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590:, and that his reason for requesting a drink of water was not to quench his thirst but to cure his hiccups. The bartender realized this and chose instead to cure the hiccups by frightening the man with the gun. Once the man realized that his hiccups were gone, he no longer needed a drink of water, gratefully thanked the bartender, and left.
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Situation puzzles are usually played in a group, with one person hosting the puzzle and the others asking questions which can only be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer. Depending upon the settings and level of difficulty, other answers, hints or simple explanations of why the answer is yes or no,
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is used when the situation is the same regardless of what the correct answer to the question is, but assuming one direction will make further questioning easier or the situation more likely. An example question that might have this answer from the puzzle above is: “Was the gun
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may be considered acceptable. The puzzle is solved when one of the players is able to recite the narrative the host had in mind, in particular explaining whatever aspect of the initial scenario was puzzling.
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A man walks into a bar, and asks the bartender for a drink of water. The bartender pulls out a gun, points it at the man, and cocks it. The man pauses, before saying "Thank you" and leaving. What happened?
626:(or stating "irrelevant") is used when a question is not applicable to the current situation or when a "yes" or "no" answer would not provide any usable information to solving the puzzle.
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at the same time. This would be used when it would be misleading to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer to the player's question. It can be compared to the
Japanese and Korean term
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to denote a creative problem-solving style that involves looking at the given situation from unexpected angles, and is typically necessary to the solution of situation puzzles.
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These puzzles are inexact and many puzzle statements have more than one possible fitting answer. The goal however is to find out the story as the host has it in mind.
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Question: Did they know each other from before? A: No (or: "irrelevant" since either way it does not affect the outcome)
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Question: Was the man's "thank you" sarcastic? A: No (or with a small hint: "No, he was genuinely grateful")
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Eventually the questions lead up to the conclusion that the man had the
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Question: Did the man ask for water in some strange way? A: Yes
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Question: Did the man ask for water in an offensive way? A: No
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The question-and-answer segment might go something like this.
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may all be required to solve a situation puzzle. The term
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Question: Was the bartender angry for some reason? A: No
662:, Harper & Row, 1973, trade paperback, 300 pages,
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The term "lateral-thinking puzzle" was popularised by
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http://www.kith.org/logos/things/sitpuz/lateral.html
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Question: Could the bartender hear him? Answer: Yes
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
700:
660:Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step
690:Jed Hartman, Rec.puzzles archive 27 Aug 1998
473:
673:The rec.puzzles archive of situation puzzles
602:is a word devised to answer a question with
570:Question: Was the gun a water pistol? A: No
521:and reading, logical thinking, as well as
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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606:simultaneously, in a sense saying
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552:One situation puzzle would be:
34:needs additional citations for
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630:Irrelevant, but assume yes
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542:Lateral Thinking Puzzlers
495:are often referred to as
16:Oral puzzle guessing game
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43:improve this article
442:Nikoli puzzle types
124:Part of a series on
447:Puzzle video games
432:Impossible puzzles
328:Puzzle video games
58:"Situation puzzle"
540:in his 1992 book
519:Critical thinking
493:Situation puzzles
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644:Twenty Questions
527:lateral thinking
523:lateral thinking
508:"yes/no" puzzles
502:lateral thinking
497:minute mysteries
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437:Maze video games
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391:Packing problems
386:Optical illusion
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60: –
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54:Find sources:
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32:This article
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608:Yes, but ...
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371:Brain teaser
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227:Construction
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
612:No, but ...
594:Terminology
538:Paul Sloane
346:Metapuzzles
222:Combination
679:References
604:yes and no
406:Puzzlehunt
291:Logic maze
213:Mechanical
199:Logic grid
189:Dissection
69:newspapers
411:Syllogism
314:Crossword
194:Induction
171:Situation
703:Category
638:See also
633:loaded?”
245:problems
157:Guessing
99:May 2008
709:Puzzles
588:hiccups
548:Example
504:puzzles
396:Paradox
376:Dilemma
289: (
276:Sliding
250:Folding
130:Puzzles
83:scholar
666:
362:Topics
319:Sudoku
305:Number
260:Tiling
166:Riddle
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
425:Lists
337:Mazes
281:Chess
255:Stick
180:Logic
148:Types
90:JSTOR
76:books
664:ISBN
610:and
600:Yope
381:Joke
303:and
301:Word
287:Maze
271:Tour
237:Lock
62:news
624:N/a
506:or
45:by
705::
658:,
617:mu
544:.
510:.
499:,
243:Go
481:e
474:t
467:v
293:)
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
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