# 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:** 85
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1681 "2024-01-28T20:19:30Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Can this thing be seen directly? > > Is it a physical object? No to both, I suppose. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1682 "2024-01-28T20:33:32Z")
Is it a microorganism? – though I suppose those are physical objects. They can’t be directly seen by humans, though. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1683 "2024-01-28T20:52:54Z")
Are we looking for something that is a verb (or like one)? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1684 "2024-01-28T21:53:26Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Is it a microorganism? – though I suppose those are physical objects. They can’t be directly seen by humans, though. No. > [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Are we looking for something that is a verb (or like one)? No. No gerund, either, which is the only thing I can think of that is “like a verb”. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1685 "2024-01-28T21:56:39Z")
Could this puzzle be posed equally well in a randomly-selected other human language? Is it a psychological phenomenon? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1686 "2024-01-28T22:15:53Z")
1. Yes. 2. No. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1687 "2024-01-28T22:28:21Z")
A bestselling author? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1688 "2024-01-28T22:34:17Z")
Again, no. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1689 "2024-01-28T22:39:47Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > The last line is “can you guess the riddle?” not “can you answer the riddle?” This line has made me a little bit uncertain. I’m trying to work out what this means and how significant it is. I don’t know how guessing the riddle is any different from answering the riddle. Are we trying to guess what/who this first person object/speaker is? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1690 "2024-01-28T22:58:24Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Are we trying to guess what/who this first person object/speaker is? Again, no. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1691 "2024-01-28T23:24:00Z")
Huh. Is the answer ‘nobody can guess what this riddle means in the standard sense of guessing a riddle, because the clues taken together make no sense’? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1692 "2024-01-29T00:04:04Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Is the answer ‘nobody can guess what this riddle means in the standard sense of guessing a riddle, because the clues taken together make no sense’? Yep. **The answer is “No”.** Sorry for the disappointment! ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1693 "2024-01-29T02:28:55Z")
Groan! – OK, maybe for a mostly non-agricultural audience this one’s a reasonable amount of difficulty. The farmer planted the crop. The farmer is pleased with the yield they got from the crop. But the crop never left the field it was planted in. What was the crop? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1694 "2024-01-29T02:32:26Z")
Green manure aka cover crop? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1695 "2024-01-29T03:10:40Z")
Yup. Too easy. I don’t seem to be any good at coming up with these things. Over to you. (Not all cover crops are green manure / nitrogen fixers, but I won’t be picky about it.) ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1696 "2024-01-29T12:51:41Z")
Damn, I knew it also. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1697 "2024-01-29T15:31:46Z")
A package is delivered for Aunt Fritzi. Nancy informs Aunt Fritzi her package of fish has arrived. Nancy is wrong. The package does not contain fish. So why does Nancy think the box contains fish? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1698 "2024-01-29T15:33:19Z")
Does it smell of fish? Does it say fish on the packaging? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1699 "2024-01-29T15:41:55Z")
Is it because every other package that has been delivered for Aunt Fritzi has contained fish ? Is Aunt Fritzi a cat ? (sounds like a cat’s name !) ---
**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:** [January 29, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214/1700 "2024-01-29T15:46:20Z")
Is it to do with wordplay on the box? Either Nancy only saw part of the writing, or she misinterpreted the phrase written there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=84) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lateral-thinking-puzzles-third-time-is-best/987214.md?page=86)