# 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:** 280
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5588 "2023-02-19T16:26:50Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > It is a robot representing a human figure. > But which one? > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > It is roughly generally human shaped but not a specific human. These seem a bit contradictory. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5589 "2023-02-19T16:32:47Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > These seem a bit contradictory. I thought he meant: _‘But which robot?’_ ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5590 "2023-02-19T17:02:10Z")
Ah. Could be. So, a 21st century fictional robot… ETA: i couldn’t wait. I googled the answer. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5591 "2023-02-19T17:22:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Additional hint: He was built with a helmet and there is a reason (in universe) for this. Tik-Tok of Oz? ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5592 "2023-02-19T17:45:27Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I thought he meant: _‘But which robot?’_ Yep. Thanx for clarifying it. Yes but which robot.? ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5593 "2023-02-19T17:46:26Z")
No. Tik-Tok was never in the Spanish-American War or World War I. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5594 "2023-02-19T17:48:59Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > So, a 21st century fictional robot… The book was written in 21st century. He was first written about in the 20th century (AD 2000) Hint: In universe he was revealed in 1893. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5595 "2023-02-19T18:58:48Z")
Some clarification needed here. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > One book published after 2001 > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The book was written in 21st century. He was first written about in the 20th century (AD 2000) There’s an apparent contradiction, or am I missing something? ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5596 "2023-02-19T19:00:15Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > No. Tik-Tok was never in the Spanish-American War or World War I. As far as YOU know. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5597 "2023-02-19T19:00:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > There’s an apparent contradiction, or am I missing something? Yes, you are missing something. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5598 "2023-02-20T12:00:07Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Yes, you are missing something. I feel like I’ve been missing something from the beginning. _“Despite exploring Antarctica, serving during the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion and declared missing-in-action during World War I, he never existed.”_ — it’s not, AFAICT, lateral thinking to look at that and say, “oh, so, a fictional character.” And from there, AFAICT it’s just been a Do-You-Already-Know-Thi challenge that, well, nobody seems to know; we can’t get it with questions, we either already know about this fictional character or we just — don’t? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5599 "2023-02-20T15:39:56Z")
If others want me to reveal it, I will. The phrasing of the quote you gave was my way of saying that even though he is a fictional character, he was presented in his history as if he really existed and that these were historical explorations. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5600 "2023-02-20T15:58:40Z")
Did many people believe that it was a real historical account? ---
**Author:** ![Ana\_Byrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ana\_Byrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ana_Byrd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5601 "2023-02-20T19:52:57Z")
Would most of us recognize this character? Would we have known them before the book was published? Had he been presented as doing all that historical stuff before the book was published? (And I had the same thought as The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper - I’m trying to find the angle that makes this a lateral thinking puzzle and not just a trivia question.) ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5602 "2023-02-20T19:54:09Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The phrasing of the quote you gave was my way of saying that even though he is a fictional character, he was presented in his history as if he really existed and that these were historical explorations. That sounds to me like how fiction works in general? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5603 "2023-02-20T19:58:23Z")
I think when we read fictional works, we know that Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Irwin R. Fletcher, et al are fictional characters. But since this one seems to have gone off the rails. [Meet Boilerplate](http://timetunnel.bigredhair.com/boilerplate/intro.html). ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5604 "2023-02-20T20:30:48Z")
So, for clarification, the book is fiction, there was no Boilerplate? Can you please explain the seeming contradiction between “One book published after 2001” and “He was first written about in the 20th century (AD 2000)” ---
**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:** [February 20, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5605 "2023-02-20T20:33:15Z")
There _was_ an [Uncle Sam](https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5324) at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5606 "2023-02-21T00:10:08Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Can you please explain the seeming contradiction between “One book published after 2001” and “He was first written about in the 20th century (AD 2000)” He was written about _on their website_ in 2000. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/5607 "2023-07-17T17:14:34Z")
The president might have one, and a certain deceased animal does have one. No one else. What is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=279) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=281)