A test for you (not football related)

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A father was taking his son to school on his way to work one day when their car was involved in a serious accident. The rescue services managed to cut the boy free, but he was unconscious and badly hurt. Whilst they continued to try to free the boy's father, the son was rushed to a nearby hospital. Soon, the boy was wheeled into the operating theatre, where the surgical team, headed by the senior surgeon, were already waiting, scrubbed and gowned.

As the boy was being lifted onto the table, the surgeon looked at him and quickly stepped back, saying "I can't operate on this boy - he's my son".

Does this make sense? It's obvious if you know the answer, but I bet you have to think a bit otherwise?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

Answers

More of a memory exercise than a cryptic one these days but it is still a very good teaser, which I am not going to reveal the answer to, yet!

Clues can be made available.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


So you will realise that this is really my take on a discussion on a different thread - but it would have been too much of a giveaway to post it there (clue).

Are you a fan of Douglas Hofstadter, de B?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


To spoil a good thread......I will pitch in and say.....the answer is....the sugeon is the boy's mother

80)

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Aye a good one, just worked it out. Rather worried now that it took me so long, I didn't realise I fell so easily into those stereotypes.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

That's a real mother of a question.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Ok Ok, so once you've seen it it's easy. But be honest - the first time you saw it, was it obvious? It still horrifies me how flummoxed it had me the first time.

I saw it in a Hofstadter book a few years ago, which also contained an extremely challenging parody imagining a parallel universe in which different races had different titles and whites defended the use of 'ble' and 'bler' for s/he and her/his for black people (who also had to be identified as married or unmarried by their titles, unlike whites). Provocative.

Now please transport this thread onto the end of the 'five things a man...' thread.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Hey Pit Bill......that's exactly what I said......however I wrote it in White so that people had to highlight it to see what it said!

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

Another old one....

In your cellar there are three light switches in the OFF position. Each switch controls 1 of 3 light bulbs on floor above. You may move any of the switches but you may only go upstairs to inspect the bulbs one time. How can you determine the switch for each bulb with one inspection??

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Think I've cracked this one Gav. Does it depend on being able to do slightly more than look when you go upstairs?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

It does...

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


I seem to remember this one from yonks ago on the old BBS, so, not having the brains I was born with, and catching on to ITK's laterally thought out clue to the surgeon one, nothing further will be heard from me on this subject.

Except why use ten words when a hundred will do ?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Gav - 1 asked that question in an interview (standard company bow locks is to ask candidates sh1te) and their response made me piss myself. First came 6 times, 1 explained that perhaps a more lateral approach was needed and suggested maybe a different sense to sight........taste it? was the response. 1 wet the floor.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

Nasty question for an interview surely Scratchy? I'd not like it.....interviews can be stressful enough without someone trying to trip you up :))

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

Temperature :-)

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

And the oldest one of the lot. Two doors, one leads to freedom, one to death. You don't know which is which. A guard stands in front of each door...One guard always tells the truth, one always lies. You don't know which is which. You can only ask one question of one guard. What do you ask?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001


Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2001

Ask one guard "what would the other guard say if I asked him (or her!!) which door leads to certain death"!!!

Then go through the opposite door

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001


A man has 3 Gold bars each weighing 2 pounds each, The man weighs 140 pounds. The man wants to cross a bridge with all three bars, the bridge is 500 yards long, and can carry a total weight of 144 pounds. How does the man cross the bridge with All three bars in one crossing??

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Juggling?? Can't come up with anything else.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Thats Correct.

How about A fully clothed man is lying in a field dead. next to him is an unopened backpack, there is snow all around , There are no footprints around and no open wounds on the body.

How did the man die?

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001


Parachute didn't open?

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Give up while im behind eh!!

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

No, don't stop now I'm enjoying these!!

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

he died of a heart attack before the snow fell....

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

.... only recently mind .... so the snow melted off his still warm body :-)

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

I'm still waiting to see this bloke juggle three 2lb gold bars while walking 500 yards across a rickety bridge.

I'll bet he drinks Carling Black Label.



-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

He's called Mike Hooper Jonno ;-)

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

A man has to get a fox, a chicken and a sack of corn across a river. He has a rowingboat, and it can carry him and one other thing. If the fox and the chicken are left together, the fox will devour the chicken, If the chicken and the corn are left together the chicken will scoff the corn. How is it done????

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

(Chicken)
>------------------------------>Fox,Corn

v(Fox)
Corn<---------------------------<

(Corn)v
>------------------------------->Chicken
v(Chicken)
Fox<----------------------------<

>------------------------------->Fox,Corn
(Chicken)



-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001


OK Clever cloggs!!!

A Train leaves London heading to Newcastle at 100 Mph 2 hours later a train leaves Newcastle heading for London at 150Mph. Assume theres exactly 300 miles between London and Newcastle. When they meet which train will be the closest to Newcastle????

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001


Identical distance where they meet eachother.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Thank you and Goodnight.........

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

I think that's a trick question. They will never meet as both will derail not far from their points of departure travelling at that speed. :-)

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

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