| Test yourself
with these thinking exercises. The solutions are at the
bottom of the page. Don't be lazy. Try hard to figure
these out before you look! It'll be a lot more satisfying.
1. There is a man who 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,
coat, gloves and ski mask. He is walking down a back
street with all the street lamps off. A black car is
coming towards him with its light off but somehow manages
to stop in time. How did the driver see the man?
4. One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days
later her older twin brother, Terry, celebrated his
birthday. How?
5. Why is it better to have round manhole covers than
square ones? This is logical rather than lateral, but
it is a good puzzle that 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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.
10. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose
between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires,
the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and
the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years.
Which room is safest for him?
11. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him
under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him.
But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy
a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?
12. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How
could you put all of this water into a barrel, without
using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which
water came from which jug?
13. What is black when you buy it, red when you use
it, and gray when you throw it away?
14. Can you name three consecutive days without using
the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, or Sunday? (or day names in any other language)
15. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly
you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks
so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it.
In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though.
Study it, and think about it, but you still may not
find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you
might find out.
The solutions are below.... Don't be lazy. Try hard
to figure these out before you look!
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Solutions:
1. The man is very, very short and can only reach halfway
up the elevator buttons. However, if it is raining then
he will have his umbrella with him and can press the
higher buttons with it.
2. The surgeon was his mother.
3. It was day time.
4. At the time she went into labour, 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. (Just
what a HUMOR list needs!!) ;^)
8. They were two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets,
etc.). 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.
10. The third. Lions that haven't eaten in three years
are dead.
11. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture
of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.
12. Freeze them first. Take them out of the jugs and
put the ice in the barrel. You will be able to tell
which water came from which jug.
13. The answer is Charcoal.
14. Sure you can: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow!
15.. The letter "e," which is the most common
letter in the English language, does not appear once
in the long paragraph.
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