# 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:** 126
**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:** [August 26, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2501 "2024-08-26T20:21:20Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is there a word involved that reads upside down? > Backwards? No to all. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2502 "2024-08-26T20:22:19Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Was Nancy looking at a pond or lake? > > Did she see the view beyond the lake upside down in the reflection? Yes to both. ---
**Author:** ![Bicycle\_Bill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bicycle_bill/32/6208_2.png) [@Bicycle\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bicycle_Bill)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2503 "2024-08-26T21:41:24Z")
Does the term ‘Fata Morgana’ come into play anywhere? _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**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:** [August 26, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2504 "2024-08-26T23:51:02Z")
Is there any other relevant feature of the park beyond it containing a body of water? If so, is there any relevant feature on the same side of the water as Nancy? Any on the opposite side of the water? Any within the body of water? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2505 "2024-08-27T01:39:33Z")
> [@Bicycle\_Bill](#): > > Does the term ‘Fata Morgana’ come into play anywhere? No. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2506 "2024-08-27T01:43:30Z")
reply to Chronos: Is there any other relevant feature of the park beyond it containing a body of water? Normal park stuff. A little bridge. Trees. etc. If so, is there any relevant feature on the same side of the water as Nancy? Any on the opposite side of the water? Any within the body of water? The same features are relevant on both sides of the water. A little bridge, trees etc. And Nancy. She wanted to come to a place with a water reflection so that… ---
**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:** [August 27, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2507 "2024-08-27T01:51:30Z")
Was there a human looking fish face? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2508 "2024-08-27T16:20:11Z")
Was she comparing something in the reflected background with the image in the final frame? Perhaps to ascertain what the image depicted (rather than turning the newspaper upside down)? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2509 "2024-08-27T21:04:56Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Was there a human looking fish face? No. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2510 "2024-08-27T21:05:32Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Was she comparing something in the reflected background with the image in the final frame? Perhaps to ascertain what the image depicted (rather than turning the newspaper upside down)? No. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2511 "2024-08-28T18:44:14Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > The same features are relevant on both sides of the water. A little bridge, trees etc. And Nancy. She wanted to come to a place with a water reflection so that… … she could see what was on the other side of the bridge? (I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws.) ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2512 "2024-08-28T18:55:12Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > She wanted to come to a place with a water reflection so that… **We** could see her reflected? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2513 "2024-08-28T18:56:26Z")
Again, think of the comic strip, its logic, and Ernie Bushmiller’s advice to always “dumb it down.” Panel 1: Nancy reads the newspaper. Panel 2: Nancy sees a comic strip in the paper with the last panel accidentally printed upside down. Panel 3: Nancy states commentary and a reason that leads her to go to the park. Panel 4: Nancy goes to the park by the lake. Surely now you see the reason! ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2514 "2024-08-28T18:56:27Z")
So Nancy was not upside down but the reflection in the water of what she was looking at was upside down? Did the object and its reflection visually connect so that together hey made one image? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2515 "2024-08-28T19:03:14Z")
reply to Saint\_Cad: So Nancy was not upside down but the reflection in the water of what she was looking at was upside down? Nancy is not herself physically upside down. She is on a bridge looking at the reflection in the lake. Did the object and its reflection visually connect so that together hey made one image? Not sure what you mean here. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2516 "2024-08-28T19:06:28Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > She is on a bridge looking at the reflection in the lake. And the reflection on the lake was upside-down? > [@Biotop](#): > > Did the object and its reflection visually connect so that together they made one image? > Not sure what you mean here. Looking at the sunset over the lake. Half of the Sun above the horizon and the reflection on the lake combine to look like the full disk of the Sun. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2517 "2024-08-28T19:21:04Z")
Does Nancy, from her perspective, view anything as upside down in her own last frame? Is there some sense in which the gag could be considered “meta” or self-referential from Nancy’s point of view, whether she’s aware of it or not? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2518 "2024-08-28T19:48:16Z")
Was she looking at her reflection in the lake? The sun’s? A sign’s? An advertisement? ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2519 "2024-08-28T20:35:52Z")
Nancy breaks the 4th wall, right? Is she creating an upside-down image for her cartoonist, without being upside-down? … on further review, I think that’s similar to what @dirtball is getting at. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2520 "2024-08-28T20:42:36Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Does Nancy, from her perspective, view anything as upside down in her own last frame? > Is there some sense in which the gag could be considered “meta” or self-referential from Nancy’s point of view, whether she’s aware of it or not? > [@Rhodes](#): > > Nancy breaks the 4th wall, right? Is she creating an upside-down image for her cartoonist, without being upside-down? > > … on further review, I think that’s similar to what @dirtball is getting at. > [@dirtball](#): > > Does Nancy, from her perspective, view anything as upside down in her own last frame? > Is there some sense in which the gag could be considered “meta” or self-referential from Nancy’s point of view, whether she’s aware of it or not? Yes. You got it! Nancy is worried such a similar mistake could happen with her own comic strip. So Nancy goes to the reflective lake in the park and creates a final frame for her cartoonist so that it is not possible for that last frame to be printed upside down. Because either way is right-side up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=125) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=127)