An Exercise in

Lateral

Thinking

Mind

Stretching

Puzzles

# 1

A man locked his son out of the house. The son thanked him.

Explain.

Clue

# 1 Answer

The son, in his late teens, was spoiled and idle. The father correctly inferred that evicting him and forcing him to earn his own way would benefit him, however unpleasant it would be at first. When the son found a job and had worked at it for a while, he understood how his father’s action had made his life more respectable and constructive. Therefore, he thanked his father.

# 2

Zeke and his wife lived in a rural area. One evening, his wife felt ill. Zeke called the local doctor. “Doc, I think my wife may have appendicitis,” he explained. “Nonsense! I took out her appendix myself five years ago,” said the doctor. But Zeke’s wife proved to have appendicitis. Explain.

Clue :

# 2 Answer:

Since the earlier surgery, Zeke had remarried.

# 3

Adam had none. Eve had two. Everyone

nowadays has three. What are they?

Clue :

# 3 Answer : The letter e.

# 4A bank robber grabbed

several thousand dollars from a bank counter and,

although he was armed, he was captured within a few seconds before he could

leave the bank. How?

Clue :

# 4 Answer:

The bank robber dashed to the revolving door and tried to push at the direction in which it would not revolve.

# 5A woman places her hand on

her husband’s knee for an hour and then takes it off for ten minutes; then she places her hand on her husband’s

knee for another hour. Why?

Clues :

# 5 Answer : The wife of the deaf Thomas Edison used to go with him to the theater. She drummed out his knee in Morse code with her fingers what the actors were saying on stage.

# 6The ancient Greek

playwright Aeschylus was killed by a tortoise. How?

Clues :

# 6 Answer

Aeschylus was killed when the tortoise was dropped on him from a height by an eagle who may have mistaken the bald head of Aeschylus for a rock on

which to break the tortoise.

# 7After a World Cup soccer match, two players swapped jerseys. The police immediately arrested them. Why?

Clue:

# 7 Answer

It was the women’s World Cup and the match was played in a country with strict rules about female nudity or undressing in public.

# 8 A high-speed police car chases a much slower vehicle in which criminals are escaping. But the police fail to catch them. Why?

Clue

# 8 Answer :

The getaway vehicle was a double-decker bus that went under a low bridge. The top deck of the bus was cut off and fell onto the pursuing police car.

# 9

A man had his throat attacked by a woman with an electric shaving razor, yet he suffered no serious injurious. How come?

Clue

# 9 Answer:

The woman forgot to plug in the electric shaver.

# 10

William was the least intelligent and

laziest boy in a class of 30 students

who took an examination. Yet when the results were announced, William’s name was at the top of

the list. How come?Clue

$ 10 Answer: William’s name was William Abbot and the results were given in alphabetical

order.

The End

May your mind grow in

creativity and wisdom.With Metta,

Bro. Oh Teik Bin