# 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:** 83
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1641 "2020-01-16T07:36:11Z")
Did this happen during World War 1? World War 2? Global War on Terror? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1642 "2020-01-16T11:52:08Z")
Was there a cause/effect relation to the bombing and a military target (example you bomb a dam and outside of town the wall of water destroys a guarded base)? **NO** Was the bombing meant primarily to kill? **NO** Or to disrupt the manufacture of something? **NO** Or to free someone or something? **NO** Did this happen during World War 1? World War 2? Global War on Terror? **NO YES NO** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1643 "2020-01-16T12:12:27Z")
Did the bombing kill more than a 100 people? Less than a hundred? Less than 10? Nobody? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1644 "2020-01-16T12:18:51Z")
Was the bombing meant to destroy something of value? The town was under enemy control, but was it enemy territory before WWII began? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1645 "2020-01-16T13:56:39Z")
What was bombed?[ul] [li]Residential?[/li][li]Commercial?[/li][li]Government buildings?[/li][li]Other structures?[/li][li]Transportation infrastructure?[/li][li]Or was it completely random?[/li][/ul] ---
**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:** [January 16, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1646 "2020-01-16T20:24:32Z")
Did the bombing kill more than a 100 people? Less than a hundred? Less than 10? Nobody? **UNKNOWN to all of these, but it’s likely that it was at least a reasonably significant number** Was the bombing meant to destroy something of value? **NO** The town was under enemy control, but was it enemy territory before WWII began? **NO** What was bombed? Residential? Commercial? Government buildings? Other structures? Transportation infrastructure? Or was it completely random? **UNKNOWN but given the purpose the least likely is residential and the most likely I would guess is random** ---
**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:** [January 16, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1647 "2020-01-16T20:25:56Z")
… ---
**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:** [January 17, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1648 "2020-01-17T03:39:28Z")
Was the bombing meant to deceive the enemy? ---
**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:** [January 17, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1649 "2020-01-17T06:18:53Z")
Was the bombing meant to deceive the enemy? **YES (at least, as part of an overall strategy which involves deception)** ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1650 "2020-01-17T06:23:24Z")
Is it related to D-Day? ---
**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:** [January 17, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1651 "2020-01-17T07:28:08Z")
Is it related to D-Day? **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:** [January 17, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1652 "2020-01-17T12:00:14Z")
Is it related to code cracking? Spies? I’m thinking they cracked the Enigma, and decoded a message that high value targets had been moved away from Town X, so they bomb the hell out of X in order to keep their cracked code a secret. This idea also works with other types of spying, protect your high value spy by acting opposite what their information would suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1653 "2020-01-17T13:51:47Z")
Like in the Japanese theater, the US had Midway Island send a false unencoded message saying their water was running low and they needed a replacement desalination setup. They monitored the Japanese transmissions and learned that the target they were planning to attack was Midway because of their reaction to the (false) news. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1654 "2020-01-17T19:34:05Z")
Is it related to code cracking? Spies? **YES to the first, NO to the second** > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’m thinking they cracked the Enigma, and decoded a message that high value targets had been moved away from Town X, so they bomb the hell out of X in order to keep their cracked code a secret. This idea also works with other types of spying, protect your high value spy by acting opposite what their information would suggest. > [@Telemark](#): > > Like in the Japanese theater, the US had Midway Island send a false unencoded message saying their water was running low and they needed a replacement desalination setup. They monitored the Japanese transmissions and learned that the target they were planning to attack was Midway because of their reaction to the (false) news. You are both thinking very much along the right lines, but the specific scenario I’m thinking of is sufficiently different to both of these (and equally sneaky) that I’m going to keep this open a little while longer. I’m going to roll the ball along slightly by observing that in post #1636 if **Go Arachnid Laser** had asked “Was there something particularly relevant or unusual \*\*about \*\*that town?” rather than “in” , then I would have answered YES ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1655 "2020-01-18T06:06:46Z")
Was there a fake manufacturing facility in the town? A fake/unoccupied residence of a VIP? Fake documents? Was the attack carried out by the Western allies? Soviet Union? Axis powers? Was it in the ETO? PTO? ---
**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:** [January 18, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1656 "2020-01-18T06:11:07Z")
Was there a fake manufacturing facility in the town? A fake/unoccupied residence of a VIP? Fake documents? **NO to all** Was the attack carried out by the Western allies? Soviet Union? Axis powers? **Western allies** Was it in the ETO? PTO? **Umm… ETO is all of Europe, right? That one.** ---
**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:** [January 18, 2020, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1657 "2020-01-18T07:46:35Z")
Was the Town where someone important supposedly lived? Was a person or persons the pretended target? Was manufacturing the pretended target? Was a weapon the pretended target? Was a resource the pretended target? Was the Town in a strategic location if a certain attack was coming, so it was hit to deceive the enemy into thinking a larger operation there was coming there instead of elsewhere? ---
**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:** [January 18, 2020, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1658 "2020-01-18T11:18:33Z")
Was the Town where someone important supposedly lived? **NO** Was a person or persons the pretended target? **NO** Was manufacturing the pretended target? **NO** Was a weapon the pretended target? **NO** Was a resource the pretended target? **NO** Was the Town in a strategic location if a certain attack was coming, so it was hit to deceive the enemy into thinking a larger operation there was coming there instead of elsewhere? **NO** ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1659 "2020-01-18T17:32:11Z")
Was the bombing related to the Enigma code? ---
**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:** [January 18, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1660 "2020-01-18T20:40:07Z")
Was the bombing related to the Enigma code? **YES** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=82) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=84)