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1. There is a
man that lives on the top floor of a very tall building. Everyday he gets the
elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to go to work. Upon
returning from work though, e can only travel half way up in the lift and has to
walk the rest of the way unless it's raining! Why? This is probably the best
known and most celebrated of all lateral thinking puzzles. It is a true classic.
Although there are many possible solutions which fit the initial conditions,
only the canonical answer is truly satisfying.
2. A man and
his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the
scene, but the child is rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the surgeon says
"I can't operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can this be?
3. A man is wearing
black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, jumper, gloves and balaclava. He is walking
down a black street with all the street lamps off. A black car is coming towards
him with its light off too but some how manages to stop in time. How did the
driver see the man?
4. The elder
twin one day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin
brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. Why?
5. Manhole Covers.
Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? This is logical
rather than lateral, but it is a good puzzle which can be solved by lateral
thinking techniques. It is supposedly used a very well-known software company as
an interview question for prospective employees.
6. The Deadly
Party - A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early.
Everyone else at the party who drank the punch
subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?
7. Heaven - A
man died and went to Heaven. There were thousands of other people there. They
were all naked and all looked as they did at the age 21. He looked around to see
if there was anyone he recognized. He saw a couple and he knew immediately that
they were Adam and Eve. How did he know?
8. Trouble with Sons
- A woman had two sons who were boorn on the same hour of the same day of
the same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so?
9. The Man in the
Bar- A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The
barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says ‘Thank you’
and walks out. This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple
in its statement, absolutely baffling and yet with a completely satisfying
solution. Most people struggle very hard to solve this one yet they like the
answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out.
SOLUTIONS:
1. The man is
very very short and so can only reach half way up the lift buttons! However, if
it is raining then he will have his umbrella
with him and so can press the higher buttons with that!
2.The surgeon is the
boy's mother!
3. It was daytime!
4. At the time she
went into labor, the mother of the twins was travelling by boat. The older twin,
Terry, was born first early on March 1st. The boat then crossed a time zone and
Kerry, the younger twin, was born on February the 28th. Therefore, the younger
twin celebrates her birthday two days before her older brother.
5. A square manhole
cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole. A round
manhole cannot be dropped down the manhole. So for safety and practicality, all
manhole covers should be round.
6. The poison in the
punch came from the ice cubes. When the man drank the punch, the ice was fully
frozen. Gradually it melted, poisoning the punch.
7. He recognized
Adam and Eve as the only people without navels. Because they were not born of
women, they had never had umbilical cords and therefore they never had navels.
This one seems perfectly logical but it can sometimes spark fierce theological
arguments!
8. They were two of
a set of triplets (or quadruplets etc.) This simple little puzzle stumps many
people. They try outlandish solutions Involving test-tube babies or surrogate
mothers. Why does the brain search for complex solutions when there is a much
simpler one available?
9. The man had
hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech drew the gun in order to
give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups, so the man no longer needed
the water. The is a simple puzzle to state but a difficult one to solve. It is a
perfect example of a seemingly irrational and incongruous situation having a
simple and complete explanation. Amazingly this classic puzzle seems to work in
different cultures and languages.
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