Situation puzzles are often referred to as minute mysteries, lateral thinking puzzles or "yes/no" puzzles.
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, 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.
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. Critical thinking and reading, logical thinking, as well as lateral thinking may all be required to solve a situation puzzle. The term lateral thinking was coined by Edward De Bono 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.
The term "lateral-thinking puzzle" was popularised by Paul Sloane in his 1992 book Lateral Thinking Puzzlers.[1]
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?
The question-and-answer segment might go something like this.
Question: Could the bartender hear him? Answer: Yes
Question: Was the bartender angry for some reason? A: No
Question: Was the gun a water pistol? A: No
Question: Did they know each other from before? A: No (or: "irrelevant" since either way it does not affect the outcome)
Question: Was the man's "thank you" sarcastic? A: No (or with a small hint: "No, he was genuinely grateful")
Question: Did the man ask for water in an offensive way? A: No
Question: Did the man ask for water in some strange way? A: Yes
Eventually the questions lead up to the conclusion that the man had the hiccups, 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.
Terminologyedit
Yope is a word devised to answer a question with yes and no simultaneously, in a sense saying Yes, but ... and No, but ... 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 mu, which is often translated as meaning that the question must be "unasked", as it cannot be answered.
N/a (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.
Irrelevant, but assume yes 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 loaded?”
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Lateral thinking puzzles
April 09, 2024
situation, puzzle, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2008, le. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Situation puzzle news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Situation puzzles are often referred to as minute mysteries lateral thinking puzzles or yes no puzzles 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 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 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 Critical thinking and reading logical thinking as well as lateral thinking may all be required to solve a situation puzzle The term lateral thinking was coined by Edward De Bono 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 The term lateral thinking puzzle was popularised by Paul Sloane in his 1992 book Lateral Thinking Puzzlers 1 Contents 1 Example 2 Terminology 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 ReferencesExample editOne situation puzzle would be 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 The question and answer segment might go something like this Question Could the bartender hear him Answer Yes Question Was the bartender angry for some reason A No Question Was the gun a water pistol A No Question Did they know each other from before A No or irrelevant since either way it does not affect the outcome Question Was the man s thank you sarcastic A No or with a small hint No he was genuinely grateful Question Did the man ask for water in an offensive way A No Question Did the man ask for water in some strange way A YesEventually the questions lead up to the conclusion that the man had the hiccups 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 Terminology editYope is a word devised to answer a question with yes and no simultaneously in a sense saying Yes but and No but 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 mu which is often translated as meaning that the question must be unasked as it cannot be answered N a 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 Irrelevant but assume yes 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 loaded See also editTwenty QuestionsFurther reading editEdward De Bono Lateral Thinking Creativity Step by Step Harper amp Row 1973 trade paperback 300 pages ISBN 0 06 090325 2 The rec puzzles archive of situation puzzlesReferences edit Jed Hartman Rec puzzles archive 27 Aug 1998 http www kith org logos things sitpuz lateral html nbsp Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Lateral thinking puzzles Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Situation puzzle amp oldid 1140342210, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
