# 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:** 235
**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 24, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4683 "2021-09-24T01:46:40Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Is the rotten fish intended to feed other animals? 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:** [September 24, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4684 "2021-09-24T01:50:34Z")
reply to Peter\_Morris: Were Bob and his friends conducting some kind of scientific research ? No Did Bob know or hope that bringing the fish would help? Yes Or was it a happy accident? No Also, Mahaloth, this has nothing to do with any Icelandic diet or anything similar. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4685 "2021-09-24T09:31:17Z")
Was the smell of the fish intended to drive something away? Or attract something? ---
**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 24, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4686 "2021-09-24T12:33:13Z")
reply to Gyrate: Was the smell of the fish intended to drive something away? Or attract something? No ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4687 "2021-09-24T12:41:27Z")
Do the group work in waste disposal at SeaWorld? ---
**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 24, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4688 "2021-09-24T12:43:48Z")
reply to Gyrate: Do the group work in waste disposal at SeaWorld? No ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4689 "2021-09-24T12:46:31Z")
Damn. Was the fish used to make [biogas](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/19/dead-fish-to-power-cruise-ships-norwegian-biogas)? ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4690 "2021-09-24T12:57:51Z")
Was the bucket of stinking rotting fish an ordinary 5 gallon hand held utility bucket, or similar bucket carried by an individual person? Was the fish of a specific species, or could any culinary fish species have been used? Was the fish of a species not typically found in culinary circles? ---
**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 24, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4691 "2021-09-24T13:13:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Was the fish used to make [biogas](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/19/dead-fish-to-power-cruise-ships-norwegian-biogas)? 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:** [September 24, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4692 "2021-09-24T13:18:56Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Was the bucket of stinking rotting fish an ordinary 5 gallon hand held utility bucket, or similar bucket carried by an individual person? Not important Was the fish of a specific species, or could any culinary fish species have been used? Probably important but I am not sure of the fish variety Was the fish of a species not typically found in culinary circles? Again, I do not know the species but I imagine it is important. All I know is it was fish, probably common… ---
**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 24, 2021, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4693 "2021-09-24T13:33:11Z")
Was it mostly fish oil? Was it used for its oil-like properties? Was it used as a substitute for something else? Was it an emergency? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4694 "2021-09-24T13:45:22Z")
Was the fish added to compost? ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4695 "2021-09-24T13:47:39Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Was the bucket of stinking rotting fish an ordinary 5 gallon hand held utility bucket, or similar bucket carried by an individual person? Not important I’ll take this to mean it wasn’t a front end loader bucket filled with fish. Was the bucket filled with specific parts of fish, as in eyes, or heads or fins? ---
**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 24, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4696 "2021-09-24T14:24:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Was the fish added to compost? 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:** [September 24, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4697 "2021-09-24T14:27:37Z")
reply to Folly: Was it mostly fish oil? No Was it used for its oil-like properties? No Was it used as a substitute for something else? Sort of Was it an emergency? 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:** [September 24, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4698 "2021-09-24T14:31:09Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’ll take this to mean it wasn’t a front end loader bucket filled with fish. > > Was the bucket filled with specific parts of fish, as in eyes, or heads or fins? Not a front end loader. Just a regular old bucket. But the container is not important. And I think lots of whole dead fish ---
**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:** [September 26, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4699 "2021-09-26T18:01:23Z")
Were the fish removed from the bucket by Bob and his friends, or by someone/thing else, or left in the bucket? Were the fish placed into a machine? If Bob had brought a bucket of something that wasn’t at all fish, such as rocks or rotting beef, could it have worked as well as the fish? ---
**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 27, 2021, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4700 "2021-09-27T02:48:42Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Were the fish removed from the bucket by Bob and his friends, or by someone/thing else, or left in the bucket? Not sure. But I think they were very probably removed from the bucket, probably by a supervisor if not by Bob and friends. My sources (several!) are scant on details, alas. Were the fish placed into a machine? No If Bob had brought a bucket of something that wasn’t at all fish, such as rocks or rotting beef, could it have worked as well as the fish? No. It had to be rotting fish. ---
**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, 2021, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4701 "2021-09-27T09:11:29Z")
Is Bob a specific notable person that we might be aware of? Is the era (eg decade) important? Did the fish help some sort of equipment operate better? ---
**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 27, 2021, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4702 "2021-09-27T10:06:40Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Is Bob a specific notable person that we might be aware of? No Is the era (eg decade) important? Yes Did the fish help some sort of equipment operate better? No [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=234) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=236)