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.

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.

"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.

Puzzles - Clues - Answers_

f you pride yourself on thinking outside the box, then you'll love The Everything Lateral Thinking Puzzles Book! With hundreds of fun and imaginative problems for avid puzzlers like you, this all-in-one guide presents ridiculous scenarios that you can actually solve with simple common sense-and a little creativity! Organized by puzzle type and subject matter, simple and challenging riddles abound in this interactive book. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned expert, you'll test your wits with such tantalizing puzzles as this one: Puzzle: A doctor mixed a batch of medicine for his client and then drank it down himself. Why? Clues: 1. It tasted good! 2. It worked better with a straw. Solution: Coca-Cola was invented when a doctor was mixing headache medication to taste good. The approval board found that the medicine tasted better than it worked, so they carbonated the liquid and then marketed it!

Chosen from nearly 18 collections, the authors' favorite lateral thinking puzzles are put together in one volume.

The noted expert selects 70 of his favorite "short" puzzles, including such mind-bogglers as The Returning Explorer, The Mutilated Chessboard, Scrambled Box Tops, and dozens more involving logic and basic math. Solutions included.