What are your best lateral thinking puzzles?

lenz@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 118 points –

So I once came across this little puzzle, and I’ve been hungry for more ever since:

::: spoiler There are 500 bricks in an airplane. While it’s flying, one brick falls out of the airplane. How many bricks are left in the plane? 499 :::

::: spoiler What are the three steps to putting a giraffe in a refrigerator? Step 1: Open the fridge. Step 2: Put the giraffe inside. Step 3: Close the fridge. :::

::: spoiler What are the four steps to putting an elephant in a refrigerator? Step 1: Open the fridge. Step 2: Take the giraffe out. Step 3: Put the elephant inside. Step 4: Close the fridge. :::

::: spoiler The Lion King is having a birthday party. Every animal in the kingdom shows up except for one. Who is it, and why? The elephant, because he’s stuck in the fridge. :::

::: spoiler An old lady wants to cross a river. A local man tells her that the river is infested with crocodiles, and that if she tries to cross, she’ll surely be eaten and die. Despite this, she swims across and gets to the other side safely. Why was she able to do this? Because the crocodiles are all at the Lion King’s birthday party. :::

::: spoiler After the old lady safely crosses the river, she suddenly dies. Why? A brick fell on her! :::

I’ve been looking for more questions like this for years with no luck. Have y’all got any more puzzles like this? Make me think laterally!

37

You are viewing a single comment
View all comments

I'm not familiar with lateral thinking, but this reads like a joke... Is it intended to be funny, or are you actually expected to come up with all of those answers?

You are indeed expected to come up with all those answers. Usually someone who already knows the answer asks the questions to you in person, and you guess until you get it right. Slowly, you realize the answers all have to do with the previous questions, and it makes it easier to think creatively hahaha. I wish I knew more than just this series of questions, but these are harder to come up with than it seems like lol.

So it's basically an exercise to promote creative thinking?