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Mary says, "Today is 20 October Sunday."

Henry says, "Today is 20 October Monday."

But both did not say anything wrong.

How can this be possible?

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8 Answers 8

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They didn't say it in the same year. I.e. Henry said it in on Oct 20th 2014 and Mary on Oct 20th 2013

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    $\begingroup$ Ack, you beat me to it :-) $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Apr 12, 2018 at 8:33
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    $\begingroup$ Does that really fit [lateral-thinking]? Not to lessen the answer, but it is a bit too obvious to fit that category. $\endgroup$
    – Raimund Krämer
    Apr 12, 2018 at 11:24
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Maybe,

you just didn't let them finish?
Mary says "Today is 20 October, Sunday is 21 October."
Henry says "Today is 20 October, Monday is 22 October."

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    $\begingroup$ Given the way the question's worded, I honestly think this works better than the accepted answer. +1 $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Apr 12, 2018 at 12:30
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    $\begingroup$ Interruptions are typically written by ending with an ellipsis, I believe. $\endgroup$
    – jpmc26
    Apr 13, 2018 at 0:24
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Possibly a answer based on lateral thinking:

Mary says, "Today is 20 October Sunday."

She is talking to someone named "Sunday"

Henry says, "Today is 20 October Monday."

He is talking to someone named "Monday"

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Since it's tagged lateral thinking, i'll go with this :

Both did not said "anything wrong", so there is no problem here.

Alternative possible solutions, just for the fun :

- They aren't talking about the same calendar
- Henri is on an alternative universe where one day of the week got skipped, causing his calendar to be 1 day earlier than Mary's universe's calendar
- They both believe they are saying the truth, causing them to say something right ... from their point of view.

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    $\begingroup$ Wouldn't that be literal thinking? :) $\endgroup$
    – Christoph
    Apr 12, 2018 at 9:46
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Mary says, "Today is 20 October Sunday."

 

She's telling the truth. It's just before the midnight, though.

 

Henry says, "Today is 20 October Monday."

 

It's still 20th October Sunday, when he starts speaking the sentence. However, when he is just speaking "October", he notices the midnight has just passed, so by the next word it is already Monday.

 

But both did not say anything wrong.

 

Alternately: Both of them did not say anything wrong. Only one of them did.

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    $\begingroup$ I like this answer wayyyy better then the approved one. +1! $\endgroup$
    – Me myself and I
    Apr 12, 2018 at 18:01
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Well,

They are talking about a game with dates. (e.g. Harvest moon, sims, etc)

Because

Mary is talking about her in-game day 20 October, which is on an in-game sunday
And Henry is talking about his in-game day 20 October, which is on an in-game Monday.

They both are 'right' on the same day about their games. But the out-of-game date today is 12 April, Thursday.

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My take on it,

If you take Today, October, Sunday, and Monday as people's names. They are simply telling October, Sunday and Monday that Today is 20 (referring to age).

This is my first lateral thinking answer... I hope I'm getting the concept of it lol.

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I don't know if this answer counts as "lateral-thinking" but

You are correct. "Both" did not say something wrong. Only one of them did.

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