# 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:** 136
**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 12, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2701 "2024-10-12T20:35:51Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Would it be fair to say the names were part of a bigger scheme to project a fictitious image to customers or an audience? I’d say so, yeah. ---
**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 12, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2702 "2024-10-12T20:39:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I thought I’d done a pretty solid job of addressing this with my latest post: I’d said that, if I’d been asked to guess their names before any introductions got made, I may well have shrugged and suggested anything from “Al” to “Jamie” as a possibility Well, yes. But you left out, say, for example, Xiaolin or Kuajo or Joon Woo. All the names you listed look at least European to me. ---
**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 12, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2703 "2024-10-12T20:46:42Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Well, yes. But you left out, say, for example, Xiaolin or Kuajo or Joon Woo. All the names you listed look at least European to me Well, yes, but I figured that was sort of my point: before getting told any names, I may well have shrugged and guessed something, uh, British-sounding — which I figure would put to bed the question of whether I’d expect this or that name to be Anglicized, because, y’know, _there it is._ I guess I could’ve tried to be coy about this by instead putting, uh, “Lee” out there — but, again, instead of dancing around _at all,_ I could simply list one of the names given, to see if that’s any help in simplifying things. ---
**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 12, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2704 "2024-10-12T20:51:16Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I figured that was sort of my point: before getting told any names, I may well have shrugged and guessed something, uh, British-sounding — which I figure would put to bed the question of whether I’d expect this or that name to be Anglicized, because, y’know, _there it is._ Which is why I was trying to ask, possibly in a confusing matter, whether you expected the names to be Anglicized and the fact that they were was why you thought they were false; because there was some reason to think that the particular people giving the Anglicized names didn’t use such names at home. I’m half asleep, I may not have phrased it right. ---
**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 12, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2705 "2024-10-12T20:57:42Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Which is why I was trying to ask, possibly in a confusing matter, whether you expected the names to be Anglicized and the fact that they were was why you thought they were false; because there was some reason to think that the particular people giving the Anglicized names didn’t use such names at home. Got it. So, just to make 100% sure we’re on the same page: no, I saw no mismatch between the name given and the person in question who was just doing their job — such that, had I instead met either of them in a different situation, and had they been so introduced by name (and been told they used that name at home), I’d have accepted so unremarkable a claim without question. ---
**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 12, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2706 "2024-10-12T21:01:22Z")
Would this be something like a recreation of a colonial village or a wild west town, with actors playing the residents? Anyone whose real name sounds current-day might use a name more closely associated with the period. ---
**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 12, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2707 "2024-10-12T21:02:43Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Would this be something like a recreation of a colonial village or a wild west town, with actors playing the residents? Anyone whose real name sounds current-day might use a name more closely associated with the period No, the setting was entirely modern. ---
**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 12, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2708 "2024-10-12T21:02:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Got it. So, just to make 100% sure we’re on the same page Thanks. I think I’ve also got it now. Though I most certainly don’t have the answer to the puzzle. But at least I think I’ve got that part of the explanation straight. ---
**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 12, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2709 "2024-10-12T21:12:44Z")
Well, look, I worry that I’ve been entirely too misleading with an answer or two from days ago; I believe the answer I gave then was technically _accurate,_ but I fear that the solution could produce eye-rolling and a claim that this or that poster deserved to have unriddled all of this early on. But — as far as I can tell — nothing I’ve said is actually _false._ ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2710 "2024-10-13T01:01:31Z")
Very simple solution which I’m not sure has been covered. Was the person in question an actor, and was the fake name the part that they were playing. ---
**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 13, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2711 "2024-10-13T01:39:07Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Very simple solution which I’m not sure has been covered. > > Was the person in question an actor, and was the fake name the part that they were playing. I suppose so. But, as I’d said: they gave instructions “like a movie usher telling people they’re required to turn off their cellphones, or an amusement-park ride attendant letting you know you can’t go down the waterslide _yet,_ but, hang on, uh-huh, okay, you can go _now._” So the part being played was — the job they were actually _doing?_ And the costume was — the mundane attire of an employee doing _that job?_ Which you’d maybe figure could’ve been done under their _own_ name — the way I always sort of figured a nametag-wearing employee in that role typically would? If you’d like to declare victory, I guess you wouldn’t be wrong; but I guess that’d leave me with another lateral-thinking puzzle for some other time: _what made me suspect they were playing a fake-name part instead of simply relaying information under their own name?_ ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2712 "2024-10-13T01:56:08Z")
My question was whether they were literally an actor on stage. Which they apparently were not. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2713 "2024-10-13T02:33:23Z")
Do you think that the pseudonym was chosen because it was shared with some particular well known individual or entity? Was the entertainment live? Was the primary entertainment music? Was the primary entertainment narrative story telling (e.g. film or play)? Was the primary entertainment Comedy? Was the primary entertainment Dance? Was the primary entertainment sports? Was it primarily a display of some other skill? (e.g. Circus or magic show?) Was it a dining establishment (beyond concessions). Was it an active entertainment (e.g. Laser tag, mini golf, swimming pool) Was it a tour of the venue (e.g. haunted house, hall of mirrors, historical mansion) Was it a museum? ---
**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 13, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2714 "2024-10-13T02:56:00Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Do you think that the pseudonym was chosen because it was shared with some particular well known individual or entity? No. > [@](#): > > Was the entertainment live? Partly. > [@](#): > > Was the primary entertainment music? > Was the primary entertainment narrative story telling (e.g. film or play)? > Was the primary entertainment Comedy? > Was the primary entertainment Dance? > Was the primary entertainment sports? > Was it primarily a display of some other skill? (e.g. Circus or magic show?) > Was it a dining establishment (beyond concession). > Was it an active entertainment (e.g. Laser tag, mini golf, swimming pool) > Was it a tour of the venue (e.g. haunted house, hall of mirrors, historical mansion) > Was it a museum? I don’t think it _primarily_ falls under any of those categories, but it’s possible that I’m being overly nitpicky; there’s some narrative storytelling, but I’d argue that it’s all there to enhance the active entertainment — only there’s no “active” component, be it firing a laser-tag gun or swinging a golf club. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2715 "2024-10-13T04:50:14Z")
In enjoying the entertainment were the patrons an audience, all viewing the same show. Do you think the people who decided to give the employees pseudonyms intend for at least a portion of the patrons to notice and appreciate the pseudonyms, or did they intend that people think that those were the actual names of the employees? ---
**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 13, 2024, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2716 "2024-10-13T04:58:50Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > In enjoying the entertainment were the patrons an audience, all viewing the same show. Yeah, I’d say so. > [@](#): > > Do you think the people who decided to give the employees pseudonyms intend for at least a portion of the patrons to notice and appreciate the pseudonyms, or did they intend that people think that those were the actual names of the employees? I honestly don’t know. I guess I’d flip it around: they probably intended for a portion of the patrons to accept it at face value, and they probably figured that some of the patrons would promptly reach the same conclusion I did. But this is getting kind of speculative. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2717 "2024-10-13T05:00:40Z")
But its not like its there primarily as an easter egg for the benefit of clever patrons, like you, who get the joke. ---
**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 13, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2718 "2024-10-13T05:11:45Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > But its not like its there primarily as an easter egg for the benefit of clever patrons who get the joke No, not really. I don’t think there’s much entertainment value in figuring that they’re probably using a fake name; I think that, if they’d had the ability to do so, they’d have preferred to arrange things so _everyone_ in the audience would’ve accepted the name at face value. ---
**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 13, 2024, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2719 "2024-10-13T05:51:37Z")
Was it like a murder dinner or murder on a train performances where many were the audience but a few among them were actors? ---
**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 13, 2024, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2720 "2024-10-13T05:53:57Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Was it like a murder dinner or murder on a train performances where many were the audience but a few among them were actors? No, everyone in the audience was simply and only a member of the audience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=135) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=137)