# 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:** 47
**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, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/921 "2023-08-31T22:01:31Z")
A contaminant in the soil where people live? Where Stan lives? ---
**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, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/922 "2023-08-31T22:05:38Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > A contaminant in the soil where people live? Where Stan lives?. Yeppers. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/923 "2023-08-31T23:38:56Z")
I think I might know this one so I won’t guess. If its what I’m thinking of I was actually in the town at the time where it happened. I’d mention the town but that in and of itself might count as a clue. I think its a good one but may be a bit tricky. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/924 "2023-09-01T00:31:31Z")
I guess I can ask this safely irrelevant question to confirm my suspicions. Did the alarm go off on January 16? hmm, it happened a lot earlier than I thought that it was when I came home for the summer from collgee or grad school, but it turns out it happened when I was in middle school. I guess my memory is corrupted. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/925 "2023-09-01T00:36:50Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Did the alarm go off on January 16?. I have absolutely no idea. OK, I looked it up. It was in December of the year it happened. Irrelevant, but true. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/926 "2023-09-01T00:51:38Z")
Actaully, looking back I see you ruled out construction materials to that rules out what I was thinking of when after making a wrong turn into secured facility a truck load of [radioactive rebar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_contamination_incident) set of radation detectors in my home town of Los Alamos New Mexico. Jan 16th 1984 ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/927 "2023-09-01T01:10:25Z")
Hey, folks, I think you have enough information to figure this out. Put a summary together and I swear the answer will be obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/928 "2023-09-01T01:21:48Z")
Note to self finish reading the whole thread before posting 🤦‍♂️ as things have advanced way away from my scenario. Was the radioactive soil evidence of a leak in nuclear containment? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/929 "2023-09-01T01:22:22Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Was the radioactive soil evidence of a leak in nuclear containment?. **Nope.** ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/930 "2023-09-01T01:29:15Z")
Was the source of the radiation in the soil natural? Was determining the source of the radiation what saved so many people? Were [radioactive vegetables](https://gilligan.fandom.com/wiki/Pass_the_Vegetables,_Please) being produced in the soil? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/931 "2023-09-01T02:08:23Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Was the source of the radiation in the soil natural? > > **YES. Does this not solve it for everyone?** > > Was determining the source of the radiation what saved so many people? > > **YES, for sure.** > > Were [radioactive vegetables](https://gilligan.fandom.com/wiki/Pass_the_Vegetables,_Please) being produced in the soil? > > I have no idea, but irrelevant Radiation…in the soil…discovered in a radiation test at an unfinished nuclear power plant. Consequently saved many thousands of lives… I’ll post the answer soon, but come on. Someone should blurt out the only missing piece here! ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/932 "2023-09-01T02:22:26Z")
Is all that we are missing is that people were living over a naturally occurring radiation deposit and so had to move? Because that seems incompatible with either the town not being evacuated or with more than the neighbors being affected. Did finding a new source or radioactive ore allow people to make something that saved lives? Since the soil was radioactive did that contaminate the drinking water and fixing that is what saved so many people? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/933 "2023-09-01T03:11:01Z")
Would the natural radiation have interfered with the reactor? Maybe cause the reactions to happen too quickly? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/934 "2023-09-01T03:28:39Z")
Answer: It was Radon and the discover of Radon leaking into people’s homes and how dangerous that was saved countless lives. This is all a true story. It was discovered when a construction engineer set the radiation alarm off and they realized he had a ton of radiation. The Radon in his home was like smoking 100 packs of cigarettes a day. > **[The Discovery of Radon in Homes: The Story of Stanley Watras - Elliott &...](https://www.radonillinois.com/the-discovery-of-radon-in-homes-the-story-of-stanley-watras/)** > > Did you ever wonder why we ever started doing radon testing and radon mitigation in homes? Did someone just get up ... ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/935 "2023-09-02T00:55:04Z")
**She was a star, sort of. People were really excited for her when she was discovered. Soon, however, a new term was coined, and she was doomed to relative obscurity. How disappointing.** **Many years later, another new term was coined, for very similar reasons, disappointing fans of another like herself. Now even schoolchildren know her name. Why this strange arc of fame?** ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/936 "2023-09-02T00:57:00Z")
Pluto? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/937 "2023-09-02T01:18:33Z")
Is “she” human? If not human – an animal? An inanimate object? Does “star” mean an astronomical object? A famous individual? A geometrical shape? Something else? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/938 "2023-09-02T02:14:40Z")
Nova and supernova? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/939 "2023-09-02T04:57:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Pluto? **“She” is not Pluto - but Pluto is relevant.** > [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Is “she” human? **No** > > If not human – an animal? An inanimate object? **Inanimate object** > > Does “star” mean an astronomical object? A famous individual? A geometrical shape? Something else? **Astronomical object** > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Nova and supernova? **No** I thought I’d put in enough misdirection, but we’re almost there already. Y’all are smart. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/940 "2023-09-02T05:10:16Z")
It was good Mahaloth just got off to a good start by thinking of pluto in on the disappointing renaming,. I’m thinking Ceres since it matches that history. Named for a goddess so it matches the gender. Discovered to great fanfare, but then called an asteroid as part of the asteroid belt. Then renamed a dwarf planet like the disappointing pluto. but I’m not sure of the final school children connection. Does anyone know if there is something like a series of teaching materials named Ceres? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=46) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=48)