by some contraption (example: gun tied to a helium balloon?) I think this is basically “the answer” - nice guess! Details here: [http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-07-18/news/hickman18\_1\_lisa-hickman-thomas-hickman-anglada](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-07-18/news/hickman18_1_lisa-hickman-thomas-hickman-anglada) His fatal mistake: gun too heavy and insufficient buoyancy from the balloons. The gun, with balloons still attached, ended up snagged on some vegetation not too far away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=24)