# Anyone know any good "situational puzzles"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761 "2007-12-20T22:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 20, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/1 "2007-12-20T22:54:28Z")
Yes, I know. These things are a bit out dated, but I tried one today with the kids I teach. They loved it! I did the old, “man walks into bar, orders a drink, has a gun pulled on him…” one. After about 15 minutes, one kid actually answered it(lucky guess!). If you are unfamiliar with these, try this link: [Situational Puzzles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_puzzle) People can ask “yes and no” questions and try to solve the puzzle. The kids all asked me for more of these and I thought I’d have fun challenging them in the next few weeks. Anyone know of any of these that are good? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/2 "2007-12-20T23:03:00Z")
If you can track down a copy, the game Crack The Case is based on this type of puzzle. Lots of fun too. Here are some details: [http://www.angelfire.com/games/zombiereviews/reviews/crackthecaservw.html](http://www.angelfire.com/games/zombiereviews/reviews/crackthecaservw.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/3 "2007-12-20T23:24:43Z")
[Mind Trap](http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Trap-Game/dp/B00000DMBU) has a lot of excellent puzzles like this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/4 "2007-12-20T23:25:21Z")
Interesting **Slacker**. The cheapest I found it on Amazon was 59 and as high as over 200. eBay has it for less, but I was too lazy to do the bidding thing. Mahaloth, google for Lateral thinking, there are a few sites devoted to these puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/5 "2007-12-20T23:50:55Z")
I invented one of these once and posted it here. I can repost it if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/6 "2007-12-21T00:36:27Z")
There’s a cabin on a mountain. Inside the cabin, there are two dead men. How did they die? It’s an airplane cabin. The two men were the pilot and co-pilot, and they died when they crashed into the mountain. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/7 "2007-12-21T00:44:51Z")
There’s the whole book series, \*[Stories With Holes.](http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Holes-1-Revised-Updated/dp/1878347667/) \* This is what my 5th-grade teachers used as their source for such puzzles. [http://www.storieswithholes.com](http://www.storieswithholes.com) ---
**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:** [December 21, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/8 "2007-12-21T00:52:54Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] I invented one of these once and posted it here. I can repost it if you’re interested. [/QUOTE] Absolutely. By the way, do a lot of them have dead people in them? It’s seventh grade, but the kids might get tired of “murder” mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/9 "2007-12-21T02:59:34Z")
A mountain has a tunnel with a single train track running through it. One day at exactly noon, two trains enter the tunnel from opposite ends. Neither one changes its speed but they pass through the tunnel without crashing. How? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/10 "2007-12-21T03:09:26Z")
WAG - Difference in time zones at different ends? ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/11 "2007-12-21T12:09:43Z")
A man walks into a restaurant and is shown to a table. He does not look at the menu, but instead orders albatross. The food comes out and he takes one bite. He immediately gets up, walks out of the restaurant, and kills himself by shooting himself in the head. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/12 "2007-12-21T12:21:03Z")
A man is pushing his car along a street, stops outside a hotel, and realizes he is bankrupt. Clues: The car is working as designed He had to stop there, although he wasn’t tired If he hadn’t stopped there, he wouldn’t have been bankrupt It’s a very small car An inch or so long, in fact Answer He is playing Monopoly. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/13 "2007-12-21T13:58:32Z")
Hm, too bad you don’t want death. The only one I can think of offhand is: A man is found dead in a room. He hanged himself from a pipe running overhead, and his feet are a foot above the floor. There’s a puddle of water underneath him. The room is otherwise completely empty. There is no furniture, boxes, or any kind of object he could have stood on while hanging himself. How did he do it? He brought in a block of ice and stood on it. It melted afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/14 "2007-12-21T14:23:27Z")
Sometimes these are called [lateral thinking puzzles.](http://www.folj.com/lateral/) [Here](http://brainyplanet.com/index.php/Lateral%20Solution) is another page of them ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/15 "2007-12-21T15:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] There’s a cabin on a mountain. Inside the cabin, there are two dead men. How did they die? It’s an airplane cabin. The two men were the pilot and co-pilot, and they died when they crashed into the mountain. [/QUOTE] Gah! I hate these! How is the spoilered answer in any sense the “right” answer except for the fact that you declare that it is the right answer? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/16 "2007-12-21T15:42:11Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Sensitive] WAG - Difference in time zones at different ends? [/QUOTE] I bet that’s the right answer, and I like that puzzle much more than the one I quoted in my previous post. There’s something _compelling_ about the answer to this one, somehow. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/17 "2007-12-21T16:12:06Z")
All right, pop quiz. Airport, gunman with one hostage. He’s using her for cover; he’s almost to a plane. You’re a hundred feet away… What do you do? (sorry) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/18 "2007-12-21T16:33:02Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Gah! I hate these! How is the spoilered answer in any sense the “right” answer except for the fact that you declare that it is the right answer? -FrL- [/QUOTE] I think that the Q & A part must lead people to the one contemplated answer, because otherwise I agree: Why couldn’t the answer be “They were eaten by bears?” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/19 "2007-12-21T16:44:25Z")
A man leaves home. After making a couple of stops, he heads back home. But blocking his path is another man wearing a mask. What’s going on? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761/20 "2007-12-21T16:59:50Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] I think that the Q & A part must lead people to the one contemplated answer, because otherwise I agree: Why couldn’t the answer be “They were eaten by bears?” [/QUOTE] Yes, the idea is usually to elicit the specific situational information, not to merely produce any plausible answer. Sort of an expanded 20 questions, where the answer is a (possibly very simple) story, rather than a single item. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-any-good-situational-puzzles/430761.md?page=2)