# 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:** 37
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/721 "2017-07-21T18:20:16Z")
The 51st person is presumably her (no longer?) true love. Very sad puzzle. 🙂 ---
**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 21, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/722 "2017-07-21T18:35:09Z")
Grats LHoD. Of course it was something simple. ---
**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 21, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/723 "2017-07-21T19:27:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Ooh, leaning toward 12 days of Christmas. She received friend requests from: > > 12 Drummers Drumming > Eleven Pipers Piping > Ten Lords a Leaping > Nine Ladies Dancing > Eight Maids a Milking > > That’s 50 people. Add the joker who sent her all these friend requests, and that’s 51. She’s not angry at the people, she’s angry at the person who sent it. > > She also sells on ebay: > Five Golden Rings > > In addition, she releases: > Seven Swans-a-Swimming, > Six Geese-a-Laying, > Four Calling Birds, > Three French Hens, > Two Turtle Doves, > And a Partridge > > Finally, she swears off everything that comes from: > A pear tree. Bravo! She found out her “true love” had been cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/724 "2017-07-21T19:30:56Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Bravo! She found out her “true love” had been cheating. Huh. I thought she’d just found out that her “true love” was the kind of dumbass who took things too far. Cool puzzle–is it original? ---
**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 21, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/725 "2017-07-21T19:36:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Huh. I thought she’d just found out that her “true love” was the kind of dumbass who took things too far. Cool puzzle–is it original? Yes. I had been trying to think up something new. The comment about everything relating to outdated concepts was interesting to follow. Still, the puzzle relates to an old carol. Best idea I could come up with. ---
**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 21, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/726 "2017-07-21T20:18:15Z")
The only problem I saw with it was that it doesn’t have an obvious twist in the problem statement. I think that these things, to work best, should have something in the initial statement that makes you go “Wait, what?”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/727 "2017-07-21T20:45:54Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Yes. I had been trying to think up something new. The comment about everything relating to outdated concepts was interesting to follow. Still, the puzzle relates to an old carol. Best idea I could come up with. I liked it, how everything seemed disconnected, and then two pieces–the fruit being pears, and its connection to birds–made the whole thing fall into place. Well done! ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/728 "2017-07-21T21:30:48Z")
On a side note, what many people don’t realize about that song is the receiver of the goods didn’t receive one partridge in a pear tree. They received 12 of them. Along with 22 turtle doves, 30 french hens, etc. Since each day, the receiver gets each listed item. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/729 "2017-07-21T22:16:15Z")
Great puzzle, **Biotop**! ---
**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 21, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/730 "2017-07-21T22:50:44Z")
I’m Jewish. I had to look up the song to find out that it was a Christmas Carol. I was totally lost. :mad: ---
**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 21, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/731 "2017-07-21T22:51:56Z")
Kidding, BTW. (Not about having to look up the song, but I’m not mad. Well, not too much.) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/732 "2017-07-22T01:46:34Z")
Good job, biotop! ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/733 "2017-07-22T14:56:22Z")
Yeah, a very good puzzle. Well done, **Biotop**! And brilliantly solved by **LHoD**. ---
**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 23, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/734 "2017-07-23T22:12:39Z")
This is a true story: Because of a sailor, several people unhappily take an unexpected cold shower. 5 years pass and the sailor causes no more trouble. It’s the holiday season. He stuffs a duck for a gathering of people. Alas,\* because of this\* and for pretty much the same reason as before, more people take an unwanted cold shower. Both incidents were reported in the newspapers.The sailor is famous. Who is he? \*\*Chronos \*\* does this one have enough twists? Or do I need to tell you about the duck’s hat? 😃 ---
**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 23, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/735 "2017-07-23T22:31:03Z")
Did the sailor disrupt a hot water tank? Did the cold showers occur aboard a ship? By “stuffing a ducK” do you mean making a meal? If not, did you mean taxidermy? If not, is it a euphemism? Did the sailor not have access to a functioning oven? If so, did he look for an alternate means of cooking a meal? Did the sailor get punished for it? (Not relevant. I just want to know.) ---
**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 23, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/736 "2017-07-23T23:41:22Z")
Did he set off the fire suppression sprinklers in a building? ---
**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 23, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/737 "2017-07-23T23:54:50Z")
Is everyone in this story human? Is the sailor a famous fictional character? Is the sailor a famous real person? ---
**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 24, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/738 "2017-07-24T00:08:04Z")
1. Is it relevant to the story that he is a sailor? 2. By sailor, do you mean a member of the Navy? 3. If no to 2, do you mean that he pilots sailboats as a civilian? 4. If no to 2 & 3, is he a merchant marine? 5. Is “taking a shower” to be understood as “washing oneself under a waterflow?” 6. If no to 5, did the people just get wet somehow? ---
**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 24, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/739 "2017-07-24T02:29:35Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Did the sailor disrupt a hot water tank? > Did the cold showers occur aboard a ship? > By “stuffing a ducK” do you mean making a meal? > If not, did you mean taxidermy? > If not, is it a euphemism? > Did the sailor not have access to a functioning oven? > If so, did he look for an alternate means of cooking a meal? > Did the sailor get punished for it? (Not relevant. I just want to know.) No to all ---
**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 24, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/740 "2017-07-24T02:31:22Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Did he set off the fire suppression sprinklers in a building? No. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is everyone in this story human? > > Is the sailor a famous fictional character? > > Is the sailor a famous real person? No Yes. No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=38)