# 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:** 62
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1221 "2017-09-03T05:05:32Z")
Shatner, fine, but there’s no way I’m searching through Bieber’s discography… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1222 "2017-09-03T05:49:24Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > If it is, then I think it’s got to be a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, from \*Seeking Major Tom \*(2011), Shatner’s fourth studio album. _Is_ the song “Space Oddity?” ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1223 "2017-09-03T06:01:26Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > _Is_ the song “Space Oddity?” (Leaving out the Shatner bit.) ---
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1224 "2017-09-03T10:41:43Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > _Is_ the song “Space Oddity?” “Space Oddity” by astronaut Chris Hadfield on the ISS? ---
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1225 "2017-09-03T12:12:23Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > “Space Oddity” by astronaut Chris Hadfield on the ISS? This has to be it. He’s Canadian, not a singer, and covered a big song on Youtube. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1226 "2017-09-03T20:22:35Z")
Yup. I was amazed when I saw “Space Oddity” mentioned for Shatner, but it wasn’t phrased as a question, so I didn’t respond then. I guess **Lord Mondegreen** just knows a lot about different versions of songs. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1227 "2017-09-03T21:17:42Z")
Good one! ---
**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:** [September 3, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1228 "2017-09-03T23:53:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I guess **Lord Mondegreen** just knows a lot about different versions of songs. 😃 ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1229 "2017-09-04T03:22:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yup. I was amazed when I saw “Space Oddity” mentioned for Shatner What are the odds! That was some far-out peculiarity in space and time… ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1230 "2017-09-04T08:41:13Z")
Aside: My wife and I are looking forward to our own eleven day vacation starting September 18th through the 28th. We are going to hole ourselves up in a little house in the mountains away from all the world for a week and a half. I can’t wait. Anyway, I like to look around for interesting facts/events in history to post in the “Today in History” thread. Here’s a fun one I came across while researching this week in September: \*\* True story: one year in the mid-eighteenth century, a whole bunch of people living in a European country (people who usually led normal lives) locked themselves into their homes on the night of September 2nd. They did not leave their homes again at all until September 14th or later. After that they went back to their normal routines. It would have been safe to leave their homes during the period, but these people chose not to do so. Why? Hint: there are rumors of riots associated with this period —riots that were supposedly caused by the Government stealing something from these people while they were holed up in their homes. These rumors have been debunked. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1231 "2017-09-04T08:58:08Z")
Did they sleep only one night, when the calendar changed to Gregorian? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1232 "2017-09-04T09:01:26Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Did they sleep only one night, when the calendar changed to Gregorian? WOW. That was well done! ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1233 "2017-09-04T13:38:47Z")
But welcome back to the thread, **Biotop**! ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1234 "2017-09-04T14:31:28Z")
I thought it might have been a clan of families who locked themselves inside because they thought the Apocalypse was coming, which actually happened in the 70’s when I was living in Arkansas. But those people were forced out when their kids weren’t reporting for school. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1235 "2017-09-04T19:17:01Z")
Another true September story: **On September 10, 1945, a Colorado farmer named Lloyd Olsen, in preparation for a dinner for his mother-in law, cut the head off a chicken in his coop. Because of this he achieved much unexpected wealth. Why?** ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1236 "2017-09-04T22:48:56Z")
Did he find an item (or items) of value in the chicken’s body? Did he gain the wealth quickly (say, within a day) of the butchering of the chicken? Is World War II relevant in any way to this situation? Could this (or something substantially similar) have happened to some other farmer in an arbitrary location in the developed world? Could this (or something substantially similar) have happened to some other farmer on an arbitrary date in the 20th century? EDIT: Is it relevant that the dinner was for his mother in law? Could something substantially similar have happened with an arbitrary farm animal? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1237 "2017-09-04T23:06:21Z")
Did he find an item (or items) of value in the chicken’s body? No. Did he gain the wealth quickly (say, within a day) of the butchering of the chicken? No. Is World War II relevant in any way to this situation? No. Could this (or something substantially similar) have happened to some other farmer in an arbitrary location in the developed world? Yes. Could this (or something substantially similar) have happened to some other farmer on an arbitrary date in the 20th century? Yes. Is it relevant that the dinner was for his mother in law? No. Could something substantially similar have happened with an arbitrary farm animal? Maybe. Seems unlikely. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1238 "2017-09-04T23:11:08Z")
By chicken, do you mean the animal we call chicken? Did he win the money? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1239 "2017-09-04T23:13:04Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > By chicken, do you mean the animal we call chicken? > > Did he win the money? Yes to chicken No to winning money. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1240 "2017-09-04T23:28:45Z")
Had the chicken swallowed something valuable, and did the farmer discover it after the beheading? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=63)