53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle

Thread Games
361

Is the man in the mask an exterminator?

362

  1. Is it important to understand how “the man” knows the man in the mask was at home?
    How the man knows is something that can be known.

  2. Is the man afraid of what the man in the mask will do to him?
    Yes.

  3. Is the man in the mask a murderer?
    No.

  4. Is the man in the mask known personally to the man?
    Yes.

  5. Is the man right to be afraid of the man in the mask?
    Yes.

Is the man in the mask an exterminator?
No.

363

Oh, and if anyone does happen to already know one of these, but wants to participate, go ahead and answer questions, since the game works better with rapid turnaround. If you answer wrong, I’ll just correct the answer (and maybe you don’t know it after all).

364

Is the man in the mask a doctor? (or any kind of medical professional)

Is the man in the mask the Lone Ranger?

365

  1. Is the job of the man important?

  2. Is the job of the man in the mask important?

  3. Are they both real living human beings?

  4. Is it nighttime?

  5. Is the man outside his house?

  6. Have the two met before?

  7. Is Halloween involved at all?

366
  1. Was the mask a face of a person?
  2. If so, was it a face the man recognized?
  3. (in case both are no) Is the man in a mask a superhero?
367

  1. Is it important to understand how “the man” knows the man in the mask was at home?
    How the man knows is something that can be known.

  2. Is the man afraid of what the man in the mask will do to him?
    Yes.

  3. Is the man in the mask a murderer?
    No.

  4. Is the man in the mask known personally to the man?
    Yes.

  5. Is the man right to be afraid of the man in the mask?
    Yes.

Is the man in the mask an exterminator?
No.

Is the man in the mask a doctor? (or any kind of medical professional)
No.

Is the man in the mask the Lone Ranger?
No.

  1. Is the job of the man important?
    Yes.

  2. Is the job of the man in the mask important?
    Yes.

  3. Are they both real living human beings?
    Yes.

  4. Is it nighttime?
    Unknown.

  5. Is the man outside his house?
    Yes.

  6. Have the two met before?
    Yes.

  7. Is Halloween involved at all?
    No.

  8. Was the mask a face of a person?
    No.

  9. If so, was it a face the man recognized?
    N/A

  10. (in case both are no) Is the man in a mask a superhero?
    No.

368

  1. Are the two men enemies?

  2. Is anything about the situation illegal?

  3. Is the man’s life at risk?

  4. Is the type of mask important?

369

  1. Is his home a house?

  2. Does “home” refer to something besides going to his residence?

370

  1. Is it important to understand how “the man” knows the man in the mask was at home?
    How the man knows is something that can be known.

  2. Is the man afraid of what the man in the mask will do to him?
    Yes.

  3. Is the man in the mask a murderer?
    No.

  4. Is the man in the mask known personally to the man?
    Yes.

  5. Is the man right to be afraid of the man in the mask?
    Yes.

Is the man in the mask an exterminator?
No.

Is the man in the mask a doctor? (or any kind of medical professional)
No.

Is the man in the mask the Lone Ranger?
No.

  1. Is the job of the man important?
    Yes.

  2. Is the job of the man in the mask important?
    Yes.

  3. Are they both real living human beings?
    Yes.

  4. Is it nighttime?
    Unknown.

  5. Is the man outside his house?
    Yes.

  6. Have the two met before?
    Yes.

  7. Is Halloween involved at all?
    No.

  8. Was the mask a face of a person?
    No.

  9. If so, was it a face the man recognized?
    N/A

  10. (in case both are no) Is the man in a mask a superhero?
    No.

  11. Are the two men enemies?
    No.

  12. Is anything about the situation illegal?
    No.

  13. Is the man’s life at risk?
    No.

  14. Is the type of mask important?
    Yes.

  1. Is his home a house?
    Unknown.

  2. Does “home” refer to something besides going to his residence?
    Yes.

371

I have a guess.

Is it a “home plate” and the masked man is the catcher or umpire?

372

Yup. That one was pretty much done for as soon as RivkahChaya asked whether it was a residence.

373

Has to be the catcher (holding the ball), right? The man is a base runner and doesn’t want to get tagged out.

374

I was thinking the same thing, but I was waiting for the answers to my questions. I’ll bet that’s it.

375

I was really hoping someone would ask “Would the man be safe if he went home?”, because I could honestly answer that one “no”.

376

OK, next up. Since you guys are so good at these, here’s a very involved one, with a lot of details to be worked out before it can be considered solved.

A man sees that a restaurant has seagull stew on the menu. He goes in and orders a bowl. After one taste, he goes home and kills himself. Why?

377

He once was in a plane or ship wreck, and was served “seagull” stew. It didn’t taste anything like what he just ate, so now he thinks he participated in cannibalism.

378

OK, Rivkah knows this one. Don’t look at her spoiler if you don’t want to be spoiled.

379

No, that was an honest guess.

380

Well, you know it now, anyway.