I love this puzzle, but feel like a hint is needed:
Liam and his friends are from Switzerland.
Was this during a festival?
Was there a prize on top?
NO
I’m wondering if this is truly what I would consider a lateral thinking puzzle, which I think of as something where, once you shift your thinking, there is a solution that makes perfect sense, or if it is more like just having to guess something weird that we will still think is weird after we guess it. This is not really meant to be critical – it may be just differing definitions, or I may be wrong, but I think it influences question strategy and guesses.
I really am not sure. It is weird, but there is(was) a logic behind their thinking. I do feel the solution often makes or breaks these things. You all may love it or hate it, I’m not sure.
It was good to ask about the advancement of medicine. That is an area to pursue…
Are they at the Vatican?
Are they trying to avoid miasmas or vapors or whatnot that they believe will cause them ill?
Or, more in general, are they climbing the pole to avoid a perceived evil or to attain a perceived good?
Had they consumed anything prior to climbing?
Had they applied anything to their bodies?
Had they breathed in a gas?
Had they used some sort of liquid?
Did they believe that breathing the air on the pole-tops would be good for them?
Nothing unusual.
YES, in a way.
Was it a means to get used to higher elevation? (I know, they’re already in Switzerland, but I’m seriously grasping at straws here)
YES
(they are not in Switzerland. They are from Switzerland and are in France)
Were they trying to cool down?
NO
Well, I’m out.
I can post the answer tonight. Anyone want to guess or ask any further questions?
Maybe I’ll give it away, but my final hint lays it out with some info. you have already learned mixed in:
**Liam and his friends are from Switzerland working related to the military. They are actually in France, though. They were climbing a pole daily because they were advised to medically. Advancements in science have shown us this was unsurprisingly not necessary or even helpful. This was back in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, just for perspective.
**
**What was the thinking? I mean, why would they have done this?
**
(again, everything I said up there was solved by you guys, I think)
Did they experience some kind of ailment in France that they attributed to being absent from Switzerland?
If so, did they think they would be cured by climbing to a higher elevation?
Were other people using this pole climbing cure, or was it unique to these particular soldiers?
Did they attribute their military prowess–seriously the Swiss mercs were feared throughout Europe–to being from a mountainous region and were they trying to maintain/restore that ferocity?
They were Swiss mercs like you said, though.
I think we should go ahead and end it. I take the blame if this was unsatisfying, but I thought you guys were gonna get there. Having said that, I’ve had my mix of good ones, bad ones, and OK ones. I thought this one was great, but…:shrugs:
Answer:
**Liam and his colleagues were indeed Swiss mercenaries. They were in France in the late 17th century and the French on the court(and so forth) noticed that the Swiss mercs were very sluggish. They were, in fact, homesick. However, the doctors of the time genuinely believed that “homesickness” was a real illness(I think they called it something like “nostalgia”).
What did the doctors prescribe? They said that the Swiss mercs should climb poles to reach higher elevations similar to their Swiss homeland. They figured it would be similar to the elevations of Switzerland and may cure them of their homesickness disease.**
I hope that is at least somewhat satisfying. I did my best to answer all Q’s accurately.