# 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:** 93
**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 24, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1841 "2020-01-24T20:17:16Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > What are 6 things that have never been in my kitchen? Where do you keep your silver bars, then? The bathroom? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1842 "2020-01-24T23:26:29Z")
Are these the names of individuals in a set, like racehorses? ---
**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 24, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1843 "2020-01-24T23:31:28Z")
Were they in that town at around the same time? ---
**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 25, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1844 "2020-01-25T01:56:29Z")
\*\*reply to Aspidistra \*\* Are any of the things in this set, in the town today? \*\*Yes \*\* Were any of them there before 1950? \*\*Yes \*\* Before 1900? **Probably not in the original list, but a couple in the addenda list.** Would knowing the name of the town help? \*\*Possibly \*\*. ---
**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 25, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1845 "2020-01-25T01:57:31Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Are these the names of individuals in a set, like racehorses? **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:** [January 25, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1846 "2020-01-25T02:01:31Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Were they in that town at around the same time? **It’s tough to answer that. For example, a person and their child are around at the same time, but also not at the same 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 25, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1847 "2020-01-25T06:01:48Z")
Aside from being on the same geographical location at some point, do all these things have something else in common? ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1848 "2020-01-25T06:42:18Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Aside from being on the same geographical location at some point, do all these things have something else in common? _They share in common their unexpectedness_, their sadness, their mystery, and how they inspire the imagination in their _surrealness_ for being where they were/are. Because for the most part they shouldn’t be there. They do not belong. And yet they , in an odd way, do belong. …Silicone breasts, a mermaid, a 1968 Lincoln Continental, a pan flute…\*\* ---
**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 25, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1849 "2020-01-25T07:49:29Z")
Are all these things in the real world? ---
**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 25, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1850 "2020-01-25T07:55:10Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Are all these things in the real world? **Yes** ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1851 "2020-01-25T09:22:33Z")
They’re all exhibits in one of those man-made tourist attraction places Like “The house on the Rock” or something similar? ---
**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 25, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1852 "2020-01-25T09:23:43Z")
So, you’re saying there’s or was a literal mermaid in a town in the real world? ---
**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 25, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1853 "2020-01-25T13:59:28Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > They’re all exhibits in one of those man-made tourist attraction places Like “The house on the Rock” or something similar? **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:** [January 25, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1854 "2020-01-25T14:11:33Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > So, you’re saying there’s or was a literal mermaid in a town in the real world? \*\*What I am saying is all these actual physical objects have something in common that has to do with their location. Have you never seen the mermaid in Copenhagen? This is all based on an article I discovered by accident. I meant to go to the Giraffe Boards to play mafia, but when I put in “giraffe” on my browser I found this interesting story instead. I followed a couple more links for details…and here we are. \*\* ---
**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 25, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1855 "2020-01-25T16:04:02Z")
So is the place all these things have been roughly more than, say, a square mile? ---
**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 25, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1856 "2020-01-25T16:59:50Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > So is the place all these things have been roughly more than, say, a square mile? \*\*No. A much larger area than that. \*\* ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1857 "2020-01-25T17:36:19Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > \*\*What I am saying is all these actual physical objects have something in common that has to do with their location. Have you never seen the mermaid in Copenhagen? > > \*\* But the statue of the mermaid is not an actual mermaid. It’s a representation of one. You can’t have a real mermaid in the US or anywhere else, because they do not exist. The state of Oregon certainly exists, but it can’t be moved into any town. Are you still claiming that these are the actual real things; an actual mermaid, an actual flying saucer, the actual poet John Milton, the actual state of Oregon? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1858 "2020-01-25T17:52:19Z")
You’re enjoying this too much. Are these lost items that were recovered? Are these components of an art piece? Are they part of a film? Did they have to be fixed/repaired/healed? ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1859 "2020-01-25T17:58:48Z")
Is the area smaller than, say, Chicago? Smaller than Texas? Smaller than the North American continent? Smaller than the world? Smaller than the universe? ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1860 "2020-01-25T18:04:24Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > But the statue of the mermaid is not an actual mermaid. It’s a representation of one. You can’t have a real mermaid in the US or anywhere else, because they do not exist. The state of Oregon certainly exists, but it can’t be moved into any town. > > Are you still claiming that these are the actual real things; an actual mermaid, an actual flying saucer, the actual poet John Milton, the actual state of Oregon? **I never claimed everything was the actual item you think they are. Some are, some may be something else. The giraffe was a real honest-to-god African giraffe. The good humor trucks are honest-to-god ice cream selling vehicles. The piano is a piano. John Milton is John Milton… maybe not the actual poet, but well… something. The same with Oregon. I haven’t figured out about the flying saucer.** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=92) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=94)