Ask Me Help Desk - Lateral Thinking Puzzle

Actually, folks, no I haven't heard this one. (I'm not sure why everything thinks I know them all. Really, there's many, many out there I don't know. ;))

I think jm is right. At first it sounded kookie, until I really thought about it.

Just as a note, J-Lo, I would stop worrying so much about how you answer stuff. The very fact that you think so hard about it says something and I'd rather you think cause sometimes you need to -- I think about some of them very hard as well and all my answers are very intentional. And if I realize I've misled, I try to correct it - but that does happen. The only one thing I've noticed is that you seem afraid to project - that is, something not specifically stated in the answer.

J-Lo, since you're only around for another week, I think it's your choice: you want to host or want to participate?

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

J-Lo, since you're only around for another week, I think it's your choice: you wanna host or wanna participate?

I'll put up one. I have to go to Los Angeles this weekend, so if it isn't completed by Friday afternoon we'll have to finish it on Monday - but most of them seem to go faster than that. (And yes, I woke up again. :mad: )

The only one thing I've noticed is that you seem afraid to project - that is, something not specifically stated in the answer.
I guess I wasn't sure how much I could do that. I don't want to mislead anyone... but watch out, I'm going to project away now. ;)

Gordon faithfully takes the trash out daily, a task for which his wife is quite grateful. However, it so happened that on this particular day, his menial chore cost another man thousands of dollars. Explain.

I don't know where to start with this one... :confused:

Was there something in the trash that was valuable to the man?
Was the man someone 'anti-feminist'? (sp?)
Are Gordon and the man related by blood?
Do they know each other?
Does Gordon's wife have a relevant role in this puzzle besides being a wife?
Is death involved?
Is the money considered as a loss? Or as a 'missed gain'?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Looking

The only one thing I've noticed is that you seem afraid to project - that is, something not specifically stated in the answer.
I guess I wasn't sure how much I could do that. i don't want to mislead anyone ... but watch out, I'm going to project away now. ;)

Well, I'll tell you how I do it. And yes, sometimes I flub up. (I hate when I have to correct my answers, but it happens.)

I stop and ask myself whether a yes or no answer would change the situation at hand. For instance, I ask is Ned married. Well, would Ned have done something different if he had been married? That is something difficult to conjecture in that situation -- i.e. sure, maybe, but that's kind of really stepping out there and going where we can't really go, so I just say, no that wouldn't change anything. Would it change his sister's will? Nah - it would go to Ned and not the spouse. Would it change hubby's actions. Not in the least.

So I come to the conclusion that Ned being married wouldn't change anything and is therefore not relevant. Nor is it relevant to the setting or other things in the situation. His wife might wonder why he suddenly wants to be a used car salesman, of all the dang things, but that's not relevant either. :D

But... don't recall if you were even doing the midget in the circus thing. The midget shot himself and worked in a circus. Someone asked if anyone else heard the shot. That's not in the answer. Someone hearing the shot will not change the scenario in any way or affect the midget's behavior. However, it does matter that he's in a circus. The setting is relevant, and it's therefore relevant that there would be people around... somewhere. So likely someone heard the shot. It wasn't in the answer. But the setting is relevant, and that setting tells me someone likely heard that shot. Because I couldn't know 100% for sure (maybe they were all out at the bar drinking), instead of saying yes, I said probably. Probably gives the right idea, but at the same time says the answer isn't telling me, and that I'm "projecting."

I think very hard about anything that is not a very easy straight-forward yes or no. Whether everyone's happy with the answers I give or not I don't know. Just saying this is how I handle these kinds of questions. And sometimes it can be darn difficult as you are well aware.

And now you have a picture into the mind of Morgaine and how anal, detailed and analytical she is. (And why putting summaries together is just so "me." ;)) But then, I'm a math/accounting person, and a gamer, and many of us tend to be this way. My brother is like this. I'll ask why he's doing something and he says "Just being anal" and I totally understand.

Somehow this reminds me of the time he was talking about his games, and keeping game boxes, or the games themselves, or something I don't recall. (Many years ago.) And he wondered why he did this and went through a list of possible reasons, which included something like "Sentimental reasons? HUH?" Which had me totally cracking up. And finally just decided he was being nothing but anal. Which also cracks me up.

Sorry - I ramble even worse with a bit of, um, wine in me.

What we we doing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

What we we doing?

We we doing:

Gordon faithfully takes the trash out daily, a task for which his wife is quite grateful. However, it so happened that on this particular day, his menial chore cost another man thousands of dollars. Explain.

:)

Quote:

I don't know where to start with this one... :confused:

Me neither. (And I should be in bed anyway. I'm predicting I'm going to really regret this when I have to get up.)

Quote:

Is death involved?

ROTFL! You assume a death must be involved with everything?

Quote:

Is the money considered as a loss? Or as a 'missed gain'?

You've been hanging around me too long or something. That "missed gain" is known as an "opportunity cost." ;)

Glad to learn the technical term :)

I don't know... since Synn sometimes just throw something which seems random and gets near to the solution, lol. I'm throwing this random death ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown008

We we doing:

Gordon faithfully takes the trash out daily, a task for which his wife is quite grateful. However, it so happened that on this particular day, his menial chore cost another man thousands of dollars. Explain.

:)

I knew the puzzle. I just lost track of myself.

Was the man Gordon's neighbor?

Does "takes the trash out" refer to him taking trash from inside the house to a main garbage can/bin? (Versus taking the main garbage can to the curb for pickup, which I would not expect to happen daily. Just checking.)

Did Gordon accidentally smash garbage into Ned's used car and mess it all up and require repairs?

Do Gordon and the man work together?

Does the man know Gordon's wife?

Was the man ever at Gordon's house?

My gut is telling me this is a tough one. (I wonder if I'll get any breaks at work tomorrow to check in. Otherwise I'm out until evening.)

It was a bet! Gordon's neighbor bet the mailman that he could tell him EXACTLY when Gordon would be coming out of the house with the garbage. However, on this particular day, Gordon was sick with the flu, and didn't take out the garbage as usual, costing the neighbor a hefty bet with the mailman.

(I don't know this one--if this is the answer, I'll pee my pants)

Gordon faithfully takes the trash out daily, a task for which his wife is quite grateful. However, it so happened that on this particular day, his menial chore cost another man thousands of dollars. Explain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown008

I don't know where to start with this one... :confused: muwhahaha :D

Was there something in the trash that was valuable to the man? No
Was the man someone 'anti-feminist'? (sp?) No
Are Gordon and the man related by blood? No
Do they know each other? No
Does Gordon's wife have a relevant role in this puzzle besides being a wife? No
Is death involved? No
Is the money considered as a loss? yes-ish Or as a 'missed gain'? No

Off to a solid start. :D ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

Was the man Gordon's neighbor? No

Does "takes the trash out" refer to him taking trash from inside the house to a main garbage can/bin? No (Versus taking the main garbage can to the curb for pickup, which I would not expect to happen daily. Just checking.) No :D ---> for this puzzle, that smiley = muwhahaha

Did Gordon accidentally smash garbage into Ned's used car and mess it all up and require repairs? No - I think that's the wine talking.

Do Gordon and the man work together? No

Does the man know Gordon's wife? No

Was the man ever at Gordon's house? No

My gut is telling me this is a tough one. I just looked. It took 84 posts, with multiple questions in each post. (I wonder if I'll get any breaks at work tomorrow to check in. I hope so. Otherwise I'm out until evening.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synnen

It was a bet! Gordon's neighbor bet the mailman that he could tell him EXACTLY when Gordon would be coming out of the house with the garbage. However, on this particular day, Gordon was sick with the flu, and didn't take out the garbage as usual, costing the neighbor a hefty bet with the mailman. Another great guess - but No

(I don't know this one--if this is the answer, I'll pee my pants) ... lucky for you ... :D

Is there a bet involved?

Does the wife have anything to do with anything?

Did someone get hurt?

Did he miss a day of taking the trash out?

Ok, time for the questions. If they got it in 84 posts, we must squeeze as much question in a post.

Is the man far away from Gordon? (like less than a kilometre away)
Does the man work with the thrash?
Does the thrash (some product in the trash) contain something related to the man? (see my next question to see where I'm driving at)
Is the man involved in the manufacture of a product?
Does the man work to save the environment?
Does this happen in a TV show/movie?
Is it relevant why his wife is "quite" grateful instead of being simply "grateful"?
Does Gordon does something else besides taking the thrash out which the wife is not so grateful about?
Does Gordon do something else besides taking the thrash out which is relevant?
Does the man knows Gordon's wife?
Given Gordon hasn't done his 'menial' task, would the man still lose thousands of dollars?

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam_89

Is there a bet involved? No

Does the wife have anything to do with anything? Not really

Did someone get hurt? No

Did he miss a day of taking the trash out? No

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown008

Ok, time for the questions. If they got it in 84 posts, we must squeeze as much question in a post.

Is the man far away from Gordon? No (like less than a kilometre away)
Does the man work with the thrash? No
Does the thrash (some product in the trash) contain something related to the man? (see my next question to see where I'm driving at) No
Is the man involved in the manufacture of a product? No
Does the man work to save the environment? No
Does this happen in a tv show/movie? I'm taking this to mean that you are asking if Gordon is an actor in a tv show/movie - No.
Is it relevant why his wife is "quite" grateful instead of being simply "grateful"? No
Does Gordon does something else besides taking the thrash out which the wife is not so grateful about? No
Does Gordon do something else besides taking the thrash out which is relevant? Yes-ish
Does the man knows Gordon's wife? No
Given Gordon hasn't done his 'menial' task, would the man still lose thousands of dollars? No, probably not.

I have to go into a meeting. I'll be back in a couple of hours - time for huge posts of questions.

Is Gordon's *job* taking out the trash in a building? (rather than taking out the personal trash at home?)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synnen

Is Gordon's *job* taking out the trash in a building? (rather than taking out the personal trash at home?)

Yes - this took the other puzzle probably 50 posts to get to. Good job. I'm thinking you guys will beat that other record. :)

Did the man place something in the trash (a contract, a check, whatever) that Gordon threw out?

Did the "something" in the trash fall there by accident?

Did the man place something in the trash (a contract, a check, whatever) that Gordon threw out? No

Did the "something" in the trash fall there by accident? There's a false assumption in this question.