# 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:** 243
**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:** [November 23, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4843 "2021-11-23T20:58:39Z")
Were there 2 timepieces being used? Were they held by the two people in the cab? Were they personal timepieces, or installed timepieces? Were the two people in the cab meeting a third person at the location? In the 21st century, is the assumption that the exact same timepieces are being used by all parties? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4844 "2021-11-23T21:00:31Z")
Does this have anything to do with time zones being adopted as opposed to some holdouts still using a more local time? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4845 "2021-11-23T21:04:50Z")
has Einstein got anything to do with it ? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4846 "2021-11-24T01:32:47Z")
Cheesesteak: Were there 2 timepieces being used? Not sure of the number involved. Were they held by the two people in the cab? No Were they personal timepieces, or installed timepieces? Probably some of both. Were the two people in the cab meeting a third person at the location? Yes. In the 21st century, is the assumption that the exact same timepieces are being used by all parties? Either way. Folks probably would be using twenty-first century timepieces if it happened today. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4847 "2021-11-24T01:33:38Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Does this have anything to do with time zones being adopted as opposed to some holdouts still using a more local time? 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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4848 "2021-11-24T01:34:11Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > has Einstein got anything to do with it ? 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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4849 "2021-11-24T01:39:53Z")
Are the time pieces atomic clocks? anything to do with the gps system? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4850 "2021-11-24T04:31:49Z")
reply to Folly: Are the time pieces atomic clocks? anything to do with the gps system? No to any of this. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4851 "2021-11-24T05:40:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Just off hand and seeing Tom Scott’s video on time in Denmark, I would say that sometime in the 20th century Germany moved its line of longitude defining its time zone. Probably from Berlin to the official time zone measured at 15 degrees E. OR since the OP mentions a street in Frankfurt was Germany still on local Solar Time? > > Nope, I looked it up and the move from solar time to CET was in 1893 Sorry I missed this earlier, but you answered your own question. Time is a funny thing. Does it exist? How do we measure it? An hour at a grinding job is surely longer than an hour spent alone with someone we love. Yet it is not, the clocks tell us. This riddle is about time, and I figured it was about time we had another lateral thinking puzzle to vex the Thread game lovers.. And despite the technological achievments in horology the cab would arrive late now,perhaps now ments ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4852 "2021-11-24T13:03:22Z")
Sorry for the gibberish post directly above. It was after I took my meds. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4853 "2021-11-24T13:25:24Z")
Were the timepieces referenced by the cabbie, the two travelers, the 3rd party they were meeting or other humans who were not mentioned in the puzzle? Does it matter where the two people were travelling from? Is Frankfurt important, could this situation happen equally at a different city in Germany… Europe… any city/location in the world? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4854 "2021-11-24T13:49:27Z")
Were the two people arriving together in the same cab? Or each in their own cab? If the modern people were exclusively using the relevant timepieces, would they have known that they would be seven minutes late? Could a similar situation occur where the amount of lateness would be some other value other than seven minutes? Any arbitrary value within some limited range? Any arbitrary value without limit? Could a set of people all agree to use the same sort of relevant timepiece, and thereby all arrive at the same time as each other (even if, by the standards of others not using those timepieces, they would be late)? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4855 "2021-11-24T15:23:29Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Were the timepieces referenced by the cabbie, No the two travelers No, the 3rd party they were meeting No or other humans who were not mentioned in the puzzle? I guess this is the best choice. Does it matter where the two people were travelling from? Not really. Is Frankfurt important, could this situation happen equally at a different city in Germany… Europe… any city/location in the world? In this case it was Frankfurt. And it had to be Frankfurt. Could something like this have happened elsewhere? Different scenarios? I guess. But that is not what happened. This street in Frankfurt is where, at the appointed hour our cab arrived. These folks were where and most importantly when they were supposed to be. And the rest is history. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4856 "2021-11-24T15:34:56Z")
reply to Chronos: Were the two people arriving together in the same cab? Yes Or each in their own cab? No If the modern people were exclusively using the relevant timepieces, would they have known that they would be seven minutes late? No. Could a similar situation occur where the amount of lateness would be some other value other than seven minutes? Yes. Any arbitrary value within some limited range? Yes Any arbitrary value without limit? No Could a set of people all agree to use the same sort of relevant timepiece, and thereby all arrive at the same time as each other (even if, by the standards of others not using those timepieces, they would be late)? Yes ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4857 "2021-11-24T17:24:33Z")
Is there a ferry involved? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4858 "2021-11-24T17:36:49Z")
reply to Dr.Winston\_OBoogie: Is there a ferry involved? No ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4859 "2021-11-24T19:41:11Z")
Is the timepiece based on (more than one might apply)… …The motion of celestial objects (such as the Sun) through the sky? …A substance falling through some small aperture? …A pendulum? …A spring releasing tension? …Gears? …Signals from some other timepiece? …A quartz oscillator? …An electrical battery? …Utility-provided alternating current? Come to think of it: Is a frequency of alternating current relevant? ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4860 "2021-11-24T19:47:36Z")
Is the cab important? Would they have also been late if they had journeyed on foot? Or taken a personal car? Or taken an Uber instead of a cab?? ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4861 "2021-11-24T20:02:10Z")
Does “cab” in fact refer to a taxi cab? ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/4862 "2021-11-24T20:06:16Z")
Is there any significance to the fact that two people were arriving (as opposed to just one person, or three, or any other number)? If this same scenario were to play out again, a hundred years from now, would we expect the arrivees (am I coining a word here?) to be even later than seven minutes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=242) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=244)