# 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:** 91
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1801 "2017-10-09T08:55:03Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The first station, the one which you use first thing in the morning, is not the same as the last station, the one from which you alight at the end of your evening journey, which is probably one or two stops further up the line. IIRC you live in S London and work centrally; London sits in the Thames Valley so the farther you go from the river, the higher you rise. Correct, except that the morning station is one stop further out than (and downhill from) the evening station, not the other way around - once you pass the major rise in the Crystal Palace/Norwood area it’s downhill to Croydon and environs. We live halfway between the two stations. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1802 "2017-10-22T04:38:45Z")
\*\*My eccentric Uncle Igor is the mad scientist in the clan. I suppose every family has got one. Anyway, I went to visit him in his castle in Transylvania last week. He took me down a winding staircase to an underground laboratory. Inside the room was a creature. He pointed and laughed like a maniac. “Behold. That animal is a cross between a man and a cat,” he said truthfully. I wasn’t impressed. Why not?\*\* ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1803 "2017-10-22T04:55:37Z")
Are you someone who is hard to impress? ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1804 "2017-10-22T04:58:20Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Are you someone who is hard to impress? Heh heh. No. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1805 "2017-10-22T05:07:31Z")
Was there a cockapoo, labradoodle or some other crossbreed (or species, variety, genera) physically positioned in the room between a man and a cat? ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1806 "2017-10-22T05:13:32Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Was there a cockapoo, labradoodle or some other crossbreed (or species, variety, genera) physically positioned in the room between a man and a cat? No. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1807 "2017-10-22T16:43:22Z")
Was the creature alive? ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1808 "2017-10-22T17:27:39Z")
Does “a cross between” mean a mixed breed(hybrid?)? ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1809 "2017-10-22T18:25:42Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Was the creature alive? Yes. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1810 "2017-10-22T18:26:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Does “a cross between” mean a mixed breed(hybrid?)? No ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1811 "2017-10-22T18:37:21Z")
Does “cat” refer to a person (as in _copycat_)? ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1812 "2017-10-22T18:40:32Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Does “cat” refer to a person (as in _copycat_)? No. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1813 "2017-10-22T21:04:26Z")
Was the cross a crucifix? Or two or more bars of wood/metal/other that join in the middle at right angles. Or a similar figure drawn or painted on some surface? Perhaps an artistic depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1814 "2017-10-23T01:36:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was the cross a crucifix? > > Or two or more bars of wood/metal/other that join in the middle at right angles. > > Or a similar figure drawn or painted on some surface? > > Perhaps an artistic depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 1. Crucifix NO 2. Bars NO 3. Drawing NO 4. crucifixion art NO ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1815 "2017-10-23T02:11:29Z")
For the sake of unequivocalness, was there also a cat and a man in the room besides the “creature”? ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1816 "2017-10-23T03:05:00Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > For the sake of unequivocalness, was there also a cat and a man in the room besides the “creature”? No. Just the creature. And then of course my Uncle and I. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1817 "2017-10-23T03:07:10Z")
This puzzle is not an original so no fair googling! ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1818 "2017-10-23T21:52:24Z")
Does the term “cross” indicate wordplay, so that a cross between a man and a cat might be mancat, or mantiger, or mcaant (not that any of those specific nonwords would make sense)? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1819 "2017-10-23T23:13:09Z")
Is the creature a cat? Is the creature a can or mat? ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1820 "2017-10-23T23:16:30Z")
Just reading the puzzle, and never having seen it before, I have an answer good enough that if it’s not what you intend, I’ll still stand by mine. A cross between a man and a cat=manx cat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=90) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=92)