# 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:** 203
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4043 "2020-10-01T13:55:46Z")
Did this happen recently in California? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4044 "2020-10-01T14:14:21Z")
reply to Gyrate: Did this happen recently in California? No ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4045 "2020-10-01T14:30:28Z")
Was the power outage caused by using too much power doing something? Was the outage caused by breaking one or more transmission lines? Was the outage caused by damaging one or more transformers? Was the outage caused by disrupting the supply of fuel to generators? Disrupting generators in some other manner? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4046 "2020-10-01T14:34:39Z")
reply to Folly: Was the power outage caused by using too much power doing something? Was the outage caused by breaking one or more transmission lines? Was the outage caused by damaging one or more transformers? Was the outage caused by disrupting the supply of fuel to generators? Disrupting generators in some other manner? 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:** [October 1, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4047 "2020-10-01T15:14:01Z")
Is the relevance of the country to do with its political system? Laws? Size? Population? Was the country in: Asia Europe North America South America Africa ? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4048 "2020-10-01T16:02:15Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Is the relevance of the country to do with its political system? Laws? Size? Population? [b]All of these (maybe not “size”) have tangental relevance, but laws especially so. Was the country in: Asia Europe North America Yes South America Africa ? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4049 "2020-10-01T16:10:52Z")
Was a cause of the outage someone being legally obliged to do something? Legally forbidden from doing something? Is the man’s job relevant? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4050 "2020-10-01T16:41:06Z")
Was Nikola Tesla involved? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4051 "2020-10-01T17:22:02Z")
Is the power outage related to a disruption in electrical power availability? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4052 "2020-10-01T19:26:42Z")
Was the power outage caused by computers/computer code? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4053 "2020-10-01T19:39:56Z")
Was the man in the US? Canada? Mexico? Central America? The Caribbean? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4054 "2020-10-01T21:26:15Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Was a cause of the outage someone being legally obliged to do something? No Legally forbidden from doing something? No Is the man’s job relevant? No ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4055 "2020-10-01T21:26:55Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Was Nikola Tesla involved No ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4056 "2020-10-01T21:29:17Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Is the power outage related to a disruption in electrical power availability? No And because it seems I cannot respond more than 3 consecutive posts, I edit this to tell Folly it has nothing to do with computers and to inform Fretful Porpentine that this was in the US. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4057 "2020-10-01T21:49:52Z")
Backing up…Is power outage here referring to an unexpected loss of electrical power over a grid where electricity is being fed to many buildings using alternating current? Were over 100 people effected? Over 1000? The power outage was not caused by using too much power, breaking one or more transmission lines, damaging one or more transformers, disrupting the supply of fuel to generators, disrupting generators in some other manner, or due to computers. Can someone help me with some other way to cause a power outage? Was there a blockage of rain or lake water? A blockage of hydrothermal energy? A blockage of sunlight or wind in some way? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4058 "2020-10-01T22:05:24Z")
reply to Folly: Backing up…Is power outage here referring to an unexpected loss of electrical power over a grid where electricity is being fed to many buildings using alternating current? Yes Were over 100 people effected? Yes Over 1000? Yes The power outage was not caused by using too much power, breaking one or more transmission lines, damaging one or more transformers, disrupting the supply of fuel to generators, disrupting generators in some other manner, or due to computers. Can someone help me with some other way to cause a power outage? Quite the puzzle, isn’t it? Was there a blockage of rain or lake water? No A blockage of hydrothermal energy? No A blockage of sunlight or wind in some way? No ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4059 "2020-10-01T22:10:27Z")
Was this in the US? Canada? Mexico? Was the power intentionally throttled? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4060 "2020-10-01T22:17:48Z")
reply to Zyada: Was this in the US? Canada? Mexico? US Was the power intentionally throttled? No ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4061 "2020-10-01T22:19:27Z")
Would it have been easy for someone with the right knowledge to turn the power back on? If so, did anyone possess this knowledge shortly after the power went off? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4062 "2020-10-01T22:35:20Z")
reply to Folly: Would it have been easy for someone with the right knowledge to turn the power back on? No. If so, did anyone possess this knowledge shortly after the power went off? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=202) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=204)