# 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:** 46
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/901 "2023-08-30T23:22:31Z")
Was there radioactive material where there shouldn’t have been? Was the alarm malfunctioning? ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/902 "2023-08-30T23:50:09Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Was there radioactive material where there shouldn’t have been? > > **YES** > > Was the alarm malfunctioning? > > **NO** words. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/903 "2023-08-30T23:51:18Z")
Was the radioactive material in the ground? In the building? On Stan’s person? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/904 "2023-08-30T23:53:59Z")
Are bananas involved? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/905 "2023-08-31T00:00:07Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Was the radioactive material in the ground? > > **YES** > > In the building? > > **NO** > > On Stan’s person? > > **YES** > [@kayaker](#): > > Are bananas involved? Nope. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/906 "2023-08-31T00:02:13Z")
Did they inadvertently build the thing over a natural source of some radioactive element? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/907 "2023-08-31T00:10:07Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Did they inadvertently build the thing over a natural source of some radioactive element?. **Nope.** ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/908 "2023-08-31T00:12:02Z")
Was he demonstrating some equipment? Like “So then you flip this switch and run it over the thing like this and when you do it for real, an alarm should-” WONK WONK WONK WONK WONK “Uhhhh… that can’t be right” WONK WONK WONK WONK “… We should probably get out of here.” ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/909 "2023-08-31T00:13:02Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Was he demonstrating some equipment? Like “So then you flip this switch and run it over the thing like this and when you do it for real, an alarm should-” WONK WONK WONK WONK WONK “Uhhhh… that can’t be right” WONK WONK WONK WONK “… We should probably get out of here.”. **Nope.** ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/910 "2023-08-31T11:16:02Z")
Did Stan bring the radioactivity in on his boots ? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/911 "2023-08-31T13:15:11Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Did Stan bring the radioactivity in on his boots? **Probably.** ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/912 "2023-08-31T15:57:57Z")
Was he visiting or inspecting the soon-to-be delivered nuclear fuel at another site, and tracked the leaky material back to the construction site, thus setting off the alarm? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/913 "2023-08-31T17:47:51Z")
Did he pick up the radioactive material near his home? Were the lives he saved his neighbors? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/914 "2023-08-31T18:31:09Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Did he pick up the radioactive material near his home? > > **YES** > > Were the lives he saved his neighbors? > > **YES, but not only.** keep em coming ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/915 "2023-08-31T18:38:08Z")
Did this incident lead to a town being evacuated? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/916 "2023-08-31T18:57:34Z")
**No, I don’t think so.** ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/917 "2023-08-31T19:47:11Z")
Did his body and/or his clothes set off the alarm; thereby leading to a search for where he had picked up the contamination; thereby leading to radioactive material being found and properly contained which otherwise would probably have poisoned a large number of people? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/918 "2023-08-31T20:50:25Z")
Yes, you are almost there. Anyone want to take it a step further to figure out what specifically they realized? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/919 "2023-08-31T21:11:12Z")
Some contaminant at the clothes/shoe store/factory? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/920 "2023-08-31T21:58:40Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Some contaminant at the clothes/shoe store/factory?. No… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=47)