# 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:** 197
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3921 "2025-11-04T19:03:17Z")
**She considered a few different methods, but rejected all of them. What gives?** ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3922 "2025-11-04T19:06:41Z")
Methods to accomplish a task? Birth control methods? Method as in a brand name? Method to learn something? Is it the English word “method”? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3923 "2025-11-05T00:13:45Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Methods to accomplish a task? This one. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is it the English word “method”? Not quite sure what the question here is. But the word “method” in the puzzle is used in the ordinary sense of the word. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3924 "2025-11-05T04:12:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Not quite sure what the question here is. The question is that it is not a foreign word spelled “method”? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3925 "2025-11-05T07:31:22Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The question is that it is not a foreign word spelled “method”? No, it isn’t. The English word used normally. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3926 "2025-11-05T07:48:48Z")
Is the way ‘what gives’ is phrased significant? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3927 "2025-11-05T13:58:19Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Is the way ‘what gives’ is phrased significant? It could very well be. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3928 "2025-11-05T15:04:24Z")
Is it ‘what gives’ as in what is going on? Is it ‘what gives’ as in something giving to someone or another thing? Like a loud sound giving a headache. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3929 "2025-11-05T16:22:24Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is it ‘what gives’ as in what is going on? > Is it ‘what gives’ as in something giving to someone or another thing? Like a loud sound giving a headache. No and No. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3930 "2025-11-05T16:25:56Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No and No. What gives as what is removed (gives way)? I’m thinking she has a list of criteria but all the methods fail “Costs less than $5” so what gives is the criterium “Costs less than $5” Is that on the right track? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3931 "2025-11-05T16:29:52Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What gives as what is removed (gives way)? > I’m thinking she has a list of criteria but all the methods fail “Costs less than $5” so what gives is the criterium “Costs less than $5” Is that on the right track? First question - no. Second question - there was no list, but every method she considered had a problem. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3932 "2025-11-05T16:33:47Z")
Is she simply “giving up” after having to reject all the methods she considered? Is the task something she needs or wants to do at work? At home? In her social life? Is she playing a game? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3933 "2025-11-05T16:34:45Z")
Does it matter what the task is? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3934 "2025-11-05T16:37:19Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Is she simply “giving up” after having to reject all the methods she considered? **YES** > Is the task something she needs or wants to do at work? **NO** > At home? **NO** > In her social life? **NO** > Is she playing a game? **NO** > [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Does it matter what the task is? **YES**. 5 char ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3935 "2025-11-05T16:56:33Z")
Is she a character in a fictional work we might recognize? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3936 "2025-11-05T17:11:26Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Is she a character in a fictional work we might recognize? She is a real person. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3937 "2025-11-05T17:14:39Z")
Does the task have to do with politics? Some kind of craft? Cooking? Was the thing she was trying to do impossible? Was she over-complicating something easy? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3938 "2025-11-05T17:34:45Z")
Is the task impossible? Is she building a perpetual motion machine? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3939 "2025-11-05T18:20:59Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Does the task have to do with politics? Some kind of craft? Cooking? > > Was the thing she was trying to do impossible? > > Was she over-complicating something easy? no to all > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is the task impossible? > Is she building a perpetual motion machine? 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:** [November 5, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/3940 "2025-11-05T18:26:53Z")
Was the task financial in nature? Health or fitness related? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=196) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=198)