Acting on an anonymous phone call, police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer. They don't know what he looks like, but they do know that his name is John. Inside the house they find a carpenter, a lorry driver, a car mechanic, and a fireman playing cards. Without even asking his name, the police immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they've got their man?
This is an example of a lateral thinking puzzle. Lateral thinking puzzles are solved by thinking creatively rather than thinking by analytical steps. For example, when asked which side of a chicken has more feathers, the analytical approach would be to examine each side of the chicken to decide which has more feathers. However, the lateral thinking answer would be the outside: it is technically a side, and it has more feathers than the inside (hopefully). So do you have the answer yet?
For the final English project I had originally planned on creating a short film about The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, but due to complications (no actors, script, or camera) I'm changing my book to Mind Benders: Adventures in Lateral Thinking by David J. Bodycombe, and I'll probably subject the class to dozens of mind-breaking torture puzzles like the one at the beginning of this post. I'm sure it'll be fine...considering anything would be better than presenting a non-existing movie. Harumph.
Figure it out yet? I'm not one to spoil answers, so just try to get the answer yourself. And don't cheat! Not that I can stop you, or anything.
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