Questions tagged [lateral-thinking]
A puzzle solved through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable only using logic.
950
questions
6
votes
0answers
106 views
I terrify those beneath
My beginning: steamy, but 2/5ths crazy
My middle, wailing, from spectres hazy
My end, demonic, lives in Hell
My start, to there, does transport sell
My middle, within, the original man
My end, ends, ...
-1
votes
0answers
72 views
What is the word the sentence refers to? [on hold]
100 slavs work at Sam`s LEGO farm to provide you with a great panorama.
Hint:
It is allowed to use reference works.
0
votes
1answer
291 views
Give the name of this “outlaw”
Find the name of this well known "outlaw" who/what can be characterized as a:
stunning fresh shiny bandit
Okay. Hint:
0
votes
0answers
224 views
Find the missing link from the following verbal series
Three links are missing from the following series, one of them is a word. The answer is the word.
bass gland guitar venom
HINT:
0
votes
1answer
310 views
Find the common association [on hold]
What is common in the following words?
WELCOME
(note: at first I believed this was going to be a good puzzle, but it turns out that it might be not that good, because it has been put on hold. ...
8
votes
1answer
317 views
7
votes
1answer
172 views
The Great Key Mix-Up
You're plant-sitting for your friend while he's gone on vacation. Upon getting to the front door, you take out the key ring he gave you. There are a few different keys on it all mixed together. You ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Today I am 20 but next year I will turn 22 [duplicate]
A riddle popped in my mind some time ago.
A man is celebrating his 20th Birthday. After the cake is cut and the dinner is done, he addresses the crowd. "Thanks for joining me today to celebrate my ...
2
votes
1answer
231 views
Did I get free gas?
I was sitting at home one day when I felt a strong hunger overtake me. So I grab my keys and hop in the car. A quick glance at my gas gauge showed I had exactly half a tank. I drive a few miles over ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Digital Bananas
Homer is taking a joy ride on the highway when he is pulled over by officer Mickey. "Do you know how fast you were going?" the officer asks condescendingly. Homer replies uneasily, "I may have been ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
Everyone Gets a Window Seat
I and my friends periodically go on a trip. This is a "round" trip as we always end up back in our original location.
I noticed something curious:
Even though...
We all take the same vehicle,
...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
“Short” And Sweet Math
In the following chess diagram, how many possible chess postions exist?
No looking at the solution!
Source: P1359129 & Andrew Jonathan Mestel,
Retros mailing list, 2/1/2019
1
vote
3answers
315 views
Finish the sequence
1 $\to$ 4 $\to$ 6
2 $\to$ 3 $\to$ 7
19 $\to$ 16 $\to$ 11
8 $\to$ 14 $\to$ 12
15 $\to$ 17 $\to$ 19
18 $\to$ 13 $\to$ __
6
votes
1answer
114 views
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Dear amigo,
Joyful it is to be your friend. One of which, people can depend.
So without further ado happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you and - meh, Morah too.
Usually there’s a ...
9
votes
2answers
289 views
Relationship Advice
I have big news! I finally have a girlfriend! She's really nice and is studying to be a cartographer. As you know, I don't have much experience with the ladies, so I need some advice.
I have been ...
10
votes
2answers
549 views
See the Line Where the Sky Meets
Walking along the beach one day, I came across a glass bottle with a piece of parchment inside. I quickly opened the bottle and unfurled the scroll. On it the riddle below was written.
i sail ...
10
votes
1answer
247 views
Improbable Inequalities
I'm making a work decision, and in my as I weigh the digits {0-9} as they pertain to this particular situation, I find:
In one case, this is true:
...
8
votes
12answers
625 views
Write a Schrödinger's sentence [closed]
Write an indicative sentence whose truthfulness cannot be objectively determined before you try to find it out, but is immediately decided as soon as you begin to find it. The truthfulness must not ...
1
vote
0answers
110 views
What is the next number in this sequence [closed]
3, 8, 24, 72, 213, 668, 2064, 6312, ...
What's the next number?
This sequence mod 3 is 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0;
mod 2 is 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0;
mod 5 is 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, 3, 4, 2.
And there seems to ...
-9
votes
3answers
371 views
Who is the Killer from the following suspect in this image? [closed]
I did a lot of image search on google and found out the original source of the image is http://www.ghadahaleidi.com/
because there is a lot of debate I posted the answer myself and here are the ...
14
votes
1answer
303 views
A scar in the fabric of space and time - a true story
A few days ago, Leonard was invited to attend a ceremony held in the principality of Monaco, to celebrate the birth of a new member of the sovereign family. Now standing in the middle of a busy ...
9
votes
12answers
3k views
Time to call the bluff [closed]
You are located outside of two rooms which have a door between them. Each room has one or more computers whose total power is unknown, so they cannot be reliably used as proof-of-work to compare times,...
6
votes
18answers
4k views
Ask one verbal question to figure out who is blind and who is mute among three persons
This is another "You can ask only one question" puzzle. This is an edited very restricted version
There may be multiple answers but I could come up with only one.
There are three persons in three ...
4
votes
1answer
187 views
Aye - Bye - Gye -?
I've got a new puzzle for everyone; as always I hope you enjoy, and best of luck!
I'm not sure where the best place to start this story is, so I suppose I'll start with tomorrow.
You see, ...
3
votes
1answer
240 views
A balloon and a vacuum
You have a metal water bottle entirely filled with a vacuum and you have a rubber party balloon (lets make it red). How can you use only the bottle to inflate the balloon with the air surrounding you. ...
8
votes
3answers
385 views
So, what's to do?
It's White to move and draw the game. What must White do?
You must provide proof for your claim of what's to be done by any reasonable means.
This puzzle was created by Nikita M. Plaksin, and ...
1
vote
2answers
434 views
'The Imperial triangles' trigonometry question
There is a very well-known family of right triangles in Mathematics called "The Imperial triangles". Let me explain you how they are defined:
We say $T_n$ is the $n$-th Imperial triangle if these two ...
8
votes
1answer
306 views
TechSupport Issue ID#812
User ID: 3Aq47h-20dpc8l
Language: English (UK)
Today I noticed a strange text file on my Windows 10 PC's Desktop called "README.txt". Curious, I opened it and it read
START → 2↑ → P 3→ ↑ P 4→ P →...
8
votes
2answers
243 views
Knights and Knaves on a (Not So) Deserted Island
One day, while flying your single-engine seaplane out over the Pacific, the electrical system shorts out, all of your electrical systems (including the radio) fail, and the engine dies. You are in a ...
10
votes
2answers
366 views
They are all tied together
There are four different things shown below
One Vertical
One Horizontal
Two diagonal
All have one common thing (the ? box) which ties them together
What is it?
18
votes
2answers
9k views
A Non Math Puzzle. What is the middle number?
There are three patterns below.
Two diagonal and one vertical. The middle number is common to them all
What is it?
It is not mathematical per se.
NO partial ...
10
votes
1answer
381 views
A story puzzle for you
My brother loves numbers. He likes to pick a number, reflect, and enjoy its presence.
He picked a number and asked me to guess it. I guessed random numbers for twenty minutes.
I never got it ...
8
votes
2answers
389 views
Grandpa's Crazy Math II: Another Grandpa Mystery
Grandpa says: "This is really a stretch but
Prove to me
S = 0.5 or 1/2
Grandpa and his very lateral thinking!
-6
votes
3answers
231 views
the camel and the eye of the needle [closed]
A farmer told me, without lying:
"you see this camel over there" showing me a camel eating, "it passed whole through the eye of a normal needle"
How is it possible, knowing that I too do not lie ...
21
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the corner house number?
The Singh family lives in a housing development full of Scientists and engineers (god forbid!). The Home Owners have come up with weird ways of numbering their houses.
K Street is all engineers ...
17
votes
11answers
5k views
No Shirt, No Shoes, Service [closed]
I was walking outside on a hot summer day, when I suddenly got hungry and walked to a restaurant to eat. I tried to go in, but I was rebuffed at the door. The server pointed to a sign outside that ...
4
votes
1answer
175 views
Rubio, please help Clark!
Clark who is consecutive in nature, lives in California near the 100th street. Today he decided to take his palindromic boat and visit France. He booked a room which has a number of thrice a prime. ...
2
votes
6answers
209 views
Two untrusted traders [closed]
I'm sure this has been asked before, but I tried searching and couldn't find it. I don't know the solution, and it is possible there isn't one.
There is unsavoury pirate and an unscrupulous merchant....
11
votes
1answer
389 views
Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the richest of them all? (I make billions #7)
Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the richest of them all? (I make billions #7)
Clue group 1:
This spa provides a great relaxation rub. Earbuds are included too.
I compared virtual machines, and ...
-6
votes
2answers
160 views
Who doesn’t belong in the group? [closed]
Identify the ones that are oddballs
B
C
Ba
W
H
Fe
Si
Br
Rn
I
N
O
P
13
votes
8answers
4k views
Four ships at the ocean with the same distance
Four ships are located at the ocean, such that the distance between all four ships is the same.
How are the ships positioned?
3
votes
1answer
191 views
Holy Alphabet Arithmetic
$Given$:
$A$+$B$+$C$=3
$B$+$C$+$D$=3
$C$+$D$+$E$=1
$D$+$E$+$F$=1
What is
$E$+$F$+$G$=?
12
votes
5answers
714 views
I make billions (#5)
I make bullions balloons billions (#5)
Main clues:
These statues are wonderful! I'm going to invest in the sculptor.
Move faster! I need to finish the 18th hole and return this golf ...
-3
votes
1answer
85 views
Strange? Primes and Palindromes have no business being in this Place?
$1$
$1$,$2$ Good easy start
$1$,$2$,$4$ As expected
$1$,$2$,$4$,$8$ I know it is going to be easy
$1$,$2$,$4$,$8$,$16$ why is he giving this? I got it!
$1$,$2$,$4$,$8$,$16$,Prime ...oops!.....
5
votes
2answers
248 views
I make billions (#4)
I make billions (#4)
For years did a sharp little verse,
Grow fast in our ears like a curse,
A tune on TV,
Did subconsciously,
Cause all to spend much from their purse,
Who / what am ...
7
votes
0answers
291 views
What causes these signs to follow this relation?
Can you find why does the below relation hold true?
Hint 1
Hint 2
4
votes
1answer
119 views
Deduce the Missing Terms in the Sequence
$NINE$ + $5$
$EIGHT$ + $3$
$SEVEN$ + $2$
$???$ + $?$
$FIVE$ + $1$
$????$ + $?$
$?????$ -$?$
$???$ - $?$
10
votes
1answer
237 views
Welcome to my kitchen
Today I mixed some food products and saw interesting outcomes.
Silverbeet + Gelatin $\equiv$ Snickers
Lime + Nacho $\equiv$ Kiwi
Sesame + Tea $\equiv$ Popcorn
Can you find how these ...
6
votes
5answers
781 views
The Starks, Parks, Clarks and their kids
Inspired by Martin Gardner's puzzle from his book
John,a new student at the Math Department of the College, was invited to a get-together at one of the Professor's house.
Professor Stark welcomed ...
11
votes
1answer
518 views
Professor Roman gives unusual math quiz ahead of
His usual Monday Morning 8am class.
This is for extra AAA credits.
$A$, $B$, $C$ are distinct digits.
$AA$, $BA$, $BBAAA$, $CBBBAB$ are distinct numbers.
Please deduce these with concise reasoning ...
