lateral thinking questions.

[saintpeter48]

Hello. Has anyone got any good lateral thinking questions, I'm compiling a quiz and need about 10 of these brain busting questions, thanks.

[birdwoman]

type 'lateral thinking' into google. It should give you some sites with these types of questions on.

[FoxLee]

I've got some lateral puzzles, not sure if it's the sort of thing you're after but here goes.

A boy at boarding school ran short of money so he wrote to his grandmother asking for a small contribution. The response was a letter containing a lecture on the evils of extravagance but no money of any kind. Nevertheless, the boy was very pleased. Why?

A man went to a builder with plans for an extension to his house. They had never met before but the builder agreed to build the extension at no charge to the man. Why?

A patient on the operating table is coming round after an operation. Suddenly he jumps up and strikes the surgeon as hard as he can. Why does he do this?

[FoxLee]

Two of my favourites:-

A man is peeling potatoes when he cuts his finger. he immediately puts his hand into water and leaves it there for 30 seconds. However, when he pulls his hand out, the cut has entirely disppeared. How can this have happened?

The music stopped. She died. Explain.

Answer to all puzzles in next post!!

[FoxLee]

Answers:

1. The boy's grandmother was Queen Victoria. In this true incident, the boy sold the letter for five pounds.

2. It is a true story and the man was Picasso. The builder wisely decided that by building the extension he would be able to retain Picasso's rough sketch of the plans, which would be worth far more than the cost of the construction work. He was right.

3. The patient is a boxer. The last thing he heard was the anaesthetist counting 1, 2, 3, 4 and as he comes round he automatically tries to beat the count and resume the fight against his opponent.

4. This incident took place in South America. the unfortunate man was camping by a river. When he put his hand in the river, the blood attracted piranha fish which removed his finger including the cut!

5. She was a circus tightrope walker. Her most daring act was to cross a high wire while blindfolded. The band played while she crossed and when the music stopped,it was the signal that she had reached the end of the wire and could safely alight. Unfortunately, one day the conductor was taken ill at the last mnute and the stand-in conductor, unaware of the importance of the timing, ended the music just a little too soon. She stepped off the wire to her death.