53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle

[Knowed_Out]

@RivkahChaya

K

1. Does he have some kind of traps set, and counts his steps to avoid them? did he undercount by one or two?

2. Does he take pain pills, and undercounted the number he needed to take?

1. No traps
2. No

[RivkahChaya]

@ZipperJJ

R

Does the woman officiate weddings?

Yes. The question actually allows you to get it more specific than that.

[Knowed_Out]

@Chronos

K

1. Was what he was counting steps?
2. Was what he was counting physical objects of some sort?
3. Was what he was counting a measure of time?
4. Was his miscount an undercount?
5. Was his miscount an overcount?
6. Does it matter whether his miscount was an overcount or undercount?
7. Was the sharp pain he felt the result of some other human’s actions?
8. Would he have felt the pain if he had counted correctly?

1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. Yes
5. No
6. Yes
7. No
8. No

[Knowed_Out]

@Peter_Morris

1. is he one of a group of people?

2. If so, are they all holding weapons?

1. No
2. N/A

[Mahaloth]

1. Was he counting land mines?

2. Did he die from his miscount?

[ZipperJJ]

R

I am guessing she’s a rabbi (and I know from Weeds that female rabbis are a thing!) I don’t know if I can get more specific wrt the groom not being Jewish. I’ll just leave it at rabbi.

[Chronos]

R
Well, the fact that the one time that was problematic was when the groom was not Jewish suggests that the marrying woman is specifically a rabbi. Was that the additional detail you meant?

K
So to recap: He was counting physical objects, which were not pain pills. He undercounted them, and then felt a pain that was not the result of any other human’s actions. Is this accurate so far?
Were the objects that he was counting things that he would regard as good?
Were the objects that he was counting owned by him?
Was the pain caused by having the wrong number of objects?
Was the pain caused by his mistaken knowledge of the number of objects?
Would he have felt the pain if there had been no objects at all (and he knew that there were none)?
Would he have felt the pain if there had been no objects at all (but he mistakenly thought there were)?
Would he have felt the pain in any circumstance if there had been one or more objects, but he mistakenly thought there were none?
Would he have felt the pain if the number of objects were what it actually was, but he had counted them correctly?
Would he have felt the pain if the number of objects were actually what he had mistakenly counted (and he correctly counted that amount)?

[RivkahChaya]

@ZipperJJ

I am guessing she’s a rabbi (and I know from Weeds that female rabbis are a thing!) I don’t know if I can get more specific wrt the groom not being Jewish. I’ll just leave it at rabbi.

@Chronos

R
Well, the fact that the one time that was problematic was when the groom was not Jewish suggests that the marrying woman is specifically a rabbi. Was that the additional detail you meant?

Right; rabbi.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

K: I have never heard of this one, but I have a guess that would match the riddle pretty closely.

He is in a duel, and he is supposed to take 10 steps, but he doesn’t turn on the Tenth step.Edit: oops, I see that some of the clues given since the riddle mean this is not the right solution.

[RivkahChaya]

K

1. Is it significant that this is a man doing this, or could it just as well be a woman?

2. How bad was the pain?

3. Was the pain inflicted by an insect or other sort of bug or small animal?

4. Was his profession involved in this task?

5. Is this a specific thing that happened once to this man under very special circumstances, or was he doing an activity many people might do?

6. If the answer to 6 is “many people” is it something that was done in the past, or is it still done?

[TriPolar]

Just going to mention that the ‘man in the mask’ is a very good one. It is a riddle, the solution can be derived from the riddle itself.

[Ignotus]

Knowed Out, are you sure the man didn’t overcount (like, counting an object twice)? In which case I have a suggestion:

He was counting the pins while removing them from a new shirt before putting it on. Although, in my experience, the number of pins is not consistently the same in all brands (usually either 8 or 10).

[Quartz]

K

Were the things eye-drops? If so, is this Ash from Army of Darkness? He used one eye-drop too many and experienced severe mental pain when he woke up too late.

[Knowed_Out]

@Mahaloth

1. Was he counting land mines?

2. Did he die from his miscount?

1. No
2. No

[Knowed_Out]

@Chronos

K

1. So to recap: He was counting physical objects, which were not pain pills. He undercounted them, and then felt a pain that was not the result of any other human’s actions. Is this accurate so far?
2. Were the objects that he was counting things that he would regard as good?
3. Were the objects that he was counting owned by him?
4. Was the pain caused by having the wrong number of objects?
5. Was the pain caused by his mistaken knowledge of the number of objects?
6. Would he have felt the pain if there had been no objects at all (and he knew that there were none)?
7. Would he have felt the pain if there had been no objects at all (but he mistakenly thought there were)?
8. Would he have felt the pain in any circumstance if there had been one or more objects, but he mistakenly thought there were none?
9. Would he have felt the pain if the number of objects were what it actually was, but he had counted them correctly?
10. Would he have felt the pain if the number of objects were actually what he had mistakenly counted (and he correctly counted that amount)?

1. Yes
2. Yes, if by “good” you mean “beneficial”
3. Hard to answer. In one scenario, he would have owned them. In another, he wouldn’t, but the same result applies.
4. No
5. Yes
6. No
7. No, and he would definitely had known if there were no objects
8. No, for the same reason as 7
9. No
10. No (if I understood your question correctly :D)

[Knowed_Out]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

K: I have never heard of this one, but I have a guess that would match the riddle pretty closely.

He is in a duel, and he is supposed to take 10 steps, but he doesn’t turn on the Tenth step.Edit: oops, I see that some of the clues given since the riddle mean this is not the right solution.

No

[Knowed_Out]

@RivkahChaya

K

1. Is it significant that this is a man doing this, or could it just as well be a woman?

2. How bad was the pain?

3. Was the pain inflicted by an insect or other sort of bug or small animal?

4. Was his profession involved in this task?

5. Is this a specific thing that happened once to this man under very special circumstances, or was he doing an activity many people might do?

6. If the answer to 6 is “many people” is it something that was done in the past, or is it still done?

1. No, could have been a woman
2. Not a yes or no question The degree of nature of the pain is a clue
3. No
4. No
5. Yes to many people
6. Yes, it was done in the past and is still done

[Knowed_Out]

**Ignotus **got it, but I didn’t think it was a case where the man overcounted. Do the rest of you want to keep guessing?

[Knowed_Out]

@Quartz

K

Were the things eye-drops? If so, is this Ash from Army of Darkness? He used one eye-drop too many and experienced severe mental pain when he woke up too late.

Hee hee good answer, but the real solution is a lot more mundane.

[Bricker]

Some years back, a man and his wife run out of gas on a country road. Leaving his wife in the car, the man sets out to get gas. When he returns with a can of gas, he finds his wife dead, and a stranger in the car. But the stranger is not arrested, or even questioned by the police when they arrive.

Why?