# 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:** 96
**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 27, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1901 "2020-01-27T20:28:57Z")
Quick round of professional fields, tell me which one the victim belonged to: Aviation, arts, business, law enforcement, media, medical, service industry, teaching, technology, other. Actually, let me make a WAG. Negligent doctor? ---
**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 27, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1902 "2020-01-27T20:41:00Z")
Was the stabbing an act of revenge for the deaths of the wife/children? Were the deaths purely accidental? A result of clear negligence? Intentional? **Aspidistra** already asked if the victim’s actions contributed to the deaths- if so, was it the victim alone or were other people in the same profession involved? If not, was someone else from the same profession involved and the perpetrator was just going for anyone of that profession? Is the profession something where people may often die as a result of their (accidental, negligent, or intentional) actions or where it might be perceived that way (like police officers or doctors or possibly people who drive for a living)? edit: apparently I took a long time to write this. Ignore things that have already been answered. I promise I’m paying attention. ---
**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, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1903 "2020-01-27T21:01:21Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Quick round of professional fields, tell me which one the victim belonged to: > > Aviation, arts, business, law enforcement, media, medical, service industry, teaching, technology, other. > > **AVIATION** > > Actually, let me make a WAG. Negligent doctor? > > NO > [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Was the stabbing an act of revenge for the deaths of the wife/children? > > YES > > Were the deaths purely accidental? A result of clear negligence? Intentional? > > \*\*NEGLIGENCE/ACCIDENTAL > \*\* > > **Aspidistra** already asked if the victim’s actions contributed to the deaths- if so, was it the victim alone or were other people in the same profession involved? If not, was someone else from the same profession involved and the perpetrator was just going for anyone of that profession? > > VICTIM ALONE > > NO, victim was actual person responsible > > Is the profession something where people may often die as a result of their (accidental, negligent, or intentional) actions or where it might be perceived that way (like police officers or doctors or possibly people who drive for a living)? > > YES > > edit: apparently I took a long time to write this. Ignore things that have already been answered. I promise I’m paying attention. kk ---
**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 27, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1904 "2020-01-27T21:07:20Z")
Alright, so someone responsible for an aircraft crash? Pilot? Mechanic? Air Traffic Controller? ---
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1905 "2020-01-27T22:35:46Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Alright, so someone responsible for an aircraft crash? > > YES > > Pilot? > > Mechanic? > > Air Traffic Controller? \*\*Air Traffic Controller \*\* Anyone want to put it all together? ---
**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 27, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1906 "2020-01-27T22:54:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > \*\*Air Traffic Controller > \*\* > Anyone want to put it all together? Jesus. Two years of prison for murdering a guy in front of his family? I’m all for lenient sentences, but that’s just nuts. ---
**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 27, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1907 "2020-01-27T23:01:39Z")
ATC tells a plane they’re cleared to land or takeoff when he shouldn’t have, and then they crashed? ---
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1908 "2020-01-27T23:02:43Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Jesus. Two years of prison for murdering a guy in front of his family? I’m all for lenient sentences, but that’s just nuts. Yep, you got it. It should be noted the ATC was overworked and had to do double the work of a normal ATC, which created the accident. Vitaly Kaloyev, who used a private investigator to hunt down the air traffic controller whose overworked situation created an accident that killed his family. He then found his address and found him and stabbed him to death. He was convicted of premeditated killing(between murder and manslaughter), but got out in 2 years, which is ridiculous. His quote is hauntingly creepy: > [@](#): > > I don’t really take offense at people who call me a murderer. People who say that would betray their own children, their own motherland… I protected the honor of my children and the memory of my children. He’s nobody to me. He’s nobody to me. He was an idiot and that’s why he paid for it with his life. If he’d been smarter, it wouldn’t have been like this. If he’d invited me into the house, the conversation would have happened in softer tones and the tragedy might not have happened. ---
**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, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1909 "2020-01-27T23:05:01Z")
**A woman puts some work equipment onto the local train to deliver to a co-worker at another job site. While the train is one of the fastest ever built, it takes the equipment over an hour to arrive. It was a short distance, left on time, and made no other steps. What is going on?** ---
**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 27, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1910 "2020-01-27T23:14:32Z")
Was the work equipment measuring something about the train? About the surrounding environment? Did the presence of the equipment cause the train to go slow? ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1911 "2020-01-27T23:21:18Z")
Was other transport than the train involved? Was the item somehow misplaced, so they had to search the freight car for it? Did the item have to go through customs/security check? ---
**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 28, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1912 "2020-01-28T00:29:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Was the work equipment measuring something about the train? > > IRRELEVANT > > About the surrounding environment? > > IRRELEVANT > > Did the presence of the equipment cause the train to go slow? > > NO > [@Ignotus](#): > > Was other transport than the train involved? > > NO > > Was the item somehow misplaced, so they had to search the freight car for it? > > NO > > Did the item have to go through customs/security check? > > NO kk ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1913 "2020-01-28T00:49:05Z")
Is some sort of time shift involved, like the crossing of time zones or DST? ---
**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 28, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1914 "2020-01-28T00:56:33Z")
Did the train cross into a time zone? Was the equipment really heavy? Was it bigger than the train? Was the train part of the equipment? Did the train have to go to a high elevation? ---
**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 28, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1915 "2020-01-28T01:35:03Z")
\*\*A woman puts some work equipment onto the local train to deliver to a co-worker at another job site. While the train is one of the fastest ever built, it takes the equipment over an hour to arrive. It was a short distance, left on time, and made no other steps. What is going on? \*\* > [@Ignotus](#): > > Is some sort of time shift involved, like the crossing of time zones or DST? NO > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Did the train cross into a time zone? (NO) > > Was the equipment really heavy? > > NO(IRRELEVANT) It is possible, but does not affect this puzzle. > > Was it bigger than the train? > > NO > > Was the train part of the equipment? > > NO > > Did the train have to go to a high elevation? > > Stays at same elevation(more or less) for whole trip ---
**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 28, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1916 "2020-01-28T01:53:47Z")
With an hour, you mean literally 60 minutes? Was the equipment inside one of the trains wagons? Did the hour happened between the time the train left the place where it was until the moment it arrived? ---
**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 28, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1917 "2020-01-28T02:36:52Z")
\*\*A woman puts some work equipment onto the local train to deliver to a co-worker at another job site. While the train is one of the fastest ever built, it takes the equipment over an hour to arrive. It was a short distance, left on time, and made no other steps. What is going on? \*\* > [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > With an hour, you mean literally 60 minutes? > > YES > > Was the equipment inside one of the trains wagons? > > YES(though I am not 100%. I don’t have a picture here to show that, but I’ll say YES). > > Did the hour happened between the time the train left the place where it was until the moment it arrived? > > YES ---
**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 28, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1918 "2020-01-28T02:49:30Z")
Was the ‘short distance’ , distance as the crow flies between start and end? Did the train travel a much longer distance on the actual train track? Was the train going much slower than it usually would? ---
**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 28, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1919 "2020-01-28T02:52:52Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Was the ‘short distance’ , distance as the crow flies between start and end? > > NO > > Did the train travel a much longer distance on the actual train track? > > NO > > Was the train going much slower than it usually would? > > NO kk ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193/1920 "2020-01-28T03:26:37Z")
Was it a railroad train? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=95) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-lets-do-it-again/842193.md?page=97)