These lateral thinking puzzles (unless accredited otherwise) are “MUXY CREATED ORIGINALS”.
When you see MY PUZZLES copied onto other websites lauding their lateral thinking expertise … ha, ha, yeah right.
“It’s all good. Don’t let me stop you.”
8/ Answers for … The lateral thinking puzzle of the cheating husband
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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It is the deliberate strategies of “disruption” that so clearly differentiates lateral thinking from creative thinking.
Exactly what is lateral thinking?
The most definitive explanation available anywhere.
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This NEXT contribution comes from Sam Hicken’s new book of lateral thinking party games … EXPLAIN THIS!
9/ 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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10/ 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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Coming soon …
The evolutionary trial of
A R M A G E D D O N
. . . is soon upon us
An epic story of accidental contact with aliens that will forever alter our human destiny …
‘We made a terrible mistake, Julius …
We should never have trusted the aliens.’
Check out the blurb for my soon to be released work of LATERAL THINKING FICTION … Click here
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11/ 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.
Your answer could appear here …
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Creativity can be learned:
Creativity can be EASILY learned:
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12/ 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.
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This next puzzle is a game from Sam Hicken:
EXPLAIN THIS!
13/ 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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Practice! Creativity is like most things … the more you practice, the better you get:
Lateral Thinking Exercises
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Check out these amazing creative activities you can do with your child that inspire their natural creativity.
Creativity shared with children is time well spent
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“How do you explain evolution?”
An old man and his grandson were getting a bit loud in a cafe …
See how lateral thinking resolved this confrontation
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14/ 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 the TOP 50 all-time classic lateral thinking puzzles
… with new twists and “Muxy-original” answers
Click here for lateral thinking games and activities for young children
Click here for examples of lateral thinking put into real-life action
A BONUS puzzle to try on your friends:
Do YOU have blinkered thinking?
Use 3 separate lines (straight or curved) to join the boxes labeled with letters; a single line for each to join “A” to “A”, “B” to “B” and “C” to “C”.
The lines cannot touch or cross each other. They must stay inside the (black lines of the) diagram and cannot touch the sides. They cannot touch or go through other boxes. There’s no trick involved.
CLUE
Over a lifetime, your thought process has been conditioned, or “blinkered”. You probably couldn’t solve the puzzle because of two deeply entrenched teachings:
- “A” comes before “B” and “C; and
- The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
SEE the “Blinkered Thinking” solution HERE
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Submit your original lateral thinking answer here:
Michael Muxworthy - Lateral Thinking Author of Fiction 