# 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:** 55
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1081 "2017-08-24T02:16:06Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > - Is there anything else in the puzzle that might help us in guessing what that might be? > > - Does it matter that he’s called Jim? 1. I don’t think so. 2. No. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1082 "2017-08-24T03:12:30Z")
1. Was Jim a DJ? 2. If yes, did he put the record on and leave the studio, expecting to have a window of opportunity to do something? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1083 "2017-08-24T03:49:50Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > 1. Was Jim a DJ? > 2. If yes, did he put the record on and leave the studio, expecting to have a window of opportunity to do something? 1. Yes. 2. Yes. I’ll call this “solved” at this point. Jim was DJ caught up in bad business with the mob. He pre-recorded a show, put it on and planned to escape. When the record skipped, he knew the mob would figure it out and pursue him. Shot himself instead of facing them. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1084 "2017-08-24T19:09:16Z")
\*\*A farmer drove his pickup truck down the highway in front of his farm, turned on to a muddy side road, and instantly became stuck in the mud. No worries, his farm was nearby. He walked to his farm and soon returned on his tractor with a tow-rope in hand. He attached the tow-rope to his tractor and the back of his truck and began to pull the track back towards the highway. He was seated in the tractor pulling. As a result of his efforts, he died. What happened?\*\* ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1085 "2017-08-24T19:24:06Z")
The rope snapped and the whiplash effect decapitated him. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1086 "2017-08-24T20:03:13Z")
Did the part of the tractor he tied the rope to snap off when he began the pull? Did the rope break? Did something hit him to cause a fatal wound? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1087 "2017-08-24T20:55:52Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > The rope snapped and the whiplash effect decapitated him. I’ll assume you have this as a question. No. > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Did the part of the tractor he tied the rope to snap off when he began the pull? > Did the rope break? > Did something hit him to cause a fatal wound? 1. Yes. 2. No. 3. Yes I can tell this one is too easy. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1088 "2017-08-24T21:05:35Z")
1. Did the truck hit him? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1089 "2017-08-24T21:12:42Z")
Did the bumper fly off and hit him? Did some other small piece attached the rope fly off and hit him? ---
**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:** [August 25, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1090 "2017-08-25T00:11:18Z")
> [@RadioWave](#): > > 1. Did the truck hit him? No > [@Folly](#): > > Did the bumper fly off and hit him? > > Did some other small piece attached the rope fly off and hit him? No. Yes. This one was lame. It was the trailer-hitch, which had a rusted bolt. It broke and the ball of the hitch hit him in the head and he died. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1091 "2017-08-25T10:16:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Yes. > 2. Yes. > > I’ll call this “solved” at this point. Jim was DJ caught up in bad business with the mob. He pre-recorded a show, put it on and planned to escape. When the record skipped, he knew the mob would figure it out and pursue him. Shot himself instead of facing them. Sorry to interrupt the current conundrum, but I think you were way too generous in calling this one solved. Having said that, thank you. If anyone was wondering why I thought about a DJ, there was a (possibly apocryphal) story about a DJ in England putting on a religious record and leaving the studio thinking he had 20 minutes to do what he wanted. Instead, what went to air was, “Oh God, oh God, oh God …”. Sounds too good to be true, but it was what made me think of the solution. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1092 "2017-08-25T19:46:58Z")
OK, Snopes says this really happened. **Jets weren’t present, but somehow a lawnmower took to the air and killed one man and injured another. What happened?** ---
**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:** [August 25, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1093 "2017-08-25T20:01:07Z")
1. Is the lawnmower a person and not a machine? (you know, like a pickle slicer) 2. Is it a push mower? 3. Is it a self-propelled mower? 4. Is it a riding mower? 5. Was a hill or other incline involved? 6. Was the lawnmower converted into a drone? 7. Was the lawnmower converted in some other manner for the purposes of taking the air? ---
**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:** [August 25, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1094 "2017-08-25T20:28:22Z")
1: Was some other machine involved? 2: Was an explosion involved? 3: Was any chemical reaction other than the combustion of hydrocarbons involved? 4: Was the lawnmower electric-powered? 5: Was the lawnmower fuel-powered? ---
**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:** [August 26, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1095 "2017-08-26T17:33:53Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > 1. Is the lawnmower a person and not a machine? (you know, like a pickle slicer) > > 2. Is it a push mower? > > 3. Is it a self-propelled mower? > > 4. Is it a riding mower? > > 5. Was a hill or other incline involved? > > 6. Was the lawnmower converted into a drone? > > 7. Was the lawnmower converted in some other manner for the purposes of taking the air? 1. No 2. It looked like one 3. In a manner of speaking, yes 4. No 5, No 5. Not exactly, but you’re warm 6. No ---
**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:** [August 26, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1096 "2017-08-26T17:35:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 1: Was some other machine involved? > 2: Was an explosion involved? > 3: Was any chemical reaction other than the combustion of hydrocarbons involved? > 4: Was the lawnmower electric-powered? > 5: Was the lawnmower fuel-powered? 1. Yes 2. No 3. No 4. Yes 5. 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:** [August 26, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1097 "2017-08-26T21:42:47Z")
Was it converted to mow by remote control? Were the injuries caused by loss of control of the mower? ---
**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:** [August 26, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1098 "2017-08-26T22:02:50Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Was it converted to mow by remote control? > > Were the injuries caused by loss of control of the mower? No Yes ---
**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:** [August 27, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1099 "2017-08-27T00:51:46Z")
Did they have a grass roof? If so, was the lawn mower cutting the grass roof? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1100 "2017-08-27T00:59:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did they have a grass roof? > > If so, was the lawn mower cutting the grass roof? No No [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=56)