# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/141 "2023-07-24T05:45:25Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Did the phone require any plug other than the standard telephone cable (such as a separate power supply)? **It would have needed electricity, which I’m not sure would have been available** Then was it a cordless phone? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/142 "2023-07-24T05:46:37Z")
**No, it would have needed a telephone line too.** ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/143 "2023-07-24T05:50:30Z")
Not cellular. A cordless phone like this: [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2dURBbWZhuG4UmywhSs2en-Am6e8HpQ8EOQ&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2dURBbWZhuG4UmywhSs2en-Am6e8HpQ8EOQ&usqp=CAU) ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/144 "2023-07-24T05:53:57Z")
…Okay, actually I take that back. I had always assumed that all telephones took electricity, but I just learned that’s not true. I feel dumb now. **It would have been a regular old-fashioned landline, only needing the phone line.** ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/145 "2023-07-24T07:07:53Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > I had always assumed that all telephones took electricity, but I just learned that’s not true. I feel dumb now. Don’t feel dumb. They do use electricity; it’s just that the electricity comes from the telephone line and not a wall socket. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/146 "2023-07-24T07:11:32Z")
Was she on a stage? Was she doing a play or making a movie? If so: was it her real-life death or the death of her character? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/147 "2023-07-24T09:30:12Z")
> Did Mary have a disability or illness? **She had an illness, but it’s not very important** > > But she wasn’t murdered and didn’t commit suicide and didn’t have > an incurable disease ? **No murder, no suicide. She did die of an illness.** I’m confused. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/148 "2023-07-24T12:09:01Z")
**The cause of death is not important. Mary died of pneumonia, for what it’s worth, but if she’d been trampled by angry wildebeests it wouldn’t change the solution.** Was she on a stage? **No** Was she doing a play or making a movie? **No** If so: was it her real-life death or the death of her character? **She died for real** **Earlier in this thread, someone asked if the alleged phone was in her house, or a hotel, or a hospital. These would all be perfectly normal places to find a working landline. But this isn’t normal.** ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/149 "2023-07-24T12:24:50Z")
> [@Ana\_Byrd](#): > > Does this story take place before 1960 or so? **Yes** Does it happen before 1940? Before 1920? Before 1900? Before 1880? Before the telephone was invented? Is the story unusual because there weren’t any phones then? Or just the beginning of the industry, and they were still rare? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/150 "2023-07-24T12:26:52Z")
Does it happen before 1940? Before 1920? **1910** Before 1900? Before 1880? Before the telephone was invented? **No** Is the story unusual because there weren’t any phones then? Or just the beginning of the industry, and they were still rare? **No** ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/151 "2023-07-24T19:02:37Z")
Were there ramifications of her not having her phone plugged in that affected others? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/152 "2023-07-24T19:04:25Z")
**No.** ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/153 "2023-07-25T04:15:12Z")
Was she outdoors? In a car? Under water? In a public place? Was it “her” phone in the sense that it actually belonged to her? Or “hers” in the sense that she was using it at the time? ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/154 "2023-07-25T04:20:59Z")
Was she outdoors? **Not exactly** In a car? **No** Under water? **No** In a public place? **I guess you could call it that? You can go visit. More precisely, you can visit just outside.** Was it “her” phone in the sense that it actually belonged to her? **No** Or “hers” in the sense that she was using it at the time? **More like happened to be near it at the time.** ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/155 "2023-07-25T04:22:07Z")
In a cemetery? Was she (allegedly) buried alive? ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/156 "2023-07-25T04:25:32Z")
She wasn’t buried alive, but this is close enough to call it. **[Mary Baker Eddy was rumored to have had a telephone installed in her tomb.](https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/research/was-there-ever-a-phone-in-eddys-tomb/)** When I learned that, it struck me not only how strange the rumor was, but how easy it was to word it in a way that sounded totally unremarkable. Congratulations, SurrenderDorothy! ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/157 "2023-07-25T18:43:40Z")
Nice one Ana\_Byrd! Hope this one is enjoyable, or at least you find the story interesting once it’s uncovered. I’ll start with a fictional backstory and bold the real life puzzle. Some old military types were drinking at a bar, quite an international group, and were swapping stories. The discussion led to tales of their countries’ highly celebrated soldiers, not the famous generals, but the more rank and file members who are still talked about decades later. Audie Murphy, Mad Jack Churchill, and others were discussed, with each story more incredible than the last. One veteran looked glum, however. When asked about it, his friend said “Don’t mind him, he’s not participating because **his country’s most celebrated soldier was a corporal in a supply company, who is primarily remembered for loading boxes onto trucks.** ” ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/158 "2023-07-25T18:46:40Z")
Did the boxes contain military supplies? Did the boxes contain supplies for civilians? Did the boxes contain people? ---
**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:** [July 25, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/159 "2023-07-25T18:57:45Z")
Did the corporal’s country fight in WWII? Were the corporal’s celebrated actions during a war? And if so, were there members of his nation’s military fighting in that war? Did the corporal’s actions have significance for military intelligence? Would the corporal have known at the time the significance of his actions? Did the corporal at the time know what was in the boxes? Was the content of the boxes a secret? Are nuclear weapons relevant? Is the corporal’s country in Europe? Asia? Africa? North America? South America? Oceania? Is “truck” here the usual meaning, an automobile with a large cargo area? Is the fact that the corporal was a servicemember relevant to why he was celebrated and remembered? ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/160 "2023-07-25T18:58:59Z")
I think I might know the answer to this so I will blur it in case I spoil people’s fun… Was it Queen Elizabeth II? Edit: upon a bit of Googling, I don’t think I am right, but I’ll leave it blurred as I may still be along the right lines! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=9)