# Lateral Thinking Puzzles - third time is best! **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 18, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214 "2023-07-18T13:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 103
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2041 "2024-06-27T14:00:03Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Is this “keeping” job something that people still do today, in some form that would be recognizable as the same job? > > **I am not an expert, but I would have to think that the job still exists in some form, but has changed a lot over the centuries. Yes, it still exists.** > > Is/was it a fairly common job that everyone today would probably know about? > > **YES** > > Or is it an obscure job that few people would be aware of? > > **NO** > > Or somewhere between what you yourself would consider common and obscure? > > **NO, you have heard of it and I guess people just didn’t guess it right away.** > > Is it something he would have done every working day, all day, at his place of employment? > > **Started off routine, ended up catastrophic.** > > Or would he have gone various places to do the work? > > **Just one place** A fun and **irrelevant** fact is that he was 94. No, age _is_ irrelevant to this puzzle and he cold have been 25 and the same thing could have occurred. He was healthy and active even at 94. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2042 "2024-06-27T14:10:53Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > I am not an expert, but I would have to think that the job still exists in some form, but has changed a lot over the centuries. Yes, it still exists. Do we still commonly call the job by its X-keeping name today? Gameskeeper? If so, ran over by a giraffe? Housekeeper? If so, a giraffe he was dusting fell on him? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2043 "2024-06-27T14:14:19Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Do we still commonly call the job by its X-keeping name today? > > **YES. I just looked it up and the job is a lot less common today. I had no idea before starting this puzzle, though. Still exists, though** > > Gameskeeper? **NO** > > If so, ran over by a giraffe? NO > Housekeeper? **NO** > If so, a giraffe he was dusting fell on him? **NO** We apologize for all the references to giraffes. The person responsible for screening these questions has been sacked. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2044 "2024-06-27T14:31:36Z")
Gatekeeper? Like an actual gate, not the slang we use today, I’m thinking a toll-booth attendant, security guard at an HOA or a giraffe at a game-preserve. No wait! A lighthouse-keeper! Death by fire when the light malfunctioned. Or the lighthouse collapsed on him in a storm due to lack of maintenance. Or a ship piloted by a giraffe collided with him. I’m betting 5 StraightDopeDollarBucks it’s a lighthouse-keeper. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2045 "2024-06-27T14:42:53Z")
Wait a minute … Henry … 1700s … is it Patrick Henry, saying _“Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death”_ and immediately getting shot in the face? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2046 "2024-06-27T14:43:11Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Gatekeeper? Like an actual gate, not the slang we use today, I’m thinking a toll-booth attendant, security guard at an HOA or a giraffe at a game-preserve. > > **NO** > > No wait! A lighthouse-keeper! > > **YES** > > Death by fire when the light malfunctioned. > > **He did not die by fire, but fire is part of what happened.** > > Or the lighthouse collapsed on him in a storm due to lack of maintenance. > > **NO** > > Or a ship piloted by a giraffe collided with him. I’m betting 5 StraightDopeDollarBucks it’s a lighthouse-keeper. > > **I award you 5 Stanley Nickels instead.** yeppers ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2047 "2024-06-27T14:43:34Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Wait a minute … Henry … 1700s … is it Patrick Henry, saying _“Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death”_ and immediately getting shot in the face?. **No, is that what happened to Patrick Henry?** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2048 "2024-06-27T14:48:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > No, is that what happened to Patrick Henry? Um. I was told there was to be no googling… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2049 "2024-06-27T14:51:50Z")
I heard of a case where three lighthouse-keepers vanished without a trace, and the mystery remains unsolved. Is it that one? I don’t recall the details. Easy to Google, I’m sure. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2050 "2024-06-27T15:07:20Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I heard of a case where three lighthouse-keepers vanished without a trace, and the mystery remains unsolved. Is it that one? **NO** ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2051 "2024-06-27T15:07:21Z")
Was the accident the result of something Henry did? Or that he didn’t do? Or something that someone else did? Or that someone else didn’t do? Was it weather related? With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, might we reasonably describe it as “easily avoidable”? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2052 "2024-06-27T15:10:41Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Was the accident the result of something Henry did? > > **NO** > > Or that he didn’t do? > > **NO** > > Or something that someone else did? > > **NO** > > Or that someone else didn’t do? > > **NO** > > Was it weather related? > > NO. > > With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, might we reasonably describe it as “easily avoidable”? > > **I really don’t think so. We get what happened, but I don’t think Henry did anything all that wrong and the situation was not easily avoidable.** In the general sense, this might have been avoidable, but I just don’t think it was likely it would have been avoided. I suppose possibly today it would have been avoided, but I have no idea. I mean, things happen sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2053 "2024-06-27T15:14:35Z")
Was he inside the lighthouse when the accident happened? Outside? Did something break while he was using it? Did something fall out of the sky, or come up from the ocean? Was it a natural phenomenon or was it a human engineered accident? ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2054 "2024-06-27T15:18:43Z")
Did the accident involve the total destruction of the lighthouse? Did it involve repairable damage to the lighthouse? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2055 "2024-06-27T15:19:59Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Was he inside the lighthouse when the accident happened? Outside? > > **Inside** > > Did something break while he was using it? > > **NO** > > Did something fall out of the sky, or come up from the ocean? > > **NO** > > Was it a natural phenomenon or was it a human engineered accident? > > Human. I mean, I find the phrasing “human engineered accident” rather odd. I mean, it wasn’t natural like earthquake or tidal wave or lighting or anything like that. yeppers ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2056 "2024-06-27T15:21:35Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Did the accident involve the total destruction of the lighthouse? > > **Destroyed completely** > > Did it involve repairable damage to the lighthouse? > > **NO** yeppers ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2057 "2024-06-27T15:25:20Z")
Is the relevance of fire that the lighthouse generated its light through fire? Could the same sort of situation have happened with a lighthouse that used an incandescent electric light? Could the same sort of situation have happened with a lighthouse that used a low-temperature light source? Is the material from which the lighthouse was constructed relevant? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2058 "2024-06-27T16:30:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is the relevance of fire that the lighthouse generated its light through fire? > > **If I’m understanding you, yes. In the sense that the fire was actually stared by the lighthouse’s normal operating fire.** > > Could the same sort of situation have happened with a lighthouse that used an incandescent electric light? > > **NO** , though fire can start with electricity. But not Henry’s situation. > > Could the same sort of situation have happened with a lighthouse that used a low-temperature light source? > > **NO** > > Is the material from which the lighthouse was constructed relevant? > > **YES** , though I suppose it was made of many different types of material, wasn’t it? All fine questions. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2059 "2024-06-27T17:42:04Z")
Did Henry smoke? (as in pipe) Was anybody else present? Was the accident witnessed? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2060 "2024-06-27T17:43:37Z")
Was it a wooden lighthouse? Was it the last wooden lighthouse? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=102) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=104)