# 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:** 201
**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:** [September 27, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4003 "2020-09-27T22:42:59Z")
Ok, what I was kind of going for was some version of “the murder and the escape were unrelated since the escape was from the _second_ time in his life he was banged up indefinitely”, but I think we’re basically there. [George Harsh](https://www.beachmetro.com/2015/12/01/george-harsh-and-the-great-escape/), tunnel-security dude for the Great Escape was on his second go of getting out of incarceration before his time. He got out of his _murder_ incarceration by (according to his account) saving a fellow-prisoner’s life with an emergency appendectomy. He did not actually get the opportunity to escape, having been already transferred out of camp on the grounds of … being suspected of an escape attempt. Given that there was a fatality rate of around 65% for the actual escapees this probably makes him the world’s luckiest stone-cold killer, particularly since the very first thing in this story he escaped was a death sentence for the original murder (in his own later words, “I was guilty as hell. I should have swung”) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4004 "2020-09-28T04:10:44Z")
A man walks into a bar. Later there is a massive power outage. Why? ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4005 "2020-09-28T05:01:33Z")
Was it an iron bar? Is this the NorthEast Blackout of 1965? (something I only heard about in [an episode of Quantum Leap](https://quantumleap.fandom.com/wiki/Double_Identity_(episode))) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4006 "2020-09-28T05:21:54Z")
No to all ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4007 "2020-09-28T05:23:39Z")
Let’s try this again. reply to Peter\_Morris: Was it an iron bar? Is this the NorthEast Blackout of 1965? (something I only heard about in [an episode of Quantum Leap](https://quantumleap.fandom.com/wiki/Double_Identity_(episode))) No to all ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4008 "2020-09-28T05:28:16Z")
Would the outage have happened if the man did not go to the bar? Could the outage have been prevented if the man was in some other place instead of the bar? Was the man still in the bar when the outage happened? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4009 "2020-09-28T06:37:49Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Would the outage have happened if the man did not go to the bar? No,I don’t think so Could the outage have been prevented if the man was in some other place instead of the bar? Yes. I think so. Was the man still in the bar when the outage happened? No ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4010 "2020-09-28T07:33:39Z")
Did some action he took while in the bar lead to the outage? Is the man’s job relevant? Was the outage more than an hour after the man left the bar? More than a day? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4011 "2020-09-28T12:06:54Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Did some action he took while in the bar lead to the outage? Yes, eventually. Is the man’s job relevant? No Was the outage more than an hour after the man left the bar? Yes More than a day? Yes ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4012 "2020-09-28T12:38:37Z")
Did the man’s action in the bar ultimately lead to an electrical fault? Was this intentional? Did the action cause a liquid to go where it shouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4013 "2020-09-28T13:08:09Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Did the man’s action in the bar ultimately lead to an electrical fault? Yes. I guess so. Was this intentional? No Did the action cause a liquid to go where it shouldn’t? No. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4014 "2020-09-28T13:18:50Z")
Did the man play a video game or some kind of electronic amusement that had to do with the eventual blackout? Was the guy a serviceman? If so, was he supposed to repair something in the bar? ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4015 "2020-09-28T14:00:18Z")
How much time after? More than a month? A year? A decade? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4016 "2020-09-28T14:27:30Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Did the man play a video game or some kind of electronic amusement that had to do with the eventual blackout? > > Was the guy a serviceman? If so, was he supposed to repair something in the bar? No to all ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4017 "2020-09-28T14:29:33Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > How much time after? More than a month? A year? A decade? Certainly less than a month. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4018 "2020-09-28T15:08:49Z")
Were the man’s actions in the bar drinking? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4019 "2020-09-28T21:40:27Z")
reply to Folly: Were the man’s actions in the bar drinking? I imagine there was some drinking. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4020 "2020-09-28T23:50:25Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > **reply to Folly** : > > Were the man’s actions in the bar drinking? > > **I imagine there was some drinking** … Was the some drinking the “action in the bar [that] ultimately lead to an electrical fault” or was there an additional action _in the bar_ that did that. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4021 "2020-09-28T23:58:58Z")
reply to Folly: Was the some drinking the “action in the bar [that] ultimately lead to an electrical fault” or was there an additional action _in the bar_ that did that. Additional ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4022 "2020-09-29T01:28:41Z")
Did this action happen in the main bar area? The restrooms? Employee only areas? Was the action that he left something? Took something? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=202)