# Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Let's do it again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [October 23, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193 "2019-10-23T21:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 115
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2281 "2020-02-20T01:53:05Z")
\*\*In 1663, about 100-150 people were born, all sharing an odd characteristic. What is it and how did it come to be? \*\* Note: this might be really quick and easy, mainly in the sense someone might have heard it already. If so, please let others try to solve it. Or, just blurt it out and this can be a quickie! 😃 ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2282 "2020-02-20T01:54:41Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Winnah winnah chicken dinner. > > Told you it’d be quick and easy. (actually, can you explain the solution? I’m dense here) ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2283 "2020-02-20T02:18:29Z")
In 1663, the year? Was the characteristic physical? Were the people who had it all born in the same country / region? If it is 1663, the year, have any people with this characteristic been born in other years? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2284 "2020-02-20T02:31:07Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > In 1663, the year? > > NO > > Was the characteristic physical? > > NO > > Were the people who had it all born in the same country / region? > > YES > > If it is 1663, the year, have any people with this characteristic been born in other years? kk ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2285 "2020-02-20T03:12:52Z")
Is 1663 a location? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2286 "2020-02-20T03:25:27Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Is 1663 a location? YES…pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2287 "2020-02-20T06:28:53Z")
Address? Postal code? Name of a building? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2288 "2020-02-20T07:03:57Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > **A wicked witch placed a curse on the princess, that no one shall understand what she says. The princess remarks “If only I could bake the hall in the candle of her brain.” What’s going on?** > [@Aspidistra](#): > > Would the curse be lifted if someone were to break the ball in the handle of the witch’s cane? > [@Mahaloth](#): > > (actually, can you explain the solution? I’m dense here) The curse changes a word to a rhyming word. Break changed to bake, ball changed to hall, and so on. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2289 "2020-02-20T10:18:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > (actually, can you explain the solution? I’m dense here) It took me a second, but I got it. Her words all rhyme with what they mean: “If only I could **b** ake the **h** all in the **c** andle of her **br** ain.” becomes “If only I could **br** eak the **b** all in the **h** andle of her **c** ane.” ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2290 "2020-02-20T13:13:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > (actually, can you explain the solution? I’m dense here) The witch cursed the princess to speak in spoonerisms, like when somebody says “you have hissed the mystery lectures” instead of the intended sentence “you have missed the history lectures.” Bake the hall in the candle of her brain = Break the ball in the handle of her cane It was a Muppet fairy tale I remembered seeing when I was a lot younger. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2291 "2020-02-20T14:26:28Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Address? > > Yes, kind of. > > Postal code? > > I feel like an address is a postal code. But it is not a ZIP code. > > Name of a building? > > NO kk ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2292 "2020-02-20T16:18:00Z")
Is 1663 a hospital? Were the people related? Did the characteristic have to do with the place of their birth? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2293 "2020-02-20T19:17:57Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Is 1663 a hospital? > > NO > > Were the people related? > > NO(a few could be, but most are not) > > Did the characteristic have to do with the place of their birth? > > YES, and some circumstances connected kk ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2294 "2020-02-20T21:12:32Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > The witch cursed the princess to speak in spoonerisms, like when somebody says “you have hissed the mystery lectures” instead of the intended sentence “you have missed the history lectures.” > > Bake the hall in the candle of her brain = > Break the ball in the handle of her cane > > It was a Muppet fairy tale I remembered seeing when I was a lot younger. Those aren’t Spoonerisms. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2295 "2020-02-20T21:15:20Z")
Is it a gene location? Is it an ambulance? Is it a vehicle? A bus? Is it a general location like a neighborhood? Will figuring out what 1663 is help to solve this? Is the characteristic the people share a genetic mutation? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2296 "2020-02-20T21:38:45Z")
> [@Calavera](#): > > Those aren’t Spoonerisms. Yes they are. Spoonerism are when you swap around the initial sounds or syllables of words in a sentence. (And the the ‘mystery lectures’ one is the example google gives when I google “spoonerism”.) You have hissed the mystery lectures. You have [hissed] the [myst]ery lectures. You have [myst] the [hissed]ery lectures. You have missed the history lectures. Bake the hall in the candle of her brain. \*\*ake the [h]all in the [c]andle of her [br]ain. [Br]ake the \*\*all in the [h]andle of her [c]ain. Break the ball in the handle of her cane. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2297 "2020-02-20T22:38:27Z")
OK fair enough, I hadn’t spotted the fact that the 4 different sounds had been mixed up, I was looking at them as 2 pairs. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2298 "2020-02-21T00:41:37Z")
\*\* In 1663, about 100-150 people were born, all sharing an odd characteristic. What is it and how did it come to be?\*\* > [@eschrodinger](#): > > Is it a gene location? > > NO > > Is it an ambulance? > > NO > > Is it a vehicle? > > NO > > A bus? > > NO > > Is it a general location like a neighborhood? > > NO > > Will figuring out what 1663 is help to solve this? > > YES, but it isn’t the “whole solution” just a part > > Is the characteristic the people share a genetic mutation? > > NO kk ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2299 "2020-02-21T00:55:02Z")
Is it a street address? A P.O. Box? ---
**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:** [February 21, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2300 "2020-02-21T01:06:03Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Is it a street address? > > A P.O. Box? \*\*PO Box. \*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=114) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=116)