# 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:** 94
**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, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1861 "2020-01-25T18:08:02Z")
**reply to Knowed Out** : You’re enjoying this too much. Are these lost items that were recovered? **Some** Are these components of an art piece? **No. Though they can be**. Are they part of a film? **No** Did they have to be fixed/repaired/healed? **No, though some could be.** ---
**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, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1862 "2020-01-25T18:11:47Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Is the area smaller than, say, Chicago? > Smaller than Texas? > Smaller than the North American continent? > Smaller than the world? > Smaller than the universe? **Closest to the size of Chicago.**. ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1863 "2020-01-25T18:17:31Z")
Is there any physical object that has been in close proximity to all of these things? Any person? Are there specific words that are associated with all of these things? ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1864 "2020-01-25T18:26:46Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > **reply to Go\_Arachnid\_Laser** : > Are they not the actual thing, but a representation (as in, a drawing of a giraffe, as opposed to a literal giraffe?) **They are the actual thing. A real African Giraffe, a real piano, real silver, real ice cream trucks etc. All real.** > [@Biotop](#): > > **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.** errr. ---
**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, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1865 "2020-01-25T18:29:23Z")
**reply to Aspidistra** : Is there any physical object that has been in close proximity to all of these things? **Define physical object**. Any person? **No** Are there specific words that are associated with all of these things? **No. I mean you can describe the common factor in words, but this is not wordplay or similar adjectives or the like.** ---
**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, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1866 "2020-01-25T18:38:03Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > errr. \*\*They are real objects. Not imagined. The original list is composed of actual things and not representations. So when I answered that I was correct. The addenda contain some representations (i.e. the mermaid, the Dutch Boy, the kangaroo/mouse hybrid). I regret the confusion\*\*. ---
**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, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1867 "2020-01-25T18:39:48Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > \*\*They are real objects. Not imagined. The original list is composed of actual things and not representations. So when I answered that I was correct. > > The addenda contain some representations (i.e. the mermaid, the Dutch Boy, the kangaroo/mouse hybrid). I regret the confusion\*\*. Ok, thanks for clearing that up. ---
**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, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1868 "2020-01-25T18:48:18Z")
Are the objects related in any way other than being in the same location? ---
**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, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1869 "2020-01-25T19:18:27Z")
Are these items that are for sale from a single source? ---
**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, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1870 "2020-01-25T19:33:23Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Are the objects related in any way other than being in the same location? \*\*No, but it is about \*how \* they are in the location. Many items are in a city, of course. But only a few items are in the city \*in this way. \*\*\* ---
**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, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1871 "2020-01-25T19:34:41Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Are these items that are for sale from a single source? **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 25, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1872 "2020-01-25T19:41:50Z")
Is the city a well known city? For example would you expect the average English person or French person to have heard of it. (NY, LA, Las Vegas) Actually, is the city Las Vegas? ---
**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, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1873 "2020-01-25T23:32:43Z")
**reply to Larry Borgia** : Is the city a well known city? For example would you expect the average English person or French person to have heard of it. (NY, LA, Las Vegas) \*\*Yes \*\* Actually, is the city Las Vegas? \*\*No \*\* ---
**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 26, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1874 "2020-01-26T01:54:56Z")
Were all the items lost and washed up by a/some river(s)? By the sea? By some other water source? ---
**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 26, 2020, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1875 "2020-01-26T06:07:58Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > Were all the items lost and washed up by a/some river(s)? By the sea? By some other water source? \*\*This is not the right answer, but it is so close to the right answer I am going to award it anyway. Story [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.livescience.com/46827-weird-objects-found-nyc-waters.html&ved=2ahUKEwjt3oSixKDnAhWxtlkKHdcPDxIQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1fou9iFOWohQJAZNcWoflR) or [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/crazy-things-discovered-in-the-new-york-harbor&ved=2ahUKEwjt3oSixKDnAhWxtlkKHdcPDxIQFjADegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw2ZSzH13njddcGSFTfQrCY7) or in a bunch of other places if you google “dead giraffe in the Hudson.” \*\*\* All of these items can be found, or have been found, in the waters of New York City. \*\*\* Most of the original list comes from articles in _New York_ Magazine and the _New York Times_. These stories sparked a lot of interest and feedback. The site [Underwater New York](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://underwaternewyork.com/&ved=2ahUKEwjQlqP8xaDnAhUFwFkKHTP6AjAQFjAAegQIBxAD&usg=AOvVaw3KQeOcHvjq5Xdiqakyj7xp) encourages people to report their own findings and submit creative writing about the objects. 1. The Grand piano is at the bottom in lower New York Bay. 2. A fleet of defunct Good Humor trucks was purposely put in the water near Atlantic Beach to create an artificial reef. 3. The robot’s hand was in the water near Great Kills Park Beach. Your guess is as good as mine. 4. There are 26 million dollars worth of silver bars from a 1903 shipwreck just waiting to be located. 5. The giraffe skeleton was dredged up in Lower New York Bay. How a giraffe happened to be there is a mystery. 6. Supposedly the dining room table is standing upright in the East River, just waiting for folks to pull up a chair. Addenda: The SS _John Milton_, the SS _Oregon_ and the _Princess Anne_ are down there underwater. A freight train went off a drawbridge and remains in the Hudson. There are so many cars in the waters of New York that divers supposedly use them as guides. _"It’s a few hundred yards past the DeSoto, turn right at the Lincoln Continental, but if you pass the VW bus you have gone too far…_ " You can find out about the others by reading the links. Fascinating!\*\* ---
**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 26, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1876 "2020-01-26T18:25:36Z")
**A man went to another man’s home and stabbed him to death right in front of his home. The two had never met and the murderer had no criminal history. Why did he do it?** ---
**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 26, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1877 "2020-01-26T18:49:54Z")
The two subjects you call “man” and “another man” are both human? Does “stabbing to death” means literally cutting with a sharp object until literal death? Is “his home” an actual residence? ---
**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 26, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1878 "2020-01-26T19:44:18Z")
Did the victim have a criminal history? Was the reason for the stabbing, something the victim had done? (BTW, cool site \*\*Bio \*\* :)) ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1879 "2020-01-26T23:02:21Z")
Too obvious, but let’s get it out of the way- was it a robbery? Was the victim mistaken for someone else? Was the victim someone the perpetrator hadn’t met, but specifically knew of? Was the identity of the victim random- like a “wrong place, wrong time” sort of thing? Was the stabbing planned? ---
**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 27, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1880 "2020-01-27T00:21:06Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > The two subjects you call “man” and “another man” are both human? YES > Does “stabbing to death” means literally cutting with a sharp object until literal death? YES > Is “his home” an actual residence? YES > [@Aspidistra](#): > > Did the victim have a criminal history? > > NO > > Was the reason for the stabbing, something the victim had done? > > YES > > (BTW, cool site \*\*Bio \*\* :)) > [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Too obvious, but let’s get it out of the way- was it a robbery? > > NO > > Was the victim mistaken for someone else? > > NO > > Was the victim someone the perpetrator hadn’t met, but specifically knew of? > > YES > > Was the identity of the victim random- like a “wrong place, wrong time” sort of thing? > > NO - and kind of yes in a way(but NO is the real answer) > > Was the stabbing planned? > > YES kk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=93) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=95)