# 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:** 132
**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 4, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2621 "2024-10-04T11:34:26Z")
Good thought, but no. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2024, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2622 "2024-10-04T11:46:24Z")
Do you rub your back against a tree like a grizzly bear? Do you use a human back scratcher? Are the holes made by a massaging device? Are the holes cooking related? Do the shirt materials matter? Are they synthetic or natural fiber? Spend a lot of time near campfires? ---
**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 4, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2623 "2024-10-04T11:56:12Z")
No to all. ---
**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 4, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2624 "2024-10-04T11:58:00Z")
Do any of your coworkers have this problem? ---
**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 4, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2625 "2024-10-04T12:07:44Z")
Not a one! My employees’ shirts are fine. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2626 "2024-10-04T12:17:24Z")
do the holes come from something you lean back against, like (but not limited to) your office chair or car seat? ---
**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 4, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2627 "2024-10-04T12:29:14Z")
Nope. Although they do happen while I’m sitting in my office chair, but the chair is innocent. ---
**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 4, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2628 "2024-10-04T13:56:47Z")
Do they happen while you’re sitting in your office chair while in your office? You said no cats; but are there any non-human animals involved? ---
**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 4, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2629 "2024-10-04T14:01:26Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Do they happen while you’re sitting in your office chair while in your office? Yes > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > You said no cats; but are there any non-human animals involved? YES!!! ---
**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 4, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2630 "2024-10-04T14:02:38Z")
And I think that with @thorny_locust’s last question the puzzle is basically solved. Anyone want to guess the specifics? ---
**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 4, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2631 "2024-10-04T14:04:09Z")
Ideally, someone with another puzzle ready. Because I ain’t got one, and I need to go do market harvest. ---
**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 4, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2632 "2024-10-04T14:06:09Z")
Mosquitoes? ETA: Are their animals in your office chair causing the holes? ---
**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 4, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2633 "2024-10-04T14:11:00Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Mosquitoes? Heh, no. And I have to do some things that will keep me away for a bit, so here goes: Every day I bring one or two dogs to work with me. For the past 15 years I’ve also brought our bird, Rocco. He is generally a good bird, but if I am working (which I have to occasionally do at work) and he is bored, he’ll sneak over to the back of my chair and bite little holes into my shirt to get my attention. He does this every day at least once, and I tolerate it. It has left me with dozens of shirts with holes in the back. [![](https://i.imgur.com/TAWWVnW.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/TAWWVnW.jpeg) ---
**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:** [October 4, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2634 "2024-10-04T15:58:14Z")
Can’t go wrong with a bird named Rocco. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2635 "2024-10-04T18:18:20Z")
Ah, so it’s your parrot stabbing you in the back, not one of your employees. ---
**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 4, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2636 "2024-10-04T20:00:14Z")
Heh, he’s actually gentle and careful. He’s never so much as pinched my skin. Just _snip_ and my shirt has another tiny hole. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2637 "2024-10-08T14:44:58Z")
I have a scenario that’s kind of the opposite of that, in that I don’t actually know whether I’m right. But I think it can fit this thread, and so I’ll give it a try… So I visited a business, and I was given some information by one of the employees there, and I soon reached the conclusion that said employee wasn’t using their real name. But, again: _I don’t actually know whether I’m right,_ because this isn’t that sort of situation. Which I suppose raises the question: well, then, what sort of situation _is_ it? Why did I reach that conclusion? ---
**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 8, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2638 "2024-10-08T14:47:41Z")
Was the employee wearing a name tag/badge? ---
**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:** [October 8, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2639 "2024-10-08T14:48:09Z")
IIRC, yes; wouldn’t have mattered either way, though. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2640 "2024-10-08T17:03:19Z")
Is it connected to their ethnic or cultural origin? For instance, a Chinese person called Mr Smith? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=131) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=133)