# 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:** 141
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2802 "2020-05-04T00:46:16Z")
Did Kevin accomplish this thing by being able to fit into a tight space? Did Kevin accomplish this thing by virtue of being lightweight? Did Kevin accomplish this thing by virtue of being up against weak competition (such as other boys his age)? Was the sport a competitive one? Was the sport one where performance can be directly compared between athletes widely separated in time and space (i.e., like the time in a race, or the distance an object is thrown, as opposed to one where opponents must be on the field at the same time)? ---
**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:** [May 4, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2803 "2020-05-04T01:10:18Z")
At the beginning of the day, did Kevin expect to be playing a sport? At the beginning of the day, did he expect to be watching a sport? Does the sport involve horses? Does it involve water? Is it typically played outdoors? Indoors? ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2804 "2020-05-04T02:16:43Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > At the beginning of the day, did Kevin expect to be playing a sport? **No** > > At the beginning of the day, did he expect to be watching a sport? **Yes** > > Does the sport involve horses? **No, although it would probably be cooler if it did** > > Does it involve water? **Yes** > > Is it typically played outdoors? Indoors? **Outdoors** > [@Chronos](#): > > Did Kevin accomplish this thing by being able to fit into a tight space? **No** > Did Kevin accomplish this thing by virtue of being lightweight? **Yes** > Did Kevin accomplish this thing by virtue of being up against weak competition (such as other boys his age)? **No** > Was the sport a competitive one? **Yes** > Was the sport one where performance can be directly compared between athletes widely separated in time and space (i.e., like the time in a race, or the distance an object is thrown, as opposed to one where opponents must be on the field at the same time)? **The former** 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 5, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2805 "2020-05-05T00:07:09Z")
Swimming? Diving? Rowing? Sailing? Did Kevin accidentally fall into the water? Or into a boat? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2806 "2020-05-05T01:53:13Z")
Surfing? ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2807 "2020-05-05T02:47:30Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Swimming? > > Diving? > > Rowing? > > Sailing? > > **It was rowing** > > Did Kevin accidentally fall into the water? Or into a boat? **Nope!** And not surfing- Rowing. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2808 "2020-05-05T03:22:52Z")
So he had the best time at a rowing competition, but wasn’t officially entered? ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2809 "2020-05-05T14:00:17Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > So he had the best time at a rowing competition, but wasn’t officially entered? Well… yes, but there’s a bit more to it than that. I am kind of getting the impression that this one isn’t really sparking anyone’s interest, though, so we can call it solved at that in the interest of moving on to a better one. During the 1900 Olympics, the Dutch rowing team decided their coxswain, [Hermanus Brockmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermanus_Brockmann), was too heavy and that his weight put them at a disadvantage. So he sat out and they grabbed a random French kid from the crowd to fill in for him. They won the race with the little boy as the cox, but the medal was given to Brockmann and nobody knows who the kid was. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2810 "2020-05-06T00:49:28Z")
Time for a new one? Recently, I was looking at a series of pictures. The first seven images in the series all shared one particular characteristic. #8 through #30 all lacked this characteristic, except for #9, which made sense when I thought about it. #31, and every image after it in the series, did have the characteristic. What were they pictures of, and what was the characteristic? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2811 "2020-05-06T00:58:29Z")
(Incidentally, a little research suggests that it would have been _possible_ for the images without the characteristic to start at #6, but those probably weren’t the most iconic ones available.) ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2812 "2020-05-06T01:22:43Z")
Were the picture photographs? Were the pictures drawings? Is it something to do with numbers or math? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2813 "2020-05-06T01:28:39Z")
Were they pictures of people? US presidents? Is the oddity of #9 connected to William Henry Harrison’s short tenure? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2814 "2020-05-06T01:43:13Z")
Is it a matter of colour vs monochrome pictures? The first 7 were colour paintings, 8 and 10-30 were sepia or black/white photos, 31 onwards were colour photos. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2815 "2020-05-06T01:46:58Z")
Well … damn! That one went fast! Were the picture photographs? **Some.** Were the pictures drawings? **No.** Is it something to do with numbers or math? **No.** Were they pictures of people? **Yes.** US presidents? **Yes!** Is the oddity of #9 connected to William Henry Harrison’s short tenure? **Yes.** Is it a matter of colour vs monochrome pictures? The first 7 were colour paintings, 8 and 10-30 were sepia or black/white photos, 31 onwards were colour photos. **Yes! Solved!** ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2816 "2020-05-06T03:08:30Z")
whew, that was quick! (btw, **Dorothy** I liked your one too, but everyone seemed to be asking the questions I would have asked before I got to it!) I have one. \*\* There is on YouTube a 3-minute video which is a simple view of a brick, doing absolutely nothing. This has been watched 2000 times (and also by some unknown but probably large number of people before it was you-tubed) Why?\*\* ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2817 "2020-05-06T03:37:13Z")
Is there music? Other audio? Is the brick in a wall? Is there anything happening around the brick? Is there something special about the brick itself? Was some new-at-the-time technology used, either in the filming or otherwise? Was it a joke? A prank? A bet? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2818 "2020-05-06T03:39:42Z")
Is there a cigar stuck in it? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2819 "2020-05-06T04:03:35Z")
Is there music? **YES** Other audio? **NO** Is the brick in a wall? **NO** Is there anything happening around the brick? **NO** Is there something special about the brick itself? **YES** Was some new-at-the-time technology used, either in the filming or otherwise? **NO** Was it a joke? A prank? A bet? **NO** to all three, IMO, but some considered the situation a little prank-like Is there a cigar stuck in it? **NO** ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2820 "2020-05-06T12:54:23Z")
Is the audio the purpose of the video (such as, someone wanted to share a song, and attached a still photograph to it)? For that matter, is it a single still picture (as opposed to an actual video, of a subject that just wasn’t doing anything)? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2821 "2020-05-06T13:24:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is the audio the purpose of the video (such as, someone wanted to share a song, and attached a still photograph to it)? Another Brick In The Wall? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=140) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=142)