Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Let's do it again!

Did bob have a medical problem? NO Did getting charged help with it? NO

Did getting charged help save Bob’s life? YES

Was the crime that Bob was charged with an actual crime that had really been committed by somebody? If yes, does it matter who the real criminal was?
**Being very careful with my wording here…
YES, an actual crime was committed
YES, it matters who the criminal was
NO to the statement that “Bob was charged with an actual crime that had really been committed by somebody”

I stand by my earlier answer that there isn’t ‘wordplay’ associated with the original question - all the words mean what you think they mean. There is, however, obsessively nitpicky attention to the precise meanings of words…**

Did this happen in the US? NOIf no, could it plausibly have happened in the US?YES

Did / could this happen in the present day?NO for the place it happened in, or for the US, but maybe somewhere

How was Bob’s life improved?
Was he better off financially?NO
Was he able to get medical help that he needed?NO
Was he able to live with his family?NO
Did he get publicity?NO

Was Bob aware of the situation and looking for this result?NO
Was someone else (besides the police) looking for this result?NO

Was the case used as a way to provide care for a child who could not otherwise have received it?YES
We are very close, just need a bow to wrap this all up with…

Did this happen in the 20th century?

19th?

18th?

Earlier?

Was the crime that was committed…

Theft?

Kidnapping?

Child abuse / neglect?

Murder?

Smuggling?

Was Bob the victim of the crime?

Was the criminal one of Bob’s parents?

Did this happen in the 20th century?YES

19th?YES

18th?

Earlier?

Was the crime that was committed…

Theft?

Kidnapping?

Child abuse / neglect?YES

Murder?

Smuggling?

Was Bob the victim of the crime?YES

Was the criminal one of Bob’s parents?YES
I think this is basically solved with those questions, and I’m going to wrap it up.

In Australia at least and, I’d assume, in some other jurisdictions, up until the 50’s the procedure for getting help for a child who was abandoned by their parents was to take them to court and charge them with the actual offence of “being an abandoned child”. Here is one of the examples on which “Bob” was based, from 1891

Obviously an infant can’t “commit” the crime of abandoning himself, and since the 60’s some better ways of arranging care for abandoned children than this rather convoluted piece of legalese have been found

**Liam and his friends/colleagues have a very odd daily routine. They climb a pole to the top every day, wait awhile, then climb back down and go about their business. Why is this?
**

Are Liam and his friends all human?

Is the pole more than two metres tall? More than ten metres?

When Liam and his friends wait a while, are they waiting for a specific event to happen? For a certain amount of time to pass?

Do they usually wait for more than ten minutes? More than an hour?

kk

Did they do anything on top of the pole besides sit there?

Was the main purpose of waiting, to recover from the exertion of the climb?

Does this scenario happen in one specific location? In one specific country?

Has this been going on for multiple years?

Are Liam and his friends all under 50? Under 20?

Are they paid to climb the pole?

Does it matter where the pole is located?

Can they see anything (relevant) from the top of the pole?

Is the climbing of the pole for purpose of a vantage point from which to see something?
Is the climbing of the pole for purpose of exercise?
Is the climbing of the pole for purpose of competition?
Is the climbing of the pole for purpose of entertainment of someone?

NO

kk

Would something bad happen if they didn’t climb the pole?

NO

Is there a relogious aspect to this?

Is Liam Irish?

No to both.

Is anything relevant happening at the bottom of the pole, while they are at or climbing to the top?

Does anything happen to them as a result of going up the pole, that wouldn’t happen if they stayed on the ground?

Is the pole in any way designed for climbing?

Is it generally the same people climbing each day?

Are there generally more than five of them? More than ten?

**Liam and his friends/colleagues have a very odd daily routine. They climb a pole to the top every day, wait awhile, then climb back down and go about their business. Why is this?
**

Is the pole climbing done for its own accord, or to bring the climber to a location that is only accessible via the pole?

I guess closer to “for its own accord”, though I may not be understanding that phrase the same way as you. There is a purpose to it, but it does not lead to a high up location they need to reach(like a shelf in a library or something).

Are they carrying something relevant up with them to the top of the pole?