# 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:** 143
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2842 "2020-05-07T12:33:35Z")
Is the brick encrusted with jewels? ---
**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 7, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2843 "2020-05-07T13:23:17Z")
OK, so it’s made, at least in part, from materials too rare or expensive to routinely make bricks from, but one would not know that just from seeing the video of the brick. Is the rare or expensive material precious (e.g., gold, silver, gems)? Is the rare or expensive material a metal? Is the rare or expensive material some sort of ash? And, heck, I’ll go ahead and make a guess here: Is it made from the cremated remains of some notable person? ---
**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 7, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2844 "2020-05-07T15:21:31Z")
Is the brick encrusted with jewels? **NO** OK, so it’s made, at least in part, from materials too rare or expensive to routinely make bricks from, but one would not know that just from seeing the video of the brick. Is the rare or expensive material precious (e.g., gold, silver, gems)? **NO** Is the rare or expensive material a metal? **NO** Is the rare or expensive material some sort of ash? **YES** And, heck, I’ll go ahead and make a guess here: Is it made from the cremated remains of some notable person? **NO** ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2845 "2020-05-07T15:56:38Z")
The brick is a work of art or artistic expression, deliberately using some sort of rare or expensive ash? Is the ash dangerous? Is the brick an expression of political or environmental ideals? ---
**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 7, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2846 "2020-05-07T17:07:31Z")
OK, then, are the ashes from some notable fire? Are the ashes from a deliberate human-caused event? Are the ashes from a natural event? Specifically, are the ashes from a volcanic eruption? ---
**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 7, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2847 "2020-05-07T18:19:08Z")
Is the music … … composed / recorded specifically for this video? Or a recording that already existed? … clearly related to the brick? (Like, it’s a song about bricks, or about the material from which the brick is made?) … a piece that the average American would recognize? … associated with a specific movie or show? Are there words? Or is it just instrumental music? ---
**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 7, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2848 "2020-05-07T22:33:57Z")
The brick is a work of art or artistic expression, deliberately using some sort of rare or expensive ash? **YES** Is the ash dangerous? **NO** Is the brick an expression of political or environmental ideals? **MAYBE** to the first, **NO** to the second OK, then, are the ashes from some notable fire? **YES** Are the ashes from a deliberate human-caused event? **YES** Are the ashes from a natural event? **NO** Specifically, are the ashes from a volcanic eruption? **No** Is the music … … composed / recorded specifically for this video? **NO** Or a recording that already existed? **YES** … clearly related to the brick? (Like, it’s a song about bricks, or about the material from which the brick is made?) **NO** … a piece that the average American would recognize? **YES** … associated with a specific movie or show? **YES** Are there words? Or is it just instrumental music? **YES, words** ---
**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 7, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2849 "2020-05-07T23:03:07Z")
I heard about people burning a million dollars as an artistic statement. Is it the ashes from that? ---
**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 8, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2850 "2020-05-08T00:19:00Z")
Ding Ding Ding!!! In 1994 musicians/artists Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty aka the K foundation aka the KLF aka the JAM, [burnt a million pounds sterling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation_Burn_a_Million_Quid) representing most of the profits they’d made with their music as the JAM and the KLF, in a bonfire on the island of Jura in Scotland. A brick was made out of the ashes of the bonfire, and a [film](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZteiZsTcxfY)showing simply the brick sitting there was screened at the Barbican Center a few years later. There’s also, somewhat more famously a film about [the actual bonfire itself](https://vimeo.com/21103501), but that would have been too easy 😉 The men pledged at the time not to talk about why they burnt the money for 23 years (a number probably chosen deliberately, given their Illuminatus-inspired body of work) but they didn’t quite keep to it, and there’s an extent to which they may not clearly understand it themselves. “Performance Art” is definitely part of the answer though Also of note - the K foundation are [back to their brick-making ways again](https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-klf-are-planning-to-build-a-pyramid-out-of-34592-dead-people-2402865) at the moment, and still all about the Illuminati, so you can’t say they’re not consistent. ---
**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 18, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2851 "2020-05-18T18:46:58Z")
**Stan was just sitting there, holding his pencil, minding his own business. A moment later, there was a crack. A moment after that, he was dead. How did he die?** Note: If you know, please keep this one secret and do not provide hints. ---
**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 18, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2852 "2020-05-18T19:15:59Z")
Was the crack thunder? Was he electrocuted? Was the crack a gunshot? Was the crack something breaking? Ice? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2853 "2020-05-18T19:36:21Z")
Was Stan’s mode death related to the exact nature of the crack? Did the crack cause his death? Was the crack a sound or a physical break in an object? Was Stan at work? at school? at home? ---
**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 18, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2854 "2020-05-18T19:41:23Z")
Was Stan a male human? Adult? Child? Did Stan exist in real life as opposed to literature? Was the pencil a writing instrument containing a thin rod of graphite? Was the crack related to the pencil? Did the pencil make a cracking sound? Did the pencil break? ---
**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 18, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2855 "2020-05-18T19:50:18Z")
Was the pencil related to Stan’s death? Had he been holding something else, would he have lived? ---
**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 18, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2856 "2020-05-18T21:11:26Z")
**Stan was just sitting there, holding his pencil, minding his own business. A moment later, there was a crack. A moment after that, he was dead. How did he die?** > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was the crack thunder? Was he electrocuted? > > NO > > Was the crack a gunshot? > > NO > > Was the crack something breaking? Ice? > > NO to both > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Was Stan’s mode death related to the exact nature of the crack? Did the crack cause his death? > > NO to both. > > Was the crack a sound or a physical break in an object? > > SOUND > > Was Stan at work? at school? at home? > > NO to all three of those > [@Folly](#): > > Was Stan a male human? > > YES > > Adult? > > YES > > Child? > > NO > > Did Stan exist in real life as opposed to literature? > > YES > > Was the pencil a writing instrument containing a thin rod of graphite? > > NO. It was a writing instrument containing a thin rod of _lead_. > > Was the crack related to the pencil? > > NO > > Did the pencil make a cracking sound? > > NO > > Did the pencil break? > > NO > [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Was the pencil related to Stan’s death? > > NO, though it is part of the happenings. I mean, it is in the story and is not some totally random detail that serves no purpose. > > Had he been holding something else, would he have lived? > > YES I think I got everything asked so far. ---
**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 18, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2857 "2020-05-18T21:46:16Z")
Did this happen in ancient times? Ancient Rome? Was it the crack of a whip? ---
**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 18, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2858 "2020-05-18T22:16:40Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Did this happen in ancient times? > Ancient Rome? > Was it the crack of a whip? NO to everything 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:** [May 18, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2859 "2020-05-18T23:03:49Z")
Would Stan’s death be considered an accident? Natural causes? Suicide? Murder? Homicide-but-not-murder (e.g. being killed in a war?) Would it help to know more about the time period when this takes place? Would it help to know more about the 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:** [May 18, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2860 "2020-05-18T23:06:10Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Would Stan’s death be considered an accident? > > YES > > Natural causes? > > NO > > Suicide? > > NO > > Murder? > > NO > > Homicide-but-not-murder (e.g. being killed in a war?) > > NO, though by a very big stretch one could call it homicide. > > Would it help to know more about the time period when this takes place? > > Not a bunch. It was in 1902. > > Would it help to know more about the location? > > YES 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:** [May 19, 2020, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/2861 "2020-05-19T10:55:11Z")
Was Stan indoors? Outdoors? In a City? the country? Suburb? Did something fall on Stan? Did Stan fall to his death? Did Stan die because he wasn’t paying attention to the crack sound? A side question, did you describe the pencil as made with a thin rod of lead (vs graphite) because this happened in 1902? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=142) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=144)