# 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:** 72
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1421 "2023-12-01T01:31:13Z")
Was the choice of arms as the body part to be cut off a matter of “the punishment fitting the crime,” so to speak? ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1422 "2023-12-01T03:01:23Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > If A had sent C his arm but had failed to send his other arm to the other address would C have been satisfied? > > I think if C would have been satisfied so long as C did not see the arm-having A after receiving the wino’s arm. To rephrase. If A had sent C his left Arm and C saw A with is left arm severed but his right arm intact would this have made C upset at A. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1423 "2023-12-01T04:40:41Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > To rephrase. If A had sent C his left Arm and C saw A with is left arm severed but his right arm intact would this have made C upset at A. Yes, C would have been upset at A. (And, yes, Discourse neeed its own lesson in English grammar. \*Yes" is actually a complete sentence.) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1424 "2023-12-01T04:50:59Z")
Did A owe C money? Did A wrong C in some way prior to agreeing to cut off his own arm? > [@dirtball](#): > > Was the choice of arms as the body part to be cut off a matter of “the punishment fitting the crime,” so to speak? I am also interested in the answer to this question. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1425 "2023-12-01T05:28:17Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Did A owe C money? No. > [@](#): > > Did A wrong C in some way prior to agreeing to cut off his own arm? I think I’ll have to say Yes. > [@](#): > > > [@dirtball](#): > > > > Was the choice of arms as the body part to be cut off a matter of “the punishment fitting the crime,” so to speak? > > I am also interested in the answer to this question. I missed that question. Sorry, _dirtball_. Yes. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1426 "2023-12-02T19:10:49Z")
Did anybody OTHER than the wino lose an arm at any point in this scenario? If yes: B? C? Some other individual? Specific guess: A, B, and C were previously in some sort of situation where cannibalism was required to survive. B and C each agreed to have an arm or arms chopped off and eaten by the group, with the understanding that if they were rescued before A needed to do likewise, A would have his own arms amputated to make things “fair.” After the rescue, A reneged on the agreement. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1427 "2023-12-02T22:42:00Z")
Sounds like it might be the answer!! ETA: never considered cannabilism ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1428 "2023-12-02T22:47:28Z")
And we have a winner! The specific situation posited in the puzzle when I heard it at DLI was A, B, and C were shipwreck survivors in a lifeboat. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1429 "2023-12-02T23:05:45Z")
Doesn’t sound fair to me ! Surely they would only have eaten one arm each from B & C, ie, eat 1 on rotation (B1,C1,A1,B2,C2,A2), so why was A expected to cut off _both_ arms ? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1430 "2023-12-03T00:25:34Z")
One per “friend”. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1431 "2023-12-03T00:40:03Z")
The normal way this one works is that he only needs one arm, (which he sends to C and then C sends to D) Monty’s version doesn’t really make sense, either why he has to do both arms or how C and D expect he was supposed to manage the feat. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2023, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1432 "2023-12-03T03:43:05Z")
Yeah. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that way, but it makes a whole lot more sense than making it both arms. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1433 "2023-12-23T16:33:46Z")
This is yet another one from an old Bushmiller Nancy comic that I may have even mentioned before but I can’t remember so… Sunday comic strip: In frame #1 we see Nancy sitting on a stool reading when she hears Aunt Fritzi say “Time for bed, Nancy.” In the next few frames Nancy goes to bed and is sleeping soundly. She sleeps deeply for two more frames. --ZZZZZ-- Then Nancy starts to dream. In the first dream she is in a big pot atop a pile of burning wood. In the next she is in a sizzling frying pan on a giant stove. Next she dreams herself laying in an empty desert with a giant glaring sun above. Then she is in a boiling saucepan back again on that oversized stove. Finally Nancy groggily awakes. “Goodness — I wonder why I feel so hot?” she ponders as she opens her eyes. The last frame shows why indeed she feels so hot. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1434 "2023-12-23T16:35:38Z")
Is the final frame supposed to be humorous? ---
**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:** [December 23, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1435 "2023-12-23T16:47:19Z")
Reply to Fiendish\_Astronaut: Is the final frame supposed to be humorous? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1436 "2023-12-23T17:22:31Z")
Was a heating device in her room? If so, did it have a higher setting than usual? ---
**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:** [December 23, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1437 "2023-12-23T17:26:49Z")
reply to Knowed\_Out: Was a heating device in her room? No If so, did it have a higher setting than usual? ---
**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:** [December 23, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1438 "2023-12-23T18:06:18Z")
Is the sun on her bed? Is there a large warm mammal sleeping on top of her? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1439 "2023-12-23T18:18:36Z")
Were the dreams a result of something she ate? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1440 "2023-12-23T18:20:46Z")
Is she actually in a normal bed? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=71) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=73)