# 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:** 275
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5488 "2023-01-21T20:04:34Z")
Was the recipient a specific individual? Male? Female? Or some other entity, such as a corporation / government / organization? Have most people today heard of the sender? The recipient? Is the invention / discovery something that is still used today? Was it a physical object? A fact or concept? A method / procedure of some sort? Were the people who were eventually made happy by the invention / discovery happy because the invention / discovery was _itself_ enjoyable (for example: a new game or sport)? Or because it improved their lives in some other way? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5489 "2023-01-21T20:09:16Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Was the recipient a specific individual? Male? Female? Or some other entity, such as a corporation / government / organization? **A male individual** > > Have most people today heard of the sender? The recipient? **Yes, I would say most people today have heard of both (but probably mostly for this particular incident and its consequences)** > > Is the invention / discovery something that is still used today? **Yes** > > Was it a physical object? A fact or concept? A method / procedure of some sort? **I think “concept” fits best** > > Were the people who were eventually made happy by the invention / discovery happy because the invention / discovery was _itself_ enjoyable (for example: a new game or sport)? Or because it improved their lives in some other way? **I’d say the latter** See above. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5490 "2023-01-21T21:24:01Z")
Was the sender a lawyer/attorney? ---
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5491 "2023-01-21T21:26:24Z")
Is there any sense in which the invention/discovery could be considered a recipe, however loosely? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5492 "2023-01-21T21:27:46Z")
Yes to that one. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5493 "2023-01-21T21:28:10Z")
I wouldn’t call it that, not even in a very loose sense. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5494 "2023-01-21T21:29:55Z")
Was this in the UK? the US? France? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5495 "2023-01-21T21:38:47Z")
In the US. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5496 "2023-01-21T21:44:05Z")
Grrrrrrr! I was thinking that it was the postage stamp and Rowland Hill. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5497 "2023-01-21T22:02:55Z")
You say that the sender was a lawyer. Was the sender acting in the capacity of a lawyer when he tried to send the message? Or was he sending a message unconnected with his job? Did the failure to send a message harm a case he was working on? Did it turn out to actually help a case he was working on? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5498 "2023-01-21T22:03:20Z")
🙂 I’ve heard of Hill, of course, but I haven’t heard of the person Hill wanted to send a letter to in the incident that made him invent the stamp. So let me elaborate on an answer I gave earlier: Both the sender and the recipient in question are reasonably well known in the sense that most people would at least have heard their names. Both have Wikipedia articles about them, but they’re both mostly associated with this particular incident and its consequences (but one of them more strongly than the other - one is noteworthy also for other reasons, while the other is nowadays remembered pretty much exclusively for this). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5499 "2023-01-21T22:05:11Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > You say that the sender was a lawyer. > > Was the sender acting in the capacity of a lawyer when he tried to send the message? Or was he sending a message unconnected with his job? **He was acting in the capacity of his job** > > Did the failure to send a message harm a case he was working on? Did it turn out to actually help a case he was working on? **The message did not relate to a legal case the sender was working on** See above ---
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5500 "2023-01-21T22:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > **He was acting in the capacity of his job** > … > **The message did not relate to a legal case the sender was working on** So, he was working, but not working on a case, is that correct? So was it related to the running of the law firm? Was he sending to someone inside the law firm? Somebody outside the law firm? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5501 "2023-01-21T22:19:41Z")
I think I need to elaborate on a previous answer here. The sender was a lawyer (as I said before), but that’s in the sense of someone who is legally educated. In the incident at hand, he was not acting as an attorney (hence the direction towards a law firm is misled). He was, however, acting in the official capacity of some other function he was performing at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5502 "2023-01-21T22:24:45Z")
So a politician? If so, was it a letter regarding politics? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5503 "2023-01-21T22:25:03Z")
I’d say yes to both. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5504 "2023-01-21T22:26:43Z")
Was it Abe Lincoln? If so, was it before his presidency? During his presidency? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5505 "2023-01-21T22:27:10Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5506 "2023-01-21T22:29:04Z")
As a politician, is he best known for his work: at the Federal level? at the state level? at the local level? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5507 "2023-01-21T22:30:39Z")
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