# 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:** 130
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2581 "2024-09-27T16:53:48Z")
I’m so confused! 😕 ---
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2582 "2024-09-27T17:14:30Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t believe that’s been asked yet, and, well, yeah, that’s pretty much it. Cool! ---
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2583 "2024-09-27T17:51:43Z")
I mean, yeah, congratulations; but the, uh, laterality is: _what did I see at that second performance?_ Per the question upthread about “elements,” you could’ve asked me how he did any of those other tricks on Night Two, and I would’ve said I didn’t know — and, again, he didn’t actually perform the ‘color’ trick on Night Two. So: what did I see? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2584 "2024-09-27T18:06:47Z")
Did he do something you recognized as _setup_ for the color trick on Night Two, and then he just didn’t do it after the audience member named the “wrong” color? But somehow managed to switch gears in a way where it wouldn’t be obvious that something hadn’t gone according to plan, unless you already knew where the color trick was going? ---
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2585 "2024-09-27T18:30:49Z")
That’s it! When he did the setup for the color trick on Night Two, and didn’t get the expected color, he casually played it off as a getting-to-know-you question, _uh-huh, okay, fascinating, most people don’t pick that color, you’re a very unusual thinker, but now we’re simpatico, and so now you and I are ready to engage in the psychological experiment I brought you up here for._ And the balled-up piece of paper was treated like an afterthought: as if it were simply and only a thing tossed into the audience to get a random participant — which, after all, is all it _was,_ that night. But on the first night, he got the desired color, and so he acted like it was tossed out as an integral part of a pick-a-color prediction trick. On the second, he didn’t, and just performed one trick fewer. The out was acting like he was still getting ready to start some other trick entirely. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2586 "2024-09-27T19:07:45Z")
(And, to bring this all the way back around: I kicked this off by saying that figuring it out was not based on me seeing him perform that trick at the second performance. Which is to say: it was based on me seeing him not perform that trick at the second performance. But if I’d said it like that, it would’ve presumably given the whole thing away right then.) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2024, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2587 "2024-09-28T06:38:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > I apologize if this has been asked but did the original trick have multiple outs and the second performance made it clear the multiple paths that were available? > > I don’t believe that’s been asked yet, and, well, yeah, that’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much what I was asking. Sort of like when a magician cuts the deck and asks the audience participant to ‘choose one or the other’ _( **NOT** ‘which one do you think has your card in it?’)_. If the mark chooses the one with the selected card in it, fine; if not, the magician says something like “All right, we’ll just put that aside” and works with the ‘loaded’ one. _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**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:** [September 28, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2588 "2024-09-28T11:16:40Z")
> [@Bicycle\_Bill](#): > > That’s pretty much what I was asking. Sort of like when a magician cuts the deck and asks the audience participant to ‘choose one or the other’ _( **NOT** ‘which one do you think has your card in it?’)_. If the mark chooses the one with the selected card in it, fine; if not, the magician says something like “All right, we’ll just put that aside” and works with the ‘loaded’ one. But — in your scenario — the parallel would be: on the first night, the guy successfully does Trick #1, and successfully does Trick #2, and successfully does that Choose One Or The Other trick as Trick #3 by working with the loaded pile of cards on the left when they pick the cards on the left, and then he successfully does a completely unrelated Trick #4 with a floating coin or something, and eventually does Trick #10 to end the show. And I took you to be saying: on the second night, he does #1 and #2 and then says Choose One Or The Other and they pick the pile on the _right,_ and he says “all right, we’ll just put that aside,” and then he does Trick #3 with the loaded pile on the left, and then he does an unrelated Trick #4 with a floating coin, and eventually does Trick #10. And anyone asked about either performance will say he did a card trick. Instead, say he does Trick #1 and Trick #2 and then cuts the deck and says Choose One Or The Other — and the participant from the audience picks the cards on the right — and the magician puts that pile aside, and also puts aside the ‘loaded’ pile aside, and says “and now, for my next trick, watch me float this coin into the air! How’s that for a third trick? Pretty cool, huh?” And then he wraps up things up after doing his ninth trick of the evening, and anyone asked will say he didn’t do a card trick that night. I took that to be different enough from “and works with the ‘loaded’ one” to be a separate phenomenon; it’s not that he keeps trying to work Trick #3 with one pile of cards or another, but that he acts like he never intended to do a card trick at all: that he moves on to the ‘coin’ trick (a) after succeeding with Trick #3 or (b) by acting like he still hasn’t started his third trick yet, and, uh, pay no attention to the cards on the right or the cards on the left. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2589 "2024-10-03T15:08:01Z")
While we wait for someone to post a good puzzle, here is from my real life that should be easy:: You do my laundry for me (for some reason). You notice that all of my shirts have multiple tiny/small holes on the back of them. Why do they have these holes? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2590 "2024-10-03T15:36:06Z")
Are all your shirts white? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2591 "2024-10-03T16:30:15Z")
Are you a porcupine? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2592 "2024-10-03T16:34:14Z")
Stiff hair on your back? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2593 "2024-10-03T16:52:20Z")
Are the holes in a recognizable pattern? Is the pattern the same on all the shirts? And how much are you paying me to do your laundry? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2594 "2024-10-03T17:03:39Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Are all your shirts white? Actually none are. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Are you a porcupine? No, though I wish. > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Stiff hair on your back? Nope (not that there is anything wrong with that) > [@dirtball](#): > > Are the holes in a recognizable pattern? > Is the pattern the same on all the shirts? > > And how much are you paying me to do your laundry? No pattern, just random holes. All shirts have similar random holes. Treefiddy ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2595 "2024-10-03T18:24:53Z")
Do you have a habit of lying on your back on a bed of nails? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2596 "2024-10-03T18:36:32Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You notice that all of my shirts have multiple tiny/small holes on the back of them. Why do they have these holes? Do you have cats? (Though on mine the holes tend to be on the front and on the top of the shoulders. But maybe your cats like to climb up your back.) ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2597 "2024-10-03T19:18:09Z")
No cats currently and cats from my past are blameless. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2598 "2024-10-03T19:18:25Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Do you have a habit of lying on your back on a bed of nails? Nope! ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2599 "2024-10-03T19:20:57Z")
Were the holes bored by moths? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2600 "2024-10-03T19:32:48Z")
Do you have your shirts laundered/dry cleaned or do you use a washing machine and do it yourself? If the first, are the holes caused by the tags they staple to shirts for identification? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=129) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=131)