# 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:** 236
**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, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4703 "2021-09-27T10:15:29Z")
Is it some time in the twentieth century? Before? Were there any notable events happening at the time which are significant to the situation? (eg war/depression/conquest of the americas…) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4704 "2021-09-27T10:41:46Z")
Was there a stench in the air before the fish got brought in? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4705 "2021-09-27T11:17:36Z")
Was it to mask another smell? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4706 "2021-09-27T11:32:13Z")
I’m taking a stab. Was it a workplace environment where it was rumored that a particular smell (gas) would harm the workers so they would quit working when they smelled it? The rumor was false though so the manager (Bill?) brought in a stronger overpowering smell so that no one could smell the supposedly harmful gas anyway. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4707 "2021-09-27T12:18:13Z")
What’s the decade? Just to stop us from asking every single 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 27, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4708 "2021-09-27T12:41:00Z")
reply to Aspidistra: Is it some time in the twentieth century? Before? Before Were there any notable events happening at the time which are significant to the situation? (eg war/depression/conquest of the americas…) 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 27, 2021, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4709 "2021-09-27T12:42:04Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Was there a stench in the air before the fish got brought in? 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 27, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4710 "2021-09-27T12:50:46Z")
reply to Isamu: Was it to mask another smell? No I’m taking a stab. Was it a workplace environment where it was rumored that a particular smell (gas) would harm the workers so they would quit working when they smelled it? The rumor was false though so the manager (Bill?) brought in a stronger overpowering smell so that no one could smell the supposedly harmful gas anyway. Good guess but no. reply to Mahaloth: What’s the decade? Just to stop us from asking every single decade. Not a particular decade. This happened more than once. ---
**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 27, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4711 "2021-09-27T12:52:06Z")
Were the fish brought in order to bring in the stench of rotting fish to the group? Was it to learn about the smell of rotting 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, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4712 "2021-09-27T13:15:35Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Were the fish brought in order to bring in the stench of rotting fish to the group? Was it to learn about the smell of rotting fish? No to both. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4713 "2021-09-27T13:32:21Z")
Did the group have the [TAAR5 gene](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/if-rotten-fish-smell-roses-mutation-might-be-blame-180976029/) ? ---
**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, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4714 "2021-09-27T13:49:23Z")
reply to pjd: Did the group have the TAAR5 gene ? Interesting link but 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:** [September 27, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4715 "2021-09-27T13:53:38Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Work was not going well for Bob and his friends but then Bob brought a bucket of stinking rotten fish to the group and things improved somewhat. Why? Was bringing the fish to the group done in order to take the fish away from another place? Did Bob and his friends interact with the fish? Did they force anyone else to interact with the fish? Was Bob’s work legal? Did he threaten to make someone “sleep with the fishes?” ---
**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, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4716 "2021-09-27T14:03:44Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Was bringing the fish to the group done in order to take the fish away from another place? No Did Bob and his friends interact with the fish? The fish served a purpose that helped with a job problem. In that sense there was interaction. Did they force anyone else to interact with the fish? No Was Bob’s work legal? No Did he threaten to make someone “sleep with the fishes?” No ---
**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 27, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4717 "2021-09-27T14:23:02Z")
Was the fish used to manufacgture some other useful substance? Was Bob actually a criminal? Is this - a true story? - common event that happened many times to many people? - something from a creative work? ---
**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 27, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4718 "2021-09-27T14:28:31Z")
Was Bob’s work related to illegal drugs? An illegal substance that wasn’t drugs? Did the fish hide the substance from detection? ---
**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, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4719 "2021-09-27T14:41:48Z")
reply to Peter\_Morris: Was the fish used to manufacgture some other useful substance? No Was Bob actually a criminal? No Is this - a true story? a fictitious account based on real life occurences. - common event that happened many times to many people? Not common, but happened to several. - something from a creative work? 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 27, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4720 "2021-09-27T14:43:16Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Was Bob’s work related to illegal drugs? > An illegal substance that wasn’t drugs? > Did the fish hide the substance from detection? No to all ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4721 "2021-09-27T15:00:32Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Was Bob’s work legal? No > [@Biotop](#): > > Was Bob actually a criminal? No If Bob’s work is not legal, doesn’t that make him a criminal in an ipso facto type way ? ---
**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 27, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4722 "2021-09-27T15:02:55Z")
Did Bob take away the bucket again at the end of the work? Did some or all of the fish get used up by the work? Did Bob’s friends know about the fish? Was the fish being used as a fertilizer? Does it have anything to do with the use of fish by native americans? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=235) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=237)