Thinking Exercises
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Some Classic Lateral Thinking Exercises.....
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, he 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)  Title : The Elder Twin
    One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older       
twin brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. Why?



5)  Title : 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 by a
very well-known software company as an interview question for 
prospective employees...


6)  Title : 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)  Title : 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 of 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)  Title : Trouble with Sons
    A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same       
day of the same year. But they were not twins.  How could this be     
so?


9)  Title : 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. Why?

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.
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SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS: (To avoid controversy)
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 it..
2)  The surgeon is the boy's mother..
3)  It was day time..
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 n, 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.) with the     
other siblings as girls. This 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       
and 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