Tricky Lateral Thinking Puzzles

"A man writes the same number, and nothing else, on 20 sheets of paper. Why?" "A man went around the world in a ship. Yet he was always in sight of land. How come?" These are examples of lateral thinking puzzles. You're given a statement about a situation that you have to use as a starting point to arrive at a particular explanation or solution. Often there can be many possible scenarios to explain the puzzle, but the challenge is that you have to find the "right" answer. Typically the puzzles contain insufficient information for you to immediately figure out the solution (clues are provided). When you get stuck, attack the problem from a new direction--think laterally! Not only are these puzzles fun, they also help to develop skills in questioning, deduction, logic, and, of course, lateral thinking. Answers: It's January and he is writing the date of the year on all the checks in his checkbook to avoid putting last year's date by mistake; He was an astronaut in a space ship. 96 pages, 25 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.

A series of riddles challenges the reader think laterally to get to the right answer. Not only fun, these thinking puzzles help develop skills in questioning, deduction, logic, and, of course, lateral thinking. 25 illustrations.

Stand out from the pack--don't think conventionally, think laterally! And, you can start developing well-honed mental skills with more than 80 braintwisting puzzles that test your creativity and smarts. At first it might not seem as if there's enough information to solve them, but if you just persist, you'll come up with the logical answers. Some of the conundrums come from real life: try to figure out how the Greek playwright Aeschylus could have been killed by a tortoise or how the truth about Mary Queen of Scots' baldness was finally revealed. Or, give this a shot: A runner was awarded a prize for winning a marathon. But, the judges disqualified him when they saw a picture of his wristwatch. Why? Happy puzzling! Answer: A picture of the runner early in the race showed him wearing his watch on his right wrist. When he crossed the finishing line it was on his left wrist. The judges investigated and found that one man had run the first half and his identical twin brother ran the second half of the race.

A collection of puzzles that will challenge the best puzzle solver.

"We never grow tired of good news how come' mysteries of this kind....These story brainteasers are often solved in groups...with solvers asking yes-or-no questions of the puzzle poser (the one holding this book, perhaps). A novel feature of this volume is a Clues' section containing sample questions and answers, allowing you to play along solitaire."--Games World of Puzzles. 96 pages, 24 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.

Are you good at thinking outside the box? Do you consider yourself logical? And, most important of all, do you love a good challenge? Then this Mensa collection of devious brain-bafflers will entertain you -- and your friends and family -- for hours.

These slippery lateral-thinking puzzles start with a situation that appears completely normal; then suddenly something strange happens, and with only a couple of hints you have to figure out the reason why. Stay alert as you run into all kinds of fantastic situations--people climbing prison walls, ocean cruises, shoplifter arrests, rich men who give away pennies, deliberate car crashes, shooting rare eagles for prizes, paying to have your silver taken away, and dozens of other weird experiences that make perfect sense once you come up with the lateral answer.

A man writes the same number, and nothing else, on 20 sheets of paper. Why? To figure this out--and hundreds of other mind-bending lateral puzzles, too--you'll have to really fire up your brain and imagination. At first, it may not seem as if there's enough information to come up with a solution. But look more closely; there's always more than meets the eye. Check your assumptions, ask good questions, retune your mind, separate the facts from the red herrings, and the answers will come.