# 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:** 216
**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:** [March 10, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4301 "2026-03-10T21:43:38Z")
Aside: Just for fun, I tried the puzzle in ChatGPT. Apparently there’s a limited number of responses allowed in the high-end model, before it bumps you down to a weaker model. The first eight questions it asked were pretty good (including some nobody here has asked yet), but after that it started asking redundant questions. Also, it summarized its current knowledge after every question, sometimes a short summary, and sometimes a longer one. I think this was mostly to “remind itself”, to keep it in the context window, but its short summaries still managed to keep the most relevant information. It also padded a lot with “That’s really interesting!” and the like. After 34 questions, it started just giving me a summary of what it knew so far, and insisted that that was the solution. I had to keep telling it that it needed to be more specific, and then tell it to go back to trying yes-no questions. Eventually, after 56 questions, it (mostly) got it. > [@dirtball](#): > > Did you receive an error message that either covered up a distracting element on the screen or caused a distracting element to scroll off the screen? No. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4302 "2026-03-11T12:41:34Z")
Did it add something to the screen you could then interact with, like a checkbox, or “x” to close a window? ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4303 "2026-03-11T20:50:08Z")
No, it did not. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4304 "2026-03-11T21:53:35Z")
Was the time this occurred of imporance? ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4305 "2026-03-11T22:00:11Z")
I’m going to say yes. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4306 "2026-03-11T22:14:25Z")
Did it make the screen brighter/darker? ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4307 "2026-03-11T22:15:00Z")
No, it did not. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4308 "2026-03-14T12:26:50Z")
Regarding the time being of importance, would that time refer to: time of day? the season? the year? the hour? time of response? some other time? Would you have received the relevant information no matter the time? Were you trying to find out something about time ? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4309 "2026-03-14T13:52:16Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Regarding the time being of importance, would that time refer to: > > time of day? > the season? > the year? > the hour? > time of response? > some other time? Time of day. > [@Biotop](#): > > Would you have received the relevant information no matter the time? Yes. > [@Biotop](#): > > Were you trying to find out something about time ? Yes. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4310 "2026-03-14T14:50:55Z")
Time in the game, or time in this world? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4311 "2026-03-14T15:09:39Z")
In this world. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4312 "2026-03-16T16:19:47Z")
Did you want to look at the clock on your computer’s desktop? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4313 "2026-03-16T20:39:34Z")
No, but refine that question a bit. EDIT: We’re very close. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone got it right now. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2026, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4314 "2026-03-17T04:01:33Z")
Did you want to know the time? ---
**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:** [March 17, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4315 "2026-03-17T11:05:26Z")
Yes . ---
**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:** [March 17, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4316 "2026-03-17T12:51:05Z")
It didn’t understand the question “what is the time?” but the error code had a timestamp on 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:** [March 17, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4317 "2026-03-17T12:54:41Z")
Yes, exactly! Good work. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4318 "2026-03-25T01:51:17Z")
Nancy is walking her dog. The dog is wearing a dog jacket. Why is there an alarm clock under the dog’s jacket? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4319 "2026-03-25T12:54:46Z")
Is the breed of dog obvious and important to this? Is there any text in the scene? Does it have to do with either being or not being a ‘watch’ dog? ---
**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:** [March 25, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4320 "2026-03-25T13:16:41Z")
reply to Sigene: Is the breed of dog obvious and important to this? No. Is there any text in the scene? Yes. Does it have to do with either being or not being a ‘watch’ dog? No, but I think that is a great answer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=215) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=217)