# 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:** 13
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/241 "2023-07-31T12:27:11Z")
Is it the paramedic (sorry not sure if that is also the term in the US!) that is the injured party? Sorry just seen now solved. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/242 "2023-07-31T12:38:02Z")
(I wondered if it was somehow going to be _“diner”_ not in the sense of _“restaurant”_ but rather _“that guy who’s, uh, dining.”_) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/243 "2023-07-31T13:21:14Z")
Heh, I was wondering about “diener” (morgue worker). ---
**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:** [July 31, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/244 "2023-07-31T14:39:47Z")
That would be fun, but also hard to do in written format. **I have another puzzle, but I’d love for someone else to go if they have one. I’ll wait until 8PM Eastern(USA) tonight to post if no one else has one.** ---
**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:** [July 31, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/245 "2023-07-31T15:53:50Z")
OK, this probably won’t take long. **For a brief time, Pepsi had the 6th largest military in the world. How?** ---
**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:** [July 31, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/246 "2023-07-31T16:38:00Z")
Were they model/ toy soldiers? ---
**Author:** ![Ana\_Byrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ana\_Byrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ana_Byrd)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/247 "2023-07-31T16:41:05Z")
I’ll be sitting this one out, since I remember this one from the previous thread. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/248 "2023-07-31T16:44:22Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Were they model/ toy soldiers? No, they were 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 1, 2023, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/249 "2023-08-01T11:32:05Z")
Well, didn’t expect this to crap out. I don’t want to be a thread killer, so I’ll go ahead and give away the answer. In a nutshell, Pepsi wanted to open a market for their soda in the Soviet Union. Since the ruble was pretty much worthless outside the USSR, Pepsi accepted 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer in exchange. Even though the size of the fleet tied with India’s naval power, these ships were obsolete and useless for any kind of war effort. Pepsi wound up selling the fleet to Norway for scrap metal. > **[The Doomed Voyage of Pepsi’s Soviet Navy](https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/27/pepsi-navy-soviet-ussr/)** > > A three-decade dream of communist markets ended in the scrapyard. ---
**Author:** ![Ana\_Byrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ana\_Byrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ana_Byrd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/250 "2023-08-02T06:08:37Z")
Okay, here’s a quickie. It’s a fictional scenario, that I first heard in an elementary school science class: **We had a priceless treasure, a golden trophy, that our rivals wanted to steal. To guard it, we built a security system consisting of multiple alarms activated by pressure plates. Sure enough, it was stolen, but not one of the alarms sounded. What was our mistake?** ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/251 "2023-08-02T09:29:21Z")
Not putting said treasure within the confines of the security system ? Not turning the security system on ? Placing it directly underneath a skylight ? Not properly vetting your security staff ? ---
**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 2, 2023, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/252 "2023-08-02T09:44:23Z")
Does the answer have anything to do with installing _multiple_ alarms rather than just one? That is, they might have interfered with each other or somehow canceled each other out, or . . . whatever. Was the idea that the trophy was to be placed on a pressure plate, and the alarm triggered if the weight of the trophy was removed? Were the pressure plates installed in or on the floor to detect intruders? ---
**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:** [August 2, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/253 "2023-08-02T10:27:44Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > We had a priceless treasure, a golden trophy, that our rivals wanted to steal. is the answer … an egg? ---
**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:** [August 2, 2023, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/254 "2023-08-02T10:51:32Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Does the answer have anything to do with installing _multiple_ alarms rather than just one? That is, they might have interfered with each other or somehow canceled each other out, or . . . whatever. “You said _not one_ alarm sounded.” “Uh, yeah; _multiple_ alarms sounded.” ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/255 "2023-08-02T11:13:28Z")
Were the pressure plates wired in parallel (so that they would all need to be activated at the same time in order to activate the alarm) instead of series (where activating any one would do the job) ? ---
**Author:** ![Ana\_Byrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ana\_Byrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ana_Byrd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/256 "2023-08-02T11:38:54Z")
Not putting said treasure within the confines of the security system ? **No** Not turning the security system on ? **No** Placing it directly underneath a skylight ? **No** Not properly vetting your security staff ? **No** Does the answer have anything to do with installing _multiple_ alarms rather than just one? That is, they might have interfered with each other or somehow canceled each other out, or . . . whatever. **Yes, and good thinking there!** Was the idea that the trophy was to be placed on a pressure plate, and the alarm triggered if the weight of the trophy was removed? **That was one of them.** Were the pressure plates installed in or on the floor to detect intruders? **Also this** Were the pressure plates wired in parallel (so that they would all need to be activated at the same time in order to activate the alarm) instead of series (where activating any one would do the job) ? **Bingo** That was quick, after all. The alarms were all connected with the same wire, and would have to all be activated at once to complete the circuit. (It was a lesson about electricity.) Your turn, Mahaloth! ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/257 "2023-08-04T13:34:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have another puzzle, but I’d love for someone else to go if they have one. I’ll wait until 8PM Eastern(USA) tonight to post if no one else has one. Go for it ! ---
**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:** [August 5, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/258 "2023-08-05T15:00:06Z")
**A man has an unusual stipulation in his burial directions. He requests that he be buried with his dog. However, after both he and his dog have died, these directions are not followed. Why?** ---
**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:** [August 5, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/259 "2023-08-05T15:16:38Z")
Was the dog an actual living creature? As opposed to, for example, a plush toy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/260 "2023-08-05T15:39:24Z")
Was the man’s body unable to be recovered? The dog’s body? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=14)