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.
1,101
questions
143
votes
12answers
21k views
A double-agent with a conundrum
You are a double-agent in the most important war of the 20th century, The
Falklands war. For years you have been playing the United Kingdom and Argentinian
governments against each other, taking ...
140
votes
4answers
8k views
Find the letters that complete these five patterns
Complete the last line in each of the following five series:
Puzzle 1:
"Using" is E
"Desist" is I
"Visits" is E
"Design" is ???
Puzzle 2:
...
134
votes
8answers
38k views
How can 64 = 65?
Here is a interesting picture with two arrangements of four shapes.
How can they make a different area with the same shapes?
130
votes
13answers
22k views
This is it. This is the one. Find your wife
If you have found her, maybe you could try saving her?
You come home one day and find your wife is out. You open your computer and discover an email from her.
To xxxxx,
/
Curiosity killed the ...
124
votes
8answers
22k views
The Sheikh dies
The Sheikh dies, leaving behind three sons, 17 camels and the following order:
His oldest son shall inherit one in two camels.
His middle son shall inherit one in three camels.
His youngest son shall ...
116
votes
2answers
13k views
Which country is INDIA in?
An intrepid globetrotter needs to know this:
BENIN is in Libya
CANADA is in China
DENMARK is in the United States
FRANCE is in Germany
INDIA is in ??
105
votes
8answers
7k views
Make all the statements true
Can you make all the below statements true with a single click? If yes, explain how.
Three + Eleven = Ten
Seven + Five = Six
Two + Four = Eight
NB: 'A Single Click' means, with only a single left ...
104
votes
15answers
39k views
My wife has died
In 1980, a man lives on the 30th floor of his building. Every morning he wakes up, gets ready, kisses his wife, takes the elevator down to the first floor, and goes to work.
One morning, he wakes ...
93
votes
1answer
6k views
A strange hotel
Entering the lobby, I requested a room. The clerk handed me my key and I took the elevator to my floor. To my surprise there was a sign on the door of my room telling me I should try a different room ...
88
votes
3answers
9k views
Do I Work with an Orangutan?
This morning I found myself face-down in front of a large building. It was obvious that I had taken a great fall from one of the rooms above me, but now I apparently had amnesia.
I went in.
I could ...
87
votes
25answers
24k views
How do you prove that mirrors aren't parallel universes?
Migrated from WorldBuilding SE $:)$
"Each mirror is a world of it's own," Joe explains.
"Joe, that's bulls***! Mirrors are just mirrors!" Rita proclaims.
Joe proceeds to lay out the following~
$10~...
84
votes
10answers
25k views
Guard gets fired after saving CEO's life [closed]
A classic:
A CEO of a multi-million dollar business has to go on a business trip to Belgium (from somewhere in America).
Before going to the airport in the morning with his limousine, he's going to ...
76
votes
11answers
148k views
Poisoned Iced Tea [closed]
Two girls went to dinner together and both ordered iced tea. One girl pounded down five of them in about a minute, and the other took her time drinking one.
The girl who drank one died, while the ...
64
votes
4answers
53k views
A seven letter word - the meaning doesn't change if you remove letters
I am a seven letter word. If you remove one letter from me my meaning does not change. If you remove two letters from me my meaning still does not change, and if you remove three letters from me, my ...
63
votes
3answers
3k views
A Lazy Breakfast
Clark and Albert sat at the same old table they'd met at years ago. As per usual, there was hardly anything to drink, and they'd had nothing but sips between them. Near Albert, there were some ...
62
votes
22answers
31k views
Man buys item, throws it away on his way out [closed]
I thought of this lateral thinking puzzle. Hopefully, it's not too broad and hasn't been asked before.
A man walks into a store, buys an item for $1, and throws it away along with the receipt on ...
61
votes
1answer
4k views
Mysterious message from the NoSlaves™ Calculator Co
So my son is starting to show an interest in mathematics, and being the awesome dad that I am, I decided to buy him a basic calculator. Being the cheapskate that I am, I ordered the cheapest one I ...
57
votes
3answers
6k views
A pilot's messages
A friend of mine works as a pilot, so he travels a lot and I don't see him that often. But every year around the same time he sends me a message. He has been doing that ever since 1997.
Here is a list ...
56
votes
3answers
254k views
56
votes
4answers
13k views
Go Pregnant or Go Home
A love story:
First, we met on the dance floor at this place playing loud music.
Soon after we were madly in love!
Before I knew it, we were engaged to be married.
Now, here I am in the backyard ...
55
votes
4answers
6k views
The Secret Club
Since I was a kid, nobody wanted me in their super-exclusive clubs... the "House in the Tree Club"... the "Girls Only Club"... the "Whatever you are NOT Club"... but now that I am a skilled (and a bit ...
51
votes
8answers
53k views
49
votes
8answers
7k views
James Bond : No Access
James Bond, while working on a top-secret case for many weeks in deep enemy territory, finally collected and stored lots of critical files on his tight-security Linux system. Even though the system ...
47
votes
14answers
11k views
Almost half a million, yet smaller than a hundred [closed]
Consider, for example, the number 420109. It's quite big, isn't it? Not so far from half a million. Yet it can be made to be smaller than a hundred with a very simple trick, without putting any ...
47
votes
2answers
7k views
Why did John buy so many batteries?
World-famous engineer John Johnson decided to take a break from his latest invention, and asked his wife if she had any chores he could do to clear his mind. She handed him a grocery list and told him ...
46
votes
6answers
14k views
I apologise in advance for this
A man has 17 cigarettes.
He gives half of the cigarettes to his oldest son.
He gives one third of the cigarettes to his middle son.
He gives one ninth of the cigarettes to his youngest son.
...
45
votes
4answers
4k views
Which switch goes to which bulb?
You are in a room with three switches, labeled $A$, $B$, and $C$. Initially, each switch is in an off state. In an adjoining room, there are three incandescent light bulbs. Your task is to ...
44
votes
9answers
12k views
I last billions of years or a couple of milliseconds
Please help. I've given this riddle much thought and can't get anywhere.
I last billions of years or a couple of milliseconds.
I embody the Jurassic period and the Renaissance.
I am composed of ...
44
votes
5answers
3k views
How do I force-quit the program?
My friend has been playing with a program he found. He enters a 5-digit number into the command line and receives another 5-digit number in return. However, after 20 or so entries, he's about done and ...
44
votes
3answers
3k views
Which floor does this company occupy?
There is a seven-story skyscraper. Each floor hosts exactly one company.
Pangloss Washers Co, Ltd. is located on the 7th floor.
Alice PC Chips Co., Ltd. is located on the 6th floor.
Jumanji Arcade Co....
43
votes
1answer
4k views
Breakfast with friends
One early morning, a group of friends meet in their favorite
café.
Ash, the biggest in the group, remarked :
"Must have been millions of years since we were all together, uh?""
...
42
votes
11answers
5k views
Puzzling about a cube
I do not claim credit for this puzzle; I saw it online years ago and realised it hadn't been asked here yet (as far as I could tell), so I thought I'd share it with the community here. I cannot recall ...
40
votes
3answers
7k views
I can turn your pet into a god
I can never see myself.
I can turn your pet into a god.
I can make sweets unpleasant.
I will take your guns away, and you will feel secure.
I can turn the sun into a bunch of rodents.
Who am I?
39
votes
6answers
4k views
What a peculiar animal
One day, as I was wandering in the forest, I came across a most peculiar animal. It came right in front of me and said to me:
I watch
I salute
I am multiple
I am myself
I sting
I dig
I ...
38
votes
12answers
49k views
if you have one, you have none [closed]
If you have three, you have three. If you have two, you have two. If you have one, you have none. What is it?
38
votes
4answers
5k views
Find average age without revealing your age
Ana, Barbara, Carol and Diana want to know their average age. But no lady wants to disclose her age.
They decide a strategy and use a calculator (one that doesn't store steps) and tapped some keys ...
37
votes
4answers
5k views
36
votes
11answers
22k views
Connect 3 houses with 3 wells
Connect every house with every well without the lines intersecting.
I am not sure if this puzzle has a solution. I have been puzzled by it for a long long time. An old man from my village mentioned ...
36
votes
5answers
10k views
Sabotage at Sea - Cursed Cruise liner?
(Warning: Heavy reading incoming. I suggest writing stuff down...)
It's now the year 2150, and you're one of the few people who didn't leave earth twenty years ago. Why? A deadly disease overtook the ...
35
votes
11answers
6k views
I like to travel. Can you tell where I've been?
I live in a cold country, and each year I travel to one of my four favorite summer destinations: Valencia, Tel Aviv, Sydney or Porto.
I have a habit of visiting my grandmother when I return (same day ...
35
votes
13answers
3k views
A UniCODE Puzzle
NOTE Please do not edit this puzzle or close for off-topic unless you REALLY know what you're doing. The whole thing, except this note, is part of the puzzle. Thanks!
What unicode character am I?
...
35
votes
1answer
1k views
A Morse Conundrum
Yesterday, I intercepted a message encoded in Morse code, but, because I was extremely tired, decided to wait until today to decode it to plain text. However, when I looked at the piece of paper I had ...
34
votes
19answers
12k views
Mysterious loss of weight
Now an entry into Fortnightly Topic Challenge #41: Short and Sweet
A man enters a room and presses a button. Within seconds he loses 20 lbs body weight. How did he lose the weight?
34
votes
12answers
6k views
An invisible traveller
Maybe not a typical riddle, but here it is:
I can travel from there to here by disappearing, but I can also travel from here to there by appearing.
What am I?
33
votes
23answers
5k views
Unfortunately, you died [closed]
Your soul is on its way to the afterlife when suddenly you arrive in a room.
You look around and notice six humanoids staring at you.
You walk toward them and you can suddenly hear them talk between ...
33
votes
16answers
12k views
Older twin's birthday is one day after younger's
I have been asked this puzzle in an interview. There was not a lot of time left so I couldn't solve it quickly and the interviewer kind of let it go as he had to wrap up the interview
Foo and Bar ...
33
votes
9answers
14k views
How did he count my money so fast?
When I was in college, each semester there were companies that would buy back your used textbooks. One semester I brought my books to the book-buyer, who said "We'll pay you $41". He grabbed a thick ...
33
votes
2answers
1k views
Scoring a grid
As a professor of Awesomeness at the prestigious Ad Hoc University (other questions in this series), I decided to assign my students this puzzle. Unfortunately, they were all unable to get it! I want ...
32
votes
12answers
5k views
Where do all the doors lead to?
You are walking in a hallway and find a door.
You decide to enter the room. The door closes behind you, the room suddenly becomes dark and starts spinning.
You fall on the floor in the middle of the ...
32
votes
3answers
8k views
Who drinks beer while running anyway?
A variant (I don't have the book in front of me, so this is a paraphrase) of this puzzle was in the book Brainteasers and Mindbenders, by Robert Hamilton. It has stuck in my mind since I read it in ...
