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Lateral Thinking Puzzles
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Barry Grant
Barry Grant
Old Shoe

Sep-10-2006 18:25

Due to the success of the lateral puzzles in the "A riddle" thread, it seems appropriate to start a lateral thinking puzzle thread.

A rule of thumb to follow would be to allow those who do not know the answer to figure it out for themselves. If you happen to know the answer, please keep it to yourself and let the others have the fun.

Please feel free to start one at any point. It is not necessary to wait for one to finish before starting another one.

Have fun!

Replies

Serges
Serges
Vigilante

Sep-14-2006 14:59

*guess*

Were the grown men American soldiers (or some other official goverment-military worker) asking returning "American" soldiers the Minnie Mouse question in order to ferret out potential spies during a war (Cold or otherwise)?

Clara Dark
Clara Dark
Nomad

Sep-14-2006 15:03

I don't know, I still don't get it... so to clarify it:

did a bunch of grown men go around asking soldiers about the name of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend?
or
did a bunch of soldiers go around asking people what the name of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend was?

was it (the name of MM's girlfriend) some kind of a password?

Clara Dark
Clara Dark
Nomad

Sep-14-2006 15:33

were the guys who asked questions looking for a reply different than 'Minnie Mouse'?

Barry Grant
Barry Grant
Old Shoe

Sep-14-2006 16:09

Serges got it! Congratulations.

During the Battle of the Bulge in WW2, German Soldiers speaking very good English and wearing American uniforms infiltrated the American forces to confuse and misdirect. This question was designed to identify the imposters.

Clara Dark
Clara Dark
Nomad

Sep-14-2006 16:25

finally, I felt like I wouldn't sleep tonight without the answer (and you said it was easy, Barry...!)

I don't know if this riddle hasn't already been posted here or in the "A riddle' thread, but here goes:

A small town off the beaten track in the Wild West. A cowboy walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water. Suddenly, the bartender pulls out a gun and aims straight at the man. The cowboy tips his hat and leaves the bar.

Why did the cowboy and the bartender behave the way they did?


Serges
Serges
Vigilante

Sep-14-2006 19:18

*lurking on this one because I know it*

I'll help answer any questions. Since this is a fairly well-known one, please don't post the solution unless you didn't know it previously.

Barry Grant
Barry Grant
Old Shoe

Sep-15-2006 05:11

Ms. Dark,

I'm sorry. Clearly, I have no concept as to what's easy and what's not. I thought the first one I posted about the partier was hard and that was guessed right away. From now on, I won't say if it's easy or hard.

As of yours:
had the cowboy been to that town before? the bar?
did he know the bartender?
did the bartender think he was an outlaw?
was the hat tipping a way of revealing the cowboy's identity?
did the cowboy expect that kind of greeting?
was there a conversation exchange between the gun aiming and the hat tipping?
was the cowboy a thief? a salesman? a sheriff? relevant?
was it the asking for water that made the bartender pull a gun?
would he have done the same if the cowboy asked for something else, like whiskey?

Clara Dark
Clara Dark
Nomad

Sep-15-2006 06:03

Apologies accepted, Mr. Grant :)
Now, your questions...

had the cowboy been to that town before? the bar? NOT RELEVANT
did he know the bartender? NOT RELEVANT
did the bartender think he was an outlaw? NO
was the hat tipping a way of revealing the cowboy's identity? NO
did the cowboy expect that kind of greeting? NO
was there a conversation exchange between the gun aiming and the hat tipping? NO
was the cowboy a thief? a salesman? a sheriff? relevant? NO TO ALL
was it the asking for water that made the bartender pull a gun? YES
would he have done the same if the cowboy asked for something else, like whiskey? NO


Barry Grant
Barry Grant
Old Shoe

Sep-15-2006 06:26

was asking for water some sort of offence? insult?
was water scarce in that town?
was it the way the cowboy asked? attitude? language?
could "aims straight at the man" also be "aims straight at the cowboy"? meaning, is the man and cowboy the same person?
does it have anything to do with asking for it in a glass?
did the cowboy enter the bar by himself?
were there other people in the bar?
is this the American Wild West?
does the "beaten track" have any relevance?
is this a bar in the usual sense or is it something else?
was the hat tipping strictly a way of saying goodbye?
is the gender of the cowboy relevant? the bartender?
was what the cowboy wearing a factor in this?
was pulling a gun meant to make the cowboy leave?
did the bartender aim the gun at the cowboy? [questioned because the wording of these are sometimes misleading)
were any shots fired at all?

Clara Dark
Clara Dark
Nomad

Sep-15-2006 06:32

was asking for water some sort of offence? NO insult? NO
was water scarce in that town? NO
was it the way the cowboy asked? attitude? language? NO TO ALL
could "aims straight at the man" also be "aims straight at the cowboy"? meaning, is the man and cowboy the same person? YES :)
does it have anything to do with asking for it in a glass? NO
did the cowboy enter the bar by himself? YES
were there other people in the bar? NOT RELEVANT
is this the American Wild West? YES
does the "beaten track" have any relevance? NO
is this a bar in the usual sense or is it something else? USUAL SENSE
was the hat tipping strictly a way of saying goodbye? SORT OF, DEFINE STRICTLY...
is the gender of the cowboy relevant? NO the bartender? NO
was what the cowboy wearing a factor in this? NO
was pulling a gun meant to make the cowboy leave? NO
did the bartender aim the gun at the cowboy? [questioned because the wording of these are sometimes misleading) YES
were any shots fired at all? NO


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