# 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:** 56
**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:** [August 27, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1101 "2017-08-27T01:21:57Z")
Did someone run over the cord of his electric mower? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1102 "2017-08-27T04:35:32Z")
Was the lawn mower intended to take to the air? Was the lawn mower being used to cut grass? Was alcohol involved? ---
**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 27, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1103 "2017-08-27T04:57:23Z")
Was there another machine involved which is normally capable, on its own, of flight? ---
**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, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1104 "2017-08-27T12:58:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Did someone run over the cord of his electric mower? 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 27, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1105 "2017-08-27T12:59:54Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Was the lawn mower intended to take to the air? > > Was the lawn mower being used to cut grass? > > Was alcohol involved? Yes No 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 27, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1106 "2017-08-27T13:02:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was there another machine involved which is normally capable, on its own, of flight? No ---
**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 27, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1107 "2017-08-27T20:59:15Z")
OK, I’m kind of stumped, here, but let’s see what we can pick at. 1: Was the lawnmower deliberately modified? 2: Was the lawnmower modified with the intention of being better (in some way) at cutting grass? 3: Was the lawnmower modified with the intention of doing something completely unrelated to cutting grass? 4: Was the lawnmower, prior to its modification, self-propelled? ---
**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 27, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1108 "2017-08-27T21:04:38Z")
Were they [flying lawnmowers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIXJBrclLY)? ---
**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 27, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1109 "2017-08-27T21:24:53Z")
I know I’m repeating but i just want to make sure. The lawnmower was not converted in some manner for the purpose of taking to the air, but the lawnmower was intended to take to the air? ETA Would a person actually be able to cut grass with this lawnmower? ---
**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 27, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1110 "2017-08-27T21:55:18Z")
- Were they doing a crazy stunt using flying lawnmowers, perhaps to record and upload to Youtube, such as a recreation of the William Tell apple legend or maybe cutting someone’s hair? - Was there any Darwin Award-level stupidity involved? ---
**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 28, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1111 "2017-08-28T00:51:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, I’m kind of stumped, here, but let’s see what we can pick at. > > 1: Was the lawnmower deliberately modified? > 2: Was the lawnmower modified with the intention of being better (in some way) at cutting grass? > 3: Was the lawnmower modified with the intention of doing something completely unrelated to cutting grass? > 4: Was the lawnmower, prior to its modification, self-propelled? Let me cover all these by saying it wasn’t a lawnmower that was modified to be something else, but something else modified to be a lawnmower. ---
**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 28, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1112 "2017-08-28T00:53:16Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Were they [flying lawnmowers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIXJBrclLY)? Yes ---
**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 28, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1113 "2017-08-28T00:54:41Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I know I’m repeating but i just want to make sure. > > The lawnmower was not converted in some manner for the purpose of taking to the air, but the lawnmower was intended to take to the air? > > ETA > > Would a person actually be able to cut grass with this lawnmower? Answer to Chronos covers the first Q No, this lawnmower cannot cut grass ---
**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 28, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1114 "2017-08-28T00:59:19Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > - Were they doing a crazy stunt using flying lawnmowers, perhaps to record and upload to Youtube, such as a recreation of the William Tell apple legend or maybe cutting someone’s hair? > > - Was there any Darwin Award-level stupidity involved? OK, you’re getting really warm, so may as well provide the deets. This happened during halftime of a Jets game in 1979. Model airplane builders had an exhibition during halftime. One builder made his plane look like a lawnmower. He lost control of it as it was flying and it landed in the stands on a couple of unlucky spectators. One survived, but the other died later after being rushed to the hospital. [Snopes article](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/lawnmower.asp) ---
**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 28, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1115 "2017-08-28T01:05:05Z")
Wow, thanks for this! ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1116 "2017-08-28T19:34:20Z")
I do remember reading about this case, now that you mention it. It was pretty nuts. ---
**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 29, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1117 "2017-08-29T01:45:49Z")
\*\*After seeing an empty shop, a man angrily and impulsively smashes the windows. He does this in full view of other members of the public. He is apprehended by the police, but after hearing his explanation, the owners of the shop decide not to press charges. Instead, they apologized to him. Why? \*\* ---
**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 29, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1118 "2017-08-29T02:37:51Z")
- Was the man attempting to save someone/something or prevent something bad from happening? ---
**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 29, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1119 "2017-08-29T02:45:34Z")
Despite the store being empty, was there some object inside the man saw? Did the man used to live there? Did he use some kind of object to smash the window? ---
**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 29, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1120 "2017-08-29T02:51:09Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > - Was the man attempting to save someone/something or prevent something bad from happening? No. > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Despite the store being empty, was there some object inside the man saw? > Did the man used to live there? > Did he use some kind of object to smash the window? 1. No. 2. No. 3. Yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=57)