278-Lateral Thinking Puzzles

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions. Intro: Ixonia, Wisconsin, was named at random. Ben Franklin harnessed the power of long-term interest to make large gifts to Boston and Philadelphia. The sources for this week's puzzles are below. In two places we've included links to further information -- these contain spoilers, so don't click until you've listened to the episode: Puzzle #1 is from listener Gabriel Bizcarra. Puzzle #2 is adapted from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 2014 book Remarkable Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Puzzle #3 is from Greg. Puzzle #4 is from listener Peter Quinn. Puzzle #5 is from Greg. Here are two links. Puzzle #6 is from Sharon. Two links. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!