Lateral thinking puzzles
NEW and CLASSIC lateral thinking puzzles and riddles.
‘Situation’ puzzles that require ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking.
With clever clues and multiple potential solutions.
Definition: Lateral thinking puzzles are situation puzzles that require explanation. They have multiple potential answers that aren’t necessarily right or wrong; instead, answers are subjectively judged on the plausibility of their explanations.
Let’s start with an easy puzzle to demonstrate the process …
The Deadly Door – An easy lateral thinking puzzle to get you started
A man dies as a result of walking through a door. How?
Clue: He might just be an idiot!
Answer One: He’s opened the door to the lion cage.
Answer Two: He’s opened the aircraft’s external door mid-flight.
Answer Three: Against all advice, he’s opened the jail cell door of a homicidal maniac
Try to come up with three or four more possibilities. Next, subjectively judge the answers on the plausibility of the explanations they provide, and come up with a winner.
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The hidden communication – Let’s step it up!
A man arrives home one evening. He smells the tantalizing scent of sweet and sour chicken heating up in the microwave. Not finding his wife in the kitchen, he yells, “Honey, I’m home”.
The wife responds from behind a closed bathroom door, “Welcome home, darling. Dinner’s in the microwave. Please look at the timer and tell me how long until it’s ready?”
“Ten minutes”, the husband replies. He immediately makes his way outside and calls the police. Why?
Clue – His wife wouldn’t usually shut the bathroom door to her husband.
Muxy’s original answer: The husband is blind. His wife knew he couldn’t see the timer … it was a signal that she was in danger. Also, she has little need to shut the bathroom door for a blind husband.
Daryl Mustov’s answer: The man smells gas and sees that the gas cooktop has been left on without being lit. He then looks inside the microwave and sees that his wife has left a metal fork inside causing sparks. He realizes that his wife is attempting to kill him, shielding herself from the impending explosion behind the closed bathroom door.
Do YOU have an original answer that could appear here?
Please submit your original lateral thinking solution at the bottom of this page.
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Which Light Switch? A favorite classic lateral thinking puzzle with some new answers
Three possible light switches operate a light in the cellar that can only be accessed using a difficult trip down rickety stairs.
You only want to make one trip.
You are told that the other two switches should never be left on for extended periods as they no longer work and could cause a fire.
Making only one single trip to the cellar, how do you determine the correct switch for the cellar light?
Clue – There is a ladder and/or tools available.
Classic answer – Turn on the first light switch and leave it on for a few minutes, then turn it off and turn on the second light switch.
When you go downstairs, use a ladder to climb up to the bulb. If the bulb is off, but warm, it is the first switch.
If the bulb is on, it is the second switch.
If the bulb is off and cold, it is the third light switch.
Muxy’s answer – Drill a hole in the floor so you can tell when the light goes on or off.
Dwayne Kington’s answer – Set up a series of mirrors so that you can see the light turn on and off. (Well done. VERY original)
A new and original lateral thinking puzzle
A tragic conclusion
A cross-country skier comes across a cabin deep in a high and very remote wilderness location. He forces entry into the securely locked-from-the-inside cabin to find two occupants who have died only a short time earlier. “They never saw it coming”, he thinks. The skier looks about the cabin but finds nothing he would consider to be unusual.
How did they die?
Clue – Exiting the cabin, the skier notes that the only tracks entering or leaving the cabin are his own.
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Muxy’s Original answer – The occupants died from asphyxiation during a heavy snowstorm that had completely covered the cabin in thick snow, sealing it completely, and obscuring earlier tracks made by the occupants. A recently extinguished fire inside the cabin, the embers still warm, had exhausted their oxygen supply.
Propa Ganda Panda’s answer – The cabin is a locked pilot’s cabin of a passenger aircraft that had just crashed in hazardous conditions. (That’s a GREAT alternative answer. Well done!)
Do you have a unique answer that could appear here? Scroll down to submit your answer.
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CLASSIC elevator lateral thinking puzzle
(. . . with a twist)
A man living on the 30th floor of a high-rise building uses the elevator daily.
The man hates using the stairs, so he always catches the elevator down to the ground level. However, he usually gets out on the 24th floor and walks up the remaining stairs when returning home.
Why?
Clue – On rainy and wet days, he catches the elevator up to the 30th floor.
Classic Answer – The man is a dwarf. On wet days he uses his umbrella to reach the 30th-floor elevator button.
Muxy’s Twist – The man is acting on the advice of his doctor who told him to exercise by climbing six flights of stairs daily. A leak in the stairwell makes it unsafe to use the stairs on wet and rainy days.
Steven Murray’s answer – The man has a secret mistress on the 24th floor that he likes to spend time with after work and before his wife gets home. He always walks from 24 to 30 to avoid running into anyone who might report the behavior to his wife. His wife is a dog walker and doesn’t walk the dogs on rainy days. The man, therefore, goes straight home to the 30th floor on wet and rainy days to avoid being found out.
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Lateral thinking brain-teaser
Til death do us part
A wife plans to kill her husband in a way that makes a successful prosecution against her unlikely. She breaks something in their home so that she has a reason for sending her husband somewhere. The husband dies as a consequence of the wife’s plan.
How did she kill her husband?
Clue – The husband is completely unaware of his wife’s intention.
Muxy’s Original answer – The husband is on life support in the home. The wife ‘accidentally’ breaks the life support equipment requiring an urgent relocation to the nearest hospital, which is across a state border. Euthanasia is illegal in the state they live, but legal in the state where the closest hospital is.
David Hartman, Sunshine Coast Australia answer – The wife breaks the washing machine. She sends her husband to a laundromat with the dirty washing. Buried inside the items to be washed is her husband’s deadly pet snake, which bites him when he loads the items into the washing machine. She tells police she has ‘no idea how my husband’s snake got into the dirty laundry. He’s always been careless with the pet’.
Okay, there are bound to be some great alternative answers here. The best answers will be published here.
Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to submit your unique lateral thinking solutions for possible publication!
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Classic lateral thinking puzzle of survival
A baby falls out of a window of a 20-story building … yet lives.
How?
Clue – The baby’s mother jumped out of the same window after she saw her baby fall. She also survived.
Classic answer – It was a ground-floor window.
Muxy’s answer – The mother and baby were birds.
Susan Dunn – The baby and mother fell onto a window-cleaning platform that happened to be just outside at the time.
Phil White – The “20-story” building was a very small children’s library. (Completely original. Well done!)
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New later thinking brain-teaser – The answered prayer
A woman is running late while delivering important documents on a wild, stormy night. She races into a lift and quickly selects her desired floor. As the lift begins to rise, there’s a sudden power outage. The lights go out, the lift stalls, and she’s trapped until the power is restored. She believes her prayers have been answered.
Can you explain what just happened?
Clue – There’s no longer any need to rush.
Muxy’s Original Answer – She was running late with a stay of execution for an inmate she believes has been wrongly convicted. The method of execution was the electric chair. The power failure happened seconds before the execution was meant to take place. They would need to reschedule the execution giving her ample time to deliver the stay of execution.
D.J. Beat Answer: – The woman is a secretary who had typed up important notes for a meeting later in the evening. She’d mistakenly put the notes in her handbag when leaving at the end of the day. Her boss had threatened her with dismissal if she didn’t get the notes there on time, but thanks to the power outage, the meeting would have to be put off until another day and she wouldn’t need to confront her angry boss.
Technically … it’s NOT a lateral thinking problem unless there is more than one answer. Help me out here … do YOU have an alternative answer that fits all the clues?
Please submit your answers at the bottom of this page.
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‘The Barman’ classic lateral thinking puzzle
A man walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water.
The barman ducks behind the bar and emerges holding a gun. He points the gun at the man’s face and yells “BANG”.
The man smiles at the barman and says quite sincerely, “thank you”.
Why?
Clue – The man leaves happy and satisfied, without drinking any water.
Classic lateral thinking answer – The man had hiccups.
Muxy’s alternative answer – The man had recently run off with the barman’s wife. The barman had threatened to kill the man in a fit of rage. The man had gone into the bar to try to sort things out. The barman’s actions were his way of saying … “my rage is over”. LOL
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A new lateral thinking situation puzzle – A view to murder
A husband and wife have stopped to admire the view at a lookout on a steep mountain range in a remote location. Their car is parked behind and above them. Without anybody being near the vehicle, it rolls down the hill. Witnesses tell the attending police several hours later that they saw the man barely manage to leap out of the way, but his wife hadn’t seen the vehicle approaching and was crushed to death, pinned against the safety rail. A police officer inspects the car and immediately arrests the man for murder.
What does the police officer see that convinces him that the husband has murdered his wife?
Clue. The scene of the accident remained untouched until police arrived.
Muxy’s Original Answer – The handbrake wasn’t set, and a large puddle of water rested under the driver’s brake pedal. The officer deduced that the husband had used a block of ice to hold the brake pedal down and was ready for the vehicle to eventually move down the slope when the ice melted. The location being remote, the husband knew that the ice would have time to melt before police arrived.
This new puzzle needs alternative answers. Please submit your own original lateral thinking solution at the bottom of the page.
Your original answer could appear here …
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An Edward de Bono insight …
“Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns”
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The lateral thinking classic puzzle – The Bus Stop
It is a cold, wet, wild, and stormy evening as a man drives along an open, rural, and exposed road. As he nears a bus stop, he notices that there are three people waiting:
- An old lady who is in urgent need of medical attention;
- His best friend who saved his life recently; and
- A wonderful girl that he had always wanted the opportunity to meet and ask out.
The man decides to stop and help, but his car only holds the driver and one passenger. He will not overload his car.
What does he do?
Clue – He achieves everything possible with this solution.
The man stops at the bus stop and gets out of his car. He says to his best mate “I know you are great at helping people. Please take my car and get this old lady to the hospital. I will catch the bus with this young lady and keep her safe until it comes”.
He makes a good impression with the young lady, helps his mate, and gets the old lady the help she needs.
Answer – The man gives the keys to his best friend and asks him to drive the old lady to the hospital while he “bravely” keeps the company of the girl until the bus arrives.
Muxy’s alternative answer – Rather than risk moving the old lady, the man uses his considerable medical knowledge to administer immediate first aid with the help of the girl he wants to ask out. He sends his best friend to get help while he impresses the girl with his ability to take control.
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Close call – (A new lateral thinking puzzle with multiple twists)
A man receives a phone call that almost instantaneously saves the life of the man next to him. How?
Clue – The second man’s life was saved even before the first man could answer the phone.
Muxy’s Original Answer – The men are soldiers on night patrol. A night-vision sniper had the second man in his sights when the light of the call drew his attention to the first man instead.
Anonymous Contributor Answer – The man receiving the call was an executioner about to ‘pull the lever’. He saw that the incoming call was from the Governor, the only person with authority to halt the execution, and immediately pulled up his actions.
Matty Dunn Answer – The man receiving the call was sneaking up behind the second man to kill him. The call alerted the second man, saving his life.
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Lateral thinking puzzle CHALLENGE
Submit your alternative answer by scrolling to the bottom of this page. If it’s good and original, you will receive full credit.
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The lateral thinking puzzle … of murder!
Jason is working in his garden with a pitchfork in the presence of several reliable witnesses. A man approaches wearing a balaclava, gloves, and overcoat, and holding a handgun.
The man aims and fires a single shot directly at Jason. Jason runs toward the weapon, zigzagging to avoid being hit, and kills the man by thrusting his pitchfork into the man’s chest.
‘That was incredibly brave,’ a witness cry out. ‘Look at your jacket, Jason. The bullet passed through the sleeve barely missing you.’
Jason is NOT a hero. Jason was NEVER in danger.
Can you describe a scenario that explains this?
Clue – A detective informs Jason that he was lucky that the pistol was homemade and could only hold a single round, and, for some reason, the chamber had been permanently sealed.
“How appropriate to find you tending to your lillies”
Muxy’s Original Answer – Jason told the man he needed to die in a way that allowed his family to claim insurance to pay the man the debt that he owed. Jason supplied the man with the weapon but loaded it with a blank and then permanently sealed the chamber so it could only be used once. Before doing so, he tested the weapon with a real bullet that he shot a hole through his jacket with.
Can you think of a scenario that fits the clues? (Submit below)
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The astronaut’s despair lateral thinking riddle
In a not-too-distant future, the solo pilot of a spaceship crashes on a previously unknown planet. The nearest human being, rescue ship, technology, or any form of life is more than a year’s travel time away. The planet is uninhabited and lifeless, but it does have an atmosphere able to sustain human life for up to an hour. Nobody knows where he is.
The spaceship is a wreck … nothing works, it has no breathable air left. The astronaut decides to use his remaining time to explore the landscape before he succumbs to the hostile environment. He takes no technology or equipment with him. Thirty minutes into his journey he is startled by a human voice.
How is this possible?
Clue – He heard the exact same voice on Earth previously.
“I don’t want to die here … alone!”
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Muxy’s Original Answer – The astronaut heard his own echo when he cried out in anguish.
Muxy’s Alternative Twist – The astronaut is schizophrenic and thought the voice in his head belonged to someone else.
Boocaneer – The atmosphere on the planet was high in helium, which caused his voice to appear much higher – and therefore startled him – when he spoke to himself. (He’d experienced the same thing on Earth when he’d tried inhaling helium when filling party balloons)
indieGOjaquel – The astronaut’s body is slowly shutting down. Auditory hallucinations caused by the planets noxious atmosphere will be a pleasant distraction from the pilot’s impending asphyxiation
Sayan’s Answer (Innovation partner for early-stage teams) – The “astronaut” is a 17-year-old science-fiction fan, and his elaborate dream was being permeated by the familiar voice of his mother calling him back to Earth, asking him to wake up!
Do YOU have an alternative answer? Scroll to the bottom to leave your answer in the comments section.
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The most powerful examples of lateral thinking ingenuity applied to real-life situations can be found … here
Games – Teens – Business – Family – Conflict – Opportunity – Fun – Employment – Early childhood
Or … for a much younger audience …
Lateral thinking games and activities for children
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Lateral thinking puzzle CHALLENGE
Submit an alternative answer. If it’s good and original, you’ll receive full credit.
Scroll down to submit
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The “angry cat” lateral thinking puzzle
Rachael and Thomas have moved into a share house with several other occupants. Thomas doesn’t like their new accommodation though because of the angry and aggressive cat that greeted them when they first walked in.
Rachael realizes that there isn’t really a problem.
Why?
Clue – Even if Rachael does nothing at all, Thomas will eventually be okay with their new circumstances.
“I can’t live with this cat!”
Muxy’s Original Answer – There is a mirror near the entrance. Thomas is a cat, saw his reflection, and thought that it was another cat challenging him for the territory.
Rachael can cover up the mirror until Thomas becomes settled, but Thomas will figure it out eventually even if she does nothing.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – The angry cat belongs to the previous tenant. Rachael has offered to care for the cat for a few hours only until the previous tenants have completed their move.
Cal’s Answer – Thomas is blind and they have moved into a house full of lazy roommates, one of whom has a friendly and docile cat. The front door has never been maintained and so squeaks horribly, sounding just like a growling cat. As Rachel is walking out, she realizes that the door is to blame and so oils the hinges, stopping the sound and clearing the name of the innocent cat.
Ganesh Chandra – It’s a stray cat that doesn’t normally live there. (Ha, Ha, sometimes even the simplest answers aren’t obvious. Well done!)
Do you have an alternative answer? – (Scroll down to submit)
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LATERAL THINKING AUTHOR
‘Turning the groupthink tide’
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8/ The lateral thinking puzzle of the cheating husband
A newly married woman comes home unexpectedly early from work and is horrified and upset when she sees her husband in bed making love to another woman.
“How could you, you, you, you … b#%@&#d!”
Almost immediately her anger abates, and she realizes that she shouldn’t be upset.
Why?
Clue – Some might think there is still some reason not to be happy.
“It’s all good. Don’t let me stop you.”
Muxy’s Original Answer – The new and devoted husband had been taking advantage of his wife’s time at work to delete videos/images from his past romantic encounters. Unsure what a video file contained, he opened it just as she walked in the door. Once the wife understood, she at least wanted the task complete.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – Her new husband has an identical twin brother. She wasn’t exactly delighted that the couple had decided to sneak in a “quickie” in her home, but … all good. LOL
Padma Ravi Answer – It was all just a dream. When she woke up, she realized that she had nothing to worry about, and she then told her husband to keep sleeping.
Do you have an alternative answer? – (Scroll down to submit)
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This NEXT contribution comes from Sam Hicken’s new book of lateral thinking party games … EXPLAIN THIS!
The Movie Lateral Thinking Puzzle
A man takes a woman to a well-attended theatre. Halfway through the movie, he kills the woman with a knife. At the end of the movie, the couple leaves together without any of the other members of the audience realizing that the man has committed murder.
How is this possible?
Clue – The man INTENDED to murder her. He’d planned it!
“That last scream … wow! It sounded so real”
Sam Hicken’s Answer – The couple was at a drive-in theatre. The car had tinted windows. (Check out this from Sam: lateral thinking book of games)
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – It was a Halloween screening of a popular horror flick that invited attendees to come in costume. The audience thought the couple was play-acting.
Wildman Arts Answer – The wife is in a wheelchair, and the husband chooses a particularly scary/screaming moment to do the deed. Afterward, he covers her up appropriately and wheels her out.
Scroll down to submit an alternative.
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The Oyster Diver. A lateral thinking puzzle of fear
A man dives for oysters for a living. One day, an angry and extremely dangerous shark confronts the man. He has no way to defend himself, but he isn’t worried.
Why?
Clue – Normally, he’d be concerned, but today is the man’s lucky day.
Muxy’s Original Answer – The shark was a loan shark. The man owed money to the loan shark, but he got lucky that day and found a valuable pearl in one of the oysters that easily covered the debt.
Tonykapiris – It was the oyster diver’s day off and he visited an aquarium that exhibited the shark. The shark that confronted him was behind a pane of unbreakable glass. (Great answer, Tony)
Technically … it’s not a lateral thinking puzzle if it only has one answer. Have a go and submit your answer below.
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Last Drinks! An original Sam Hicken lateral thinking puzzle
A man buys two exactly identical drinks at a bar and gives one to his friend. The friend dies from poison found in his drink, but the man who bought the drinks lives without consuming any poison at all despite finishing his drink.
How did he die?
Clue – They have different drinking habits
“A toast … to your good health”
Sam Hicken’s Answer – The poison was in the ice. The man who died drank slowly, while the man who lived sculled his drink before the ice could melt.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – The man who bought the drinks added the poison to his friend’s drink after finding out his friend was having an affair with his wife.
Ixxy from Neal.fun came up with a truly original answer – The man put poison in the friend’s straw. Well done Neal!
Your answer could appear here …
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The long search is over. A NEW lateral thinking puzzle
Betty has been missing for more than 50 years.
When a person finds her, he/she immediately knows that they’ve found Betty after going missing all those years ago.
How does he/she know this?
Clue – The person wasn’t even looking for Betty.
“You found me!”
Muxy’s Original Answer – Betty was a boat that mysteriously disappeared. A diver found the boat with the name “Betty” still on the bow.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – Betty is a turtle that was once a pet. Her name and return address are engraved in her shell. The return address is in “Siam” … a country that hasn’t existed for 50 years.
ScratchCat25 – (I’ve reworded this a little but still captured the “essence” of the clever originality submitted).
Betty was born an identical twin who was kidnapped at birth; seemingly lost to her family forever. Betty’s twin sister had a daughter who by chance came across Betty and immediately recognized that the incredible likeness could only mean she’d found her mother’s long-lost sibling.
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This next puzzle is a game from Sam Hicken:
EXPLAIN THIS!
Explain This Death! A lateral thinking puzzle game
A newspaper article states that Mr. Smith and his wife were skiing in the Alps and that Mrs. Smith had an accident, fell off the mountain, and was killed.
How does the man reading the newspaper know that Mr. Smith murdered his wife?
“That was no accident. Mr. Smith killed his wife.”
Sam Hicken’s Answer – The man reading the paper is the travel agent who sold Mr. Smith his tickets. Smith had bought a round-trip ticket for himself, but a one-way ticket for his wife.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – The man is a Catholic priest. He’d heard Mr. Smith’s confession.
Alexander’s Answer – The man reading the newspaper IS Mr. Smith himself.
Wildman Arts Answer – The man reading the newspaper is their Alpine guide who’s been paid off to keep hush.
Sam Hicken’s lateral thinking book of party games, “EXPLAIN THIS!”, can be found on Amazon.
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Creativity shared with children is time well spent
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The curious lateral thinking puzzle of determining guilt
Jenny is found dead in her car … an act of violence. Her purse, handbag, and phone are missing. Police work out who she is and contact her husband.
“We have terrible news to tell you, sir Your wife has been murdered. It looks like robbery. Are you able to come to the crime scene immediately?”
The husband rushes to the crime scene and is immediately arrested.
How are the police so certain it’s him?
Clue – The husband made a mistake.
“What gave me away?”
Muxy’s Original Answer – There was a witness to the crime that police asked to remain at the scene until the husband arrived.
Muxy’s Alternative Answer – The husband knew where the crime scene was without being told.
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How did you go with my new and original puzzles? Leave any original answers below.
Next … try these 50 classic puzzles revisited with multiple answers and twisted clues.
Click here for lateral thinking games and activities for young children
Click here for examples of lateral thinking put into real-life action
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Submit your original lateral thinking answers here:
Learn how to inspire your child’s creativity here:
Available NOW on AMAZON
(Limited time introductory prices ONLY $USD11.99)
Or the e-book version on KINDLE for $USD1.99
Proudly brought to you by MICHAEL MUXWORTHY
LATERAL THINKING AUTHOR
‘Turning the groupthink tide’
Michael Muxworthy - Lateral Thinking Author 