# 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:** 156
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3101 "2025-04-16T12:18:05Z")
Did something get stuck under the car? Such as a ball or a kitten? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3102 "2025-04-16T12:21:04Z")
Did Aunt Fritzi tell one (or more) of the children about the car? Did she describe some new feature the car had? Is the date March 1, 1970 relevant? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3103 "2025-04-16T13:52:54Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Did something get stuck under the car? Such as a ball or a kitten? No. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3104 "2025-04-16T13:56:39Z")
reply to Cheesesteak: Did Aunt Fritzi tell one (or more) of the children about the car? No, but Nancy did. Did she describe some new feature the car had? Sort of Is the date March 1, 1970 relevant? No ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3105 "2025-04-16T13:59:00Z")
Do they believe there’s something on the undercarriage of the car that they want to look at? On the driveway? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3106 "2025-04-16T14:15:10Z")
reply to dirtball: Do they believe there’s something on the undercarriage of the car that they want to look at? No On the driveway? Yes ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3107 "2025-04-16T15:31:21Z")
On the driveway, that’s interesting… Does it have to do with a “parking spot”? Did Nancy mangle the name of a new feature the car did have? Anything to do with radial tires? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3108 "2025-04-16T15:38:39Z")
- > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Does it have to do with a “parking spot”? > > Did Nancy mangle the name of a new feature the car did have? > > Anything to do with radial tires? No to all. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3109 "2025-04-16T15:41:05Z")
Guess: the car can “turn on a dime.” The kids are trying to get the dime. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3110 "2025-04-16T16:24:02Z")
- > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Guess: the car can “turn on a dime.” The kids are trying to get the dime. You got it!! It is actually quoted as “stop on a dime” in the comic, but that is some fine lateral thinking there, Peter\_Morris! Very nice. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3111 "2025-04-16T16:43:46Z")
**Why is Mr. Deming worried that he has 93 tomatoes?** ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3112 "2025-04-16T16:50:16Z")
Would he not be worried if he had fewer tomatoes? Would he not be worried if he had more tomatoes? Does he need to have some specific number of tomatoes that isn’t 93? Was he expecting to not have tomatoes, but to have something else instead? Does he have them in the sense of having bought them, or having grown them, or having been given them? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3113 "2025-04-16T16:51:25Z")
Actual physical tomatoes as in the edible fruit/vegetable? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3114 "2025-04-16T17:28:01Z")
Wild guess: some kind of misprint/misspeak/other mistake of the song “96 Tears”? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3115 "2025-04-16T18:18:44Z")
Would he not be worried if he had fewer tomatoes? **Still worried** Would he not be worried if he had more tomatoes? **maybe** Does he need to have some specific number of tomatoes that isn’t 93? **yes** Was he expecting to not have tomatoes, but to have something else instead? **no** Does he have them in the sense of having bought them, or having grown them, or having been given them? **bought them** Actual physical tomatoes as in the edible fruit/vegetable? **Yes** Wild guess: some kind of misprint/misspeak/other mistake of the song “96 Tears”? **nope** ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3116 "2025-04-16T18:31:31Z")
Are the tomatoes poisoned/poisonous? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3117 "2025-04-16T18:33:14Z")
Is he planning to use these tomatoes as food for humans? Is there some particular reason he is unhappy to have 93 tomatoes, as opposed to just being unhappy that he doesn’t have the “right” number? If we had the full context, would it be obvious to us why he had exactly 93 tomatoes, rather than the number he needed? From Mr. Deming’s point of view, is there an obvious reason why he doesn’t have enough tomatoes? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3118 "2025-04-16T18:37:31Z")
Did he previously have more tomatoes, and having 93 now means he’s lost some (due to theft, being disorganized or careless, or whatever)? Does he have to account to someone else for missing tomatoes? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3119 "2025-04-16T18:44:42Z")
Is Mr. Deming an actual person? Are the tomatoes for himself, or to give/feed to other people? Is Mr. Deming responsible for completing a menu or food for a fixed group of people? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3120 "2025-04-16T21:39:23Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Would he not be worried if he had fewer tomatoes? **Still worried** > > Would he not be worried if he had more tomatoes? **maybe** > > Does he need to have some specific number of tomatoes that isn’t 93? **yes** Is that specific number of tomatoes: over 100? over 1000? divisible by some specific number? And while we’re at it: is he intending to re-sell the tomatoes to somebody else? did he pay for a specific number of tomatoes which was greater than 93, but only 93 were given to him in exchange for the payment? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=155) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=157)