Post by gandalf the untidy on Apr 7, 2013 11:16:37 GMT
More lateral thinking problems
1.A man is alone on an island with no food and no water, yet he does not fear for his life. it was a traffic island
2.A dead man lies near a pile of bricks and a beetle on top of a book. The Beetle was a wolkswagon, the book was a mainteanance manual and the bricks were used to hold the car in position while the mechanic attempted repairs but alas the bricks gave way thus killing the mechanic
3.Bruce wins the race, but he gets no trophy. bruce was a horse... or snail ::)
4.A horse jumps over a tower and lands on a man, who disappears. we are on the chess board and a knight takes a pawn
5.How can you take 1 from 19 and leave 20? When in rome...
6.If a red house is made of red bricks, and a blue house is made of blue bricks, what is a green house made of? Glass
7.What can you hold in your right hand, but not in your left? You left hand or elbow etc
8.What is the only word that can be written upsidedown? upsidedown
9.Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? round ones can't fall through the manhole
10.Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die? They were goldfish so they died from lack of water
11.A man is found dead in a field. He is clutching a broken match. What happened? He drew the short straw when one of the party in a balloon was required to jump to reduce the weight to save the rest of the party
12.Deep in the forest was found the body of a man who was wearing only swimming trunks, snorkel and facemask. The nearest lake was 8 miles away and the sea was 100 miles away. How had he died? a plane picking up water from a nearby lake to dowsw a forest fire, sadly picked up a snorkeler as well.
13. A man managed to visit over thirty foreign countries without his passport. He was welcomed in each country and left each one of his own accord. He did this in one day. he was a postman delivering diplomatic mail to various embasseys
14. An Arab sheikh tells his two sons that are to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel arrives last will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to their destination. They had to jump on each others camels
15. A landlord is threatening to evict a father and his beautiful young daughter, unless she agrees to marry him. There are a lot of witnesses and in a false gesture of sincerity, he offers her an opportunity to remain in the house without marrying him. He has a silk bag in which he says he has placed a white and a black stone from the footpath on which they're standing. If she picks the white stone from the bag, then she wins; if she picks the black, she loses. However, the young girl saw him place two black stones in the bag. She can't accuse him of cheating, because he would say that his good character was called into question and storm off without showing the bag. How does the clever girl win? The girl picked a stone and dropped it on the footpath straight away leaving a black stone left in the bag, therefore the stone that she had chosen must have been white!
16. During the second world war on a foggy day the Americans and British had the following conversation:
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision."
British: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."
Americans: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the second largest ship in the united states' atlantic fleet. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north or counter measures will be taken."
The British were unarmed and did not move. What made the Americans change their minds? The british were lighthouse keepers
17.You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus
An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
An old friend who once saved your life.
The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Knowing that there can only be one passenger in your car, whom would you choose? you throw your car keys to the old friend, knowing him to be trustworthy and a lifesaver, instructing him to take the old lady to hospital. Leaving yourself to wait at the bus stop for the bus with the girl of your dreams ?
18. Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer. They don't know what he looks like but they know his name is John and that he is inside the house. The police bust in on a carpenter, a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman all playing poker. Without hesitation or communication of any kind, they immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they've got their man? the others were all women
19.How could a baby fall out of a twenty-story building onto the ground and live? The baby fell from a ground floor window
20.There are six eggs in the basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket? The last person took the last egg AND the basket
21. A man was driving alone in his car when he spun off the road at high speed. He crashed through a fence and bounced down a steep ravine before the car plunged into a fast flowing river. As the car slowly settled in the river, the man realized that his arm was broken and that he could not release his seat belt and get out of the car. The car sank to the bottom of the river. He was trapped in the car. Rescuers arrived two hours later, yet they found him still in the river, but alive. How come? The river was only shallow
22. A man buys rice at $1 a pound from American growers and sells them at $0.05 a pound in India. As a result of this he becomes a millionaire. How come? The man was originally a billionaire
23. A New York city hairdresser recently said that he would rather cut the hair of three Canadians than that of one New Yorker. Why? The hairdresser prefers 3 canadians as he makes 3 times the profit!
24.A mother is 21 years older than her child. In exactly 6 years from now, the mother will be exactly 5 times as old as the child.
Where's the father? For the maths to work the baby is in the process of being conceived, the father is with the mother, excellent proof from tommo.
and now for the Quite Interesting bits
25.Many shops have prices set just under a round figure, e.g. $9.99 instead of $10.00 or $99.95 instead of $100.00 . It is assumed that this is done because the price seems lower to the consumer. But this is not the reason the practice started. What was the original reason for this pricing method? As small change had to be given the shop assistant had to use the till and a till would record the transaction, this stopped the unscrupulous shop assistant from pocketing cash and not using the till.
26. The famous 'Penny Black', the world's first postage stamp, was introduced in England in 1840. The idea of postage stamps was a great success and was taken up worldwide. Yet the 'Penny Black' was in use for only one year before it was replaced by the 'Penny Red'. Why? the franking was hard to spot on the black background so envelopes/letters were used more than once the change to red put a stop to this
27. An American nightclub called 'The Coconut Grove' had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. A simple design flaw in the building led to the death toll being so high. Subsequently, regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the country eliminated this one detail which proved so deadly. What was it? the exit doors opened inwards, but with the pressure of people pushing to get out the doors could not be opened, all public buildings now have doors that open out
now back to lateral bits
28.A man fell off a smuggling boat into deep water. He could not swim and he was not wearing anything to keep him afloat. It took 30 minutes for the people on the boat to realize someone was missing. The missing man was rescued two hours later on the return trip. Why didn't he drown? The man fell into the dead sea and therefore floated till rescued
29.Train A and train B are crossing the country, from coast to coast, over 3,000 miles of railroad track. Train A is going from east to west at 80 miles per hour, and Train B is going from west to east at 90 miles per hour. Which train will be closer to the west coast when they meet? at the meeting POINT neither train will be closer
30. A blind beggar had a brother who died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died? (Brother is not the answer). has to be his sister!
31.Police broke into a house and found the owner slumped dead in a chair with a bullet hole in his head. On the floor there is a gun and on the table a cassette recorder. When an officer pushed play on the cassette recorder they heard the message "I cannot go on any longer and have decided to commit suicide" followed by the sound of a gunshot. The police immediately started a murder investigation. Why?
if the message was true the tape would need rewinding but someone else had already done it!
32.A man was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Both his parents were born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lived all his life in Boston but he was not a United States citizen. How come? The man was born when Boston was a colony of Britain so he was a britsh citizen
1.A man is alone on an island with no food and no water, yet he does not fear for his life. it was a traffic island
2.A dead man lies near a pile of bricks and a beetle on top of a book. The Beetle was a wolkswagon, the book was a mainteanance manual and the bricks were used to hold the car in position while the mechanic attempted repairs but alas the bricks gave way thus killing the mechanic
3.Bruce wins the race, but he gets no trophy. bruce was a horse... or snail ::)
4.A horse jumps over a tower and lands on a man, who disappears. we are on the chess board and a knight takes a pawn
5.How can you take 1 from 19 and leave 20? When in rome...
6.If a red house is made of red bricks, and a blue house is made of blue bricks, what is a green house made of? Glass
7.What can you hold in your right hand, but not in your left? You left hand or elbow etc
8.What is the only word that can be written upsidedown? upsidedown
9.Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? round ones can't fall through the manhole
10.Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die? They were goldfish so they died from lack of water
11.A man is found dead in a field. He is clutching a broken match. What happened? He drew the short straw when one of the party in a balloon was required to jump to reduce the weight to save the rest of the party
12.Deep in the forest was found the body of a man who was wearing only swimming trunks, snorkel and facemask. The nearest lake was 8 miles away and the sea was 100 miles away. How had he died? a plane picking up water from a nearby lake to dowsw a forest fire, sadly picked up a snorkeler as well.
13. A man managed to visit over thirty foreign countries without his passport. He was welcomed in each country and left each one of his own accord. He did this in one day. he was a postman delivering diplomatic mail to various embasseys
14. An Arab sheikh tells his two sons that are to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel arrives last will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to their destination. They had to jump on each others camels
15. A landlord is threatening to evict a father and his beautiful young daughter, unless she agrees to marry him. There are a lot of witnesses and in a false gesture of sincerity, he offers her an opportunity to remain in the house without marrying him. He has a silk bag in which he says he has placed a white and a black stone from the footpath on which they're standing. If she picks the white stone from the bag, then she wins; if she picks the black, she loses. However, the young girl saw him place two black stones in the bag. She can't accuse him of cheating, because he would say that his good character was called into question and storm off without showing the bag. How does the clever girl win? The girl picked a stone and dropped it on the footpath straight away leaving a black stone left in the bag, therefore the stone that she had chosen must have been white!
16. During the second world war on a foggy day the Americans and British had the following conversation:
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision."
British: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."
Americans: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the second largest ship in the united states' atlantic fleet. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north or counter measures will be taken."
The British were unarmed and did not move. What made the Americans change their minds? The british were lighthouse keepers
17.You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus
An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
An old friend who once saved your life.
The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Knowing that there can only be one passenger in your car, whom would you choose? you throw your car keys to the old friend, knowing him to be trustworthy and a lifesaver, instructing him to take the old lady to hospital. Leaving yourself to wait at the bus stop for the bus with the girl of your dreams ?
18. Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer. They don't know what he looks like but they know his name is John and that he is inside the house. The police bust in on a carpenter, a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman all playing poker. Without hesitation or communication of any kind, they immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they've got their man? the others were all women
19.How could a baby fall out of a twenty-story building onto the ground and live? The baby fell from a ground floor window
20.There are six eggs in the basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket? The last person took the last egg AND the basket
21. A man was driving alone in his car when he spun off the road at high speed. He crashed through a fence and bounced down a steep ravine before the car plunged into a fast flowing river. As the car slowly settled in the river, the man realized that his arm was broken and that he could not release his seat belt and get out of the car. The car sank to the bottom of the river. He was trapped in the car. Rescuers arrived two hours later, yet they found him still in the river, but alive. How come? The river was only shallow
22. A man buys rice at $1 a pound from American growers and sells them at $0.05 a pound in India. As a result of this he becomes a millionaire. How come? The man was originally a billionaire
23. A New York city hairdresser recently said that he would rather cut the hair of three Canadians than that of one New Yorker. Why? The hairdresser prefers 3 canadians as he makes 3 times the profit!
24.A mother is 21 years older than her child. In exactly 6 years from now, the mother will be exactly 5 times as old as the child.
Where's the father? For the maths to work the baby is in the process of being conceived, the father is with the mother, excellent proof from tommo.
and now for the Quite Interesting bits
25.Many shops have prices set just under a round figure, e.g. $9.99 instead of $10.00 or $99.95 instead of $100.00 . It is assumed that this is done because the price seems lower to the consumer. But this is not the reason the practice started. What was the original reason for this pricing method? As small change had to be given the shop assistant had to use the till and a till would record the transaction, this stopped the unscrupulous shop assistant from pocketing cash and not using the till.
26. The famous 'Penny Black', the world's first postage stamp, was introduced in England in 1840. The idea of postage stamps was a great success and was taken up worldwide. Yet the 'Penny Black' was in use for only one year before it was replaced by the 'Penny Red'. Why? the franking was hard to spot on the black background so envelopes/letters were used more than once the change to red put a stop to this
27. An American nightclub called 'The Coconut Grove' had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. A simple design flaw in the building led to the death toll being so high. Subsequently, regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the country eliminated this one detail which proved so deadly. What was it? the exit doors opened inwards, but with the pressure of people pushing to get out the doors could not be opened, all public buildings now have doors that open out
now back to lateral bits
28.A man fell off a smuggling boat into deep water. He could not swim and he was not wearing anything to keep him afloat. It took 30 minutes for the people on the boat to realize someone was missing. The missing man was rescued two hours later on the return trip. Why didn't he drown? The man fell into the dead sea and therefore floated till rescued
29.Train A and train B are crossing the country, from coast to coast, over 3,000 miles of railroad track. Train A is going from east to west at 80 miles per hour, and Train B is going from west to east at 90 miles per hour. Which train will be closer to the west coast when they meet? at the meeting POINT neither train will be closer
30. A blind beggar had a brother who died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died? (Brother is not the answer). has to be his sister!
31.Police broke into a house and found the owner slumped dead in a chair with a bullet hole in his head. On the floor there is a gun and on the table a cassette recorder. When an officer pushed play on the cassette recorder they heard the message "I cannot go on any longer and have decided to commit suicide" followed by the sound of a gunshot. The police immediately started a murder investigation. Why?
if the message was true the tape would need rewinding but someone else had already done it!
32.A man was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Both his parents were born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lived all his life in Boston but he was not a United States citizen. How come? The man was born when Boston was a colony of Britain so he was a britsh citizen
