# 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:** 226
**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:** [April 30, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4501 "2026-04-30T00:41:45Z")
Did you keep the packaging? Was the furniture intended to be used as a toy? If so, would it help to know what specific toy (for example, “Barbie’s Dream House Table”)? ---
**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 30, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4502 "2026-04-30T00:42:36Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Did you keep the packaging? **No** > > Was the furniture intended to be used as a toy? If so, would it help to know what specific toy (for example, “Barbie’s Dream House Table”)? **No** Post not empty ---
**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 30, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4503 "2026-04-30T00:56:05Z")
Does this scenario take place in the context of building dollhouses, or miniature houses, as a hobby or business? (Question includes tiny buildings to be used in model train layouts or for whatever other purposes a person might want one.) ---
**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 30, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4504 "2026-04-30T02:29:19Z")
**No** ---
**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:** [April 30, 2026, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4505 "2026-04-30T02:32:47Z")
OK, pretty sure I’ve got it now, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4506 "2026-04-30T11:08:07Z")
was it one of those little tables that come with your delivered pizza to keep the box from squishing the pizza? ---
**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 30, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4507 "2026-04-30T13:59:47Z")
**That’s it! The little pizza prop.** Which as a kid I thought was actually supposed to be doll furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4508 "2026-04-30T23:43:48Z")
Someday, I might have one I think is reasonable. But so far, I’m at a loss ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4509 "2026-05-02T18:48:08Z")
I think I have one, if no one else does. **A lecturer once explained to the class that there was a test that folks tried to fail, but kept passing; I raised my hand and suggested an approach that I honestly figured _would_ let them keep from passing the test; the instructor replied that, no, it wouldn’t work, because there are ways to catch someone trying that. I explained that, no, I wouldn’t get caught; he derisively and dismissively suggested I take up the career being discussed, and moved on to the next topic.** **So I guess my question is: _what the heck am I talking about?_** ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4510 "2026-05-02T19:17:58Z")
Was it people trying to avoid conscription? Was it by faking colour blindness? Or other medical condition? I know there are traps in the colour blindness test, contrasting colours that no known form of colour blindness will be unable to distinguish. If you say you can’t see the thing, then you are faking. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4511 "2026-05-02T19:31:21Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was it people trying to avoid conscription? No. But it’s not just that the answer _happens_ to be “no”; it’s that, like I’d said, my reply prompted the instructor to suggest I _take up the career being discussed._ If my argument was that I could ‘avoid conscription,’ then “guy who avoids conscription” isn’t — as far as I can tell — a career. > [@](#): > > Was it by faking colour blindness? Yes. (Wow, this might be a lot shorter than I’d hoped.) ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4512 "2026-05-02T19:39:24Z")
So, it’s a career where colour blindness is a necessary qualification? And it’s a desirable career that some people might try to fake their way into? > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Wow, this might be a lot shorter than I’d hoped Don’t sweat it. I once posted a question that was solved in less than five minutes. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4513 "2026-05-02T19:41:56Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > So, it’s a career where colour blindness is a necessary qualification? No. > [@](#): > > And it’s a desirable career that some people might try to fake their way into? I wasn’t suggesting they fake their way into the career. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4514 "2026-05-02T23:15:26Z")
I think I’ve heard (perhaps an apocryphal ‘story’) that color blind soldiers were particularly adept at spotting snipers in trees because their vision allowed them to pick out the sniper in the foliage better. This wouldn’t be it, would it? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4515 "2026-05-02T23:26:00Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > This wouldn’t be it, would it? That’d seem to bypass the ‘lateral’ aspect of this. I’m saying that folks who’d want to fail the test wind up passing it; in the scenario you’re describing, they’d presumably _want_ to spot snipers. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4516 "2026-05-02T23:40:23Z")
Does “failing the colorblindness test” mean “demonstrating that you are not colorblind”, or “demonstrating that you are colorblind”? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4517 "2026-05-02T23:52:43Z")
Are you saying they want the job and are (weirdly) hoping to fail the test so they get the job, but because they pass the test they don’t get the job? So they are hoping to fake colorblindness so as to fail the colorblind test and get the job? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4518 "2026-05-02T23:55:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Does “failing the colorblindness test” mean “demonstrating that you are not colorblind”, or “demonstrating that you are colorblind” I think we’re talking past each other, but: I guess I’d say you pass a color-vision test by successfully demonstrating that you can distinguish between colors, and — if they think you’re faking the colorblindness, and give you a colorblindness test — you’d fail a colorblindness test by demonstrating that you can distinguish between colors. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4519 "2026-05-02T23:57:04Z")
Are people in this career normally in the military? Does it involve operating a vehicle? Does it require the use of a computer? Is it in a medical field? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/4520 "2026-05-02T23:58:41Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Are you saying they want the job and are (weirdly) hoping to fail the test so they get the job, but because they pass the test they don’t get the job? No, you can get the job in question even if the people hiring you know that you have perfect eyesight in general and color vision in particular. > [@](#): > > So they are hoping to fake colorblindness so as to fail the colorblind test and get the job? I have no idea whether any of them ever tried to fake colorblindness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=225) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=227)