# 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:** 140
**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 19, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2781 "2024-10-19T20:40:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, then, would your daughter’s answers have been correct for every student in the class? Is there any one specific other student for which they would all have been correct? I’d have to say ‘no’ to both. > [@](#): > > Did the teacher know, before this assignment, which answers would be true or false for any given student? Some yes, some no. > [@](#): > > Was there an unexpected pattern in your daughter’s answers (for instance, all true, or alternating true and false)? Nope. ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2782 "2024-10-19T20:44:01Z")
I don’t think the class has been specified. Would it help to figure it out? Math? History? English? Some kind of science? ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2783 "2024-10-19T20:44:50Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Some kind of science? That’s the one. ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2784 "2024-10-19T20:50:14Z")
Since right and wrong answers can differ depending on the student, does it have to do with genetics? Would the incident involve figuring out traits on the basis of dominant and recessive genes? ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2785 "2024-10-19T20:50:43Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Since right and wrong answers can differ depending on the student, does it have to do with genetics? > Would the incident involve figuring out traits on the basis of dominant and recessive genes? Nope. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2786 "2024-10-19T20:59:02Z")
Were the questions concerning the results of an experiment that each student performed? If so, did your daughter’s experiment produce unexpected results? ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2787 "2024-10-19T21:06:30Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@dirtball](#): > > > > Since right and wrong answers can differ depending on the student, does it have to do with genetics? > > Would the incident involve figuring out traits on the basis of dominant and recessive genes? > > Nope. Yeah, now that I think about it, an assignment like that could go terribly wrong. It might bring some questions to light that someone wouldn’t want to answer… ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2788 "2024-10-19T21:06:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Were the questions concerning the results of an experiment that each student performed? If so, did your daughter’s experiment produce unexpected results? Correct. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2789 "2024-10-19T21:08:08Z")
Did she “wordlessly showed the evidence that, no, she’d put in the work to get the right answer every time.” by repeating the experiment in front of the teacher? ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2790 "2024-10-19T21:08:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did she “wordlessly showed the evidence that, no, she’d put in the work to get the right answer every time.” by repeating the experiment in front of the teacher? Right. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2791 "2024-10-19T21:10:21Z")
OK, this looks mostly solved, now, at least the interesting parts. Do we still need to figure out the nature of the experiment? The reason why the experiment gave unexpected results for her? ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2792 "2024-10-19T21:20:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, this looks mostly solved, now, at least the interesting parts. Yeah, I guess (and kudos to you for it!), but I’d still find it interesting that a teacher would jump to the conclusion that she hadn’t done the work on the other _nine_ questions based on her giving an unexpected answer on _one_ — and even that _one_ strikes me as kind of interesting: my daughter got a result that (a) no one else in the class did, and that (b) the teacher not only figured wouldn’t come up, but even dismissed out of hand? But if I’m wrong about that, I’ll gladly supply the details instead of having folks guess at ‘em. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2793 "2024-10-19T21:36:51Z")
Was the experiment in… Physics? Chemistry? Biology? Measurement of something? Astronomy? Geology? Computer science? Psychology? ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2794 "2024-10-19T21:37:35Z")
Physics. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2795 "2024-10-19T21:49:59Z")
Did the experiment involve (possibly more than one of these)… Gravity? Elastic forces? Other contact forces? Optics? Electrical charges? Magnets? Electrical circuits? Material science? Radioactivity? Was the class in… Middle school? High school? College? Did the experiment require equipment? Did it require any equipment that might not be expected to be found at, say, Wal-Mart? Was your daughter’s unexpected result due to differences in the equipment she was using? Was it due to the way in which she was performing the experiment? ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2796 "2024-10-19T21:55:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did the experiment involve (possibly more than one of these)… > Gravity? > Elastic forces? > Other contact forces? > Optics? > Electrical charges? > Magnets? > Electrical circuits? > Material science? > Radioactivity? Magnets. > [@](#): > > Was the class in… > Middle school? > High school? > College? Nope. > [@](#): > > Did the experiment require equipment? > Did it require any equipment that might not be expected to be found at, say, Wal-Mart? > Was your daughter’s unexpected result due to differences in the equipment she was using? > Was it due to the way in which she was performing the experiment? I believe you could expect to find all of the required equipment at the nearest Wal-Mart, and, yeah, I guess _“due to the way in which she was performing the experiment”_ would be a fair way of putting it. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2797 "2024-10-19T22:09:15Z")
Did the questions consist of testing which things a magnet would stick to? Did the surprising question involve a magnet sticking to something it wasn’t expected to? - In which case, did she stick the magnet to it in some other way? Did the surprising question involve a magnet not sticking to something it was expected to? - In which case, did she put the magnet up against the wrong part of something? - Did she have the magnet turned around the wrong way? ---
**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 19, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2798 "2024-10-19T22:19:27Z")
Did the assignment require the students to follow a set of precisely laid-out instructions? Or were the students allowed (or even expected) to make their own decisions at one or more points in the process? If they could make decisions, did it result in your daughter doing something unexpected (that is, unexpected by the person who devised the assignment)? Or was her result due to some ambiguity in the way the assignment was written? ---
**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 19, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2799 "2024-10-19T22:24:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did the questions consist of testing which things a magnet would stick to? > Did the surprising question involve a magnet sticking to something it wasn’t expected to? > > - In which case, did she stick the magnet to it in some other way? Yes to the first and second; no to the third. ---
**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 19, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/2800 "2024-10-19T22:48:44Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Did the assignment require the students to follow a set of precisely laid-out instructions? > Or were the students allowed (or even expected) to make their own decisions at one or more points in the process? > If they could make decisions, did it result in your daughter doing something unexpected (that is, unexpected by the person who devised the assignment)? > Or was her result due to some ambiguity in the way the assignment was written I’d have to say that the instructions were provided and followed, but left enough room for an unexpected decision — but I’m not sure it makes sense to say that “ambiguity” was the reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=139) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=141)