# 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:** 174
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3461 "2025-06-22T14:25:55Z")
Interesting. My tomatoes seem to accomplish it; but they probably get shaken enough by the wind and by various insects coming through. I have heard of the particular problem, though; and the extent of it may be affected by variety – some of my peppers will set viable seed under row covers, but one of them won’t, and that’s probably why; though I just plant those uncovered in a different field from the others instead of artificially vibrating them. I’ll try to think of a puzzle; but anybody who’s got one ready before I manage it, please feel free to go ahead. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3462 "2025-06-22T14:45:39Z")
This might go very quickly, I’m not sure. **I was mildly surprised to hear someone say the name “David,” but when I thought about where I was, I realized why.** Where in the world was I? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3463 "2025-06-22T15:36:23Z")
Was David being used as a name? Is it your name? Does David have an alternate meaning in a foreign language? Amusing, but a bit odd, example: In the region of China where I lived, the word “that” would be pronounced in Chinese as “nuh-guh”…which makes it sound somewhat like the n-word when people speak quickly and smoothly. I’ve seen Americans and Canadians eyebrows raise for a moment when they are new to the region(it gets explained to them eventually). “Nay-guh” is the proper pronunciation with the Beijing accent, but where I live Nay became Nuh. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3464 "2025-06-22T15:43:19Z")
Was the speaker a tour guide? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3465 "2025-06-22T15:45:46Z")
Were you in Italy? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3466 "2025-06-22T15:57:48Z")
Were you in a place where English is not the native language? Were you in a place whose culture did not descend from Europe/the Mediterranean? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3467 "2025-06-22T16:11:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Was David being used as a name? **No-ish?** (As in, it was not being used to name, address, or denote anybody in particular, although most of the people listening would have recognized it as a name.) > [@](#): > > Is it your name? **No.** > [@](#): > > Does David have an alternate meaning in a foreign language? **No.** > [@dirtball](#): > > Was the speaker a tour guide? **No (at least not in the usual sense of the term).** > [@Biotop](#): > > Were you in Italy? **No.** > [@Chronos](#): > > Were you in a place where English is not the native language? > > Were you in a place whose culture did not descend from Europe/the Mediterranean? **No to both (as in, English _was_ the native language, and most aspects of this place’s culture are descended from Europe).** ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3468 "2025-06-22T16:17:40Z")
Was the way it was pronounced the issue? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3469 "2025-06-22T16:21:37Z")
Were you in [David City,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_City,_Nebraska) population 2,995, out in Nebraska? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3470 "2025-06-22T16:23:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Was the way it was pronounced the issue? **No, it was pronounced normally.** > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Were you in [David City,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_City,_Nebraska) population 2,995, out in Nebraska? **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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3471 "2025-06-22T16:37:05Z")
Were you in the United States? Would you have been mildly surprised by any name? Was the speaker human? Parrot or similar bird? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3472 "2025-06-22T16:42:39Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Were you in the United States? Yes. > [@](#): > > Would you have been mildly surprised by any name? There are several other names that I would have been mildly surprised by, and a much larger number of names that I would have been _very_ surprised by. > [@](#): > > Was the speaker human? I believe so. > [@](#): > > Parrot or similar bird? No. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3473 "2025-06-22T16:46:17Z")
Is David a friend of yours who know by a different name (nickname) ? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3474 "2025-06-22T16:46:32Z")
Did you hear the name spoken in person? Was the name spoken during a live broadcast of any type? Or as part of a broadcast of any type of recorded material? Was the name spoken in answer to a question? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3475 "2025-06-22T16:48:58Z")
Was the speaker an adult? Was it directed to a child? Is the gender of the speaker relevant? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3476 "2025-06-22T16:54:19Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Is David a friend of yours who know by a different name (nickname) ? **No.** > [@dirtball](#): > > Did you hear the name spoken in person? **No. (I mean, _I_ was there in person, but the speaker was not.)** > [@](#): > > Was the name spoken during a live broadcast of any type? > Or as part of a broadcast of any type of recorded material? **“Broadcast of recorded material” is closest, although it wasn’t a radio or TV broadcast.** > [@](#): > > Was the name spoken in answer to a question? **No.** > [@Biotop](#): > > Was the speaker an adult? **Yes.** > [@](#): > > Was it directed to a child? **No. (Children would have been among the people hearing it, but they were not the primary audience.)** > [@](#): > > Is the gender of the speaker relevant? **No.** ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3477 "2025-06-22T17:04:34Z")
Where you in an airport, subway station, bus stop, etc. where the recorded message was an announcement? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3478 "2025-06-22T17:10:12Z")
Music? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3479 "2025-06-22T17:10:33Z")
Did this take place at a museum, zoo, or some other place where visitors might use their phones to play recordings that explain whatever items are on exhibit as they walk through the place? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3480 "2025-06-22T17:36:21Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Where you in an airport, subway station, bus stop, etc. where the recorded message was an announcement? Ooh, if the answer to this is yes, then I think I know it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=173) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=175)