# 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:** 86
**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 20, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1701 "2020-01-20T16:03:27Z")
Did they have to buy something to use the method of detour? \*\*No (but see below, 'cause I think it’s time for another hint). At this point, the puzzle has basically been distilled to its lateral-thinking core, namely, how taking a detour made their commute _faster_. The fact that they thought it would be a good idea to buy a paper at a newsstand and get a receipt is more in the nature of an additional clue, rather than an essential element of what they were doing. They did, however, believe – accurately or not – that it would be advisable if they were going to use this method of detour.\*\* ---
**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 20, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1702 "2020-01-20T16:06:34Z")
Did they drive somewhere they were not supposed to be driving? ---
**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 20, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1703 "2020-01-20T16:32:01Z")
Did it need to be that specific newstand, or any other newstand in, say, a one-mile radius would have sufficed? Was there a reason the car couldn’t just park? ---
**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 20, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1704 "2020-01-20T17:17:34Z")
Did they drive somewhere they were not supposed to be driving? **Yes.** Did it need to be that specific newstand, or any other newstand in, say, a one-mile radius would have sufficed? **I believe there was more than one newsstand that would have worked, but _any_ other newsstand within a one-mile radius would not.** Was there a reason the car couldn’t just park? **Yes.** ---
**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 20, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1705 "2020-01-20T17:47:37Z")
Was the newsstand located in an unusual place (as in anywhere else than some common street)? ---
**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 20, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1706 "2020-01-20T17:58:12Z")
Was the newsstand located in an unusual place (as in anywhere else than some common street)? **Yes.** ---
**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 20, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1707 "2020-01-20T18:03:47Z")
Was the driving around in circles [ul] [li]on a race track[/li][li]in a roundabout/traffic circle[/li][li]on public streets[/li][li]on private land[/li][/ul] ---
**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 20, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1708 "2020-01-20T18:06:37Z")
Was the driving around in circles on a race track in a roundabout/traffic circle on public streets on private land **Public streets.** ---
**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 20, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1709 "2020-01-20T18:13:48Z")
Was the newsstand inside a building? In some hard to reach geographical location (as in, a small island?) Inside an enclosed space of some sort (a train station, an airport?) ---
**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 20, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1710 "2020-01-20T19:16:47Z")
Was the newsstand inside a building? **Yes.** In some hard to reach geographical location (as in, a small island?) **No.** Inside an enclosed space of some sort (a train station, an airport?) **Yes! Airport.** At this point, this is about 90% solved – the only remaining question is “how, exactly, did making a detour to an airport in the opposite direction from the school enable them to shorten their total transit time?” ---
**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 20, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1711 "2020-01-20T19:37:20Z")
Was there some sort of road only allowed for people coming from the airport? ---
**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 20, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1712 "2020-01-20T19:45:26Z")
Did buying the newspaper give them access to a road that they otherwise would not have been driving on? ---
**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 20, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1713 "2020-01-20T19:58:46Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Was there some sort of road only allowed for people coming from the airport? Like the highway to Dulles airport? And they dropped someone off at the terminal to buy the paper, but couldn’t park in the loading zone, so they drove in a circle looping around the airport? ---
**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 20, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1714 "2020-01-20T20:09:13Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Was there some sort of road only allowed for people coming from the airport? **Yes! Solved!** Specifically: taking the airport access road enabled them to zip past the rush-hour commuter traffic, saving them a considerable amount of time. There were two problems, though: the only way to get on the road going _away_ from the airport was to first go _to_ the airport; and the police were watching for people who tried to use the access road without having actual business at the airport, and simply turning around without making a stop would have been a good way to get a ticket. Therefore, they hit on the idea of dropping someone off on the ticketing / check-in level of the airport, looping around, and picking him up again on the arrivals level, where it wouldn’t be obvious that the same person had just been dropped off. Meanwhile, he had just enough time to stop buy the newsstand and pick up a paper and receipt, just in case they were stopped and needed to prove that they really HAD been to the airport that morning. ---
**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 20, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1715 "2020-01-20T20:11:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Like the highway to Dulles airport? Yep, that’s the one! ---
**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:** [January 21, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1716 "2020-01-21T00:08:10Z")
**Kris buys a bus ticket, loads his suitcase into the luggage compartment, rides the bus to his location, and gets off. When he gets off the bus, the police are waiting for him. Why?** ---
**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 21, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1717 "2020-01-21T00:26:06Z")
He’s a police officer taking up a new job? ---
**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:** [January 21, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1718 "2020-01-21T00:30:35Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > He’s a police officer taking up a new job? No. ---
**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, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1719 "2020-01-21T02:55:00Z")
Were the police waiting to arrest him? Or were they waiting for him for some other purpose? Did Kris break any laws? Are there any other people involved in this scenario (besides Kris and the police) whose actions are relevant? Would the police have been waiting for him if he’d taken some other form of transportation? Would they have been waiting for him if he’d kept his suitcase with him the whole time? Was it a regular city transit bus? A long-distance bus? A specialized bus of some sort (tour bus, school bus, etc.)? ---
**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, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1720 "2020-01-21T03:01:25Z")
Another one: Did he cross any international borders during the journey? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=85) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=87)