Lateral thinking, by definition, uses creative reasoning to solve a problem or mystery. So really, while some answers may be righter than others, there might not be a single right answer. It's best to approach these problems in a spirit of curiosity.
The introduction to these exercises says that they tend to be morbid. Which is true. Some of them sounded so much like depressing and quotidian police blotter items I had trouble figuring out what the mystery was supposed to be. A handful I managed to figure out the suggested answer. Some I liked my solution better, although in a few cases I fell short of finding anything that worked. And on the second page I swear there's one where the solution is a Tom Waits song.
The introduction to these exercises says that they tend to be morbid. Which is true. Some of them sounded so much like depressing and quotidian police blotter items I had trouble figuring out what the mystery was supposed to be. A handful I managed to figure out the suggested answer. Some I liked my solution better, although in a few cases I fell short of finding anything that worked. And on the second page I swear there's one where the solution is a Tom Waits song.
2 comments:
Okay, I'll bite. Which one has the solution as a Tom Waits song?
You're right, they all were pretty morbid. My favorite was the hiccup cure. Do you remember this one?
A duck walks into a bar, hops up on a stool and says to the bartender "Got any grapes?" The bartender says "No" and the duck leaves. Next day the duck comes back, hops on his stool and says to the bartender "Got any grapes?" The bartender says "I told you yesterday we don't have any grapes and we still don't have any grapes". The duck left. The following day the duck comes back again, hops on the stool, looks at the bartender and says "Got any grapes?". The bartender gives the duck a long stare and says "I keep on telling you we don't have any grapes and if you come in here one more time asking for grapes I'm going to nail your bill to the bar". The duck left. Next day the duck walks back into the bar, hops up on his favorite stool, looks at the bartender and says "Got any nails?" The bartender says "No, I don't have any nails". The duck says "Got any grapes?"
Ah yes, that bartender really goes the extra mile for his customers.:) I also liked the travel agent who recognized the man who bought one round trip ticket and one one-way ticket. Maybe not the time to get hung up on prices, I'm thinking.
As long as he can't stop the duck from coming in, maybe the bartender in the joke should start stocking grapes. Just a thought.
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