How Could a Baby Fall Out of a Twenty-story Building Onto the Ground and Live?

NOTE: People like to debate the answers. The actual answers are not important. It is the thought process that you go through that is most interesting. In many cases there are multiple valid answers. Enjoy!

1. If a sun dial is the time piece with the fewest moving parts, what time piece has the most moving parts? An hour glass. (Most people leap to something really complex, like atomic clocks or even the universe. Sometimes the simplest solution is best.)

2. A woman goes to the hardware store to make a purchase. She can buy 6 for $6, 12 for $12, and 24 for $12. What is the woman buying? House numbers. Each number costs $6. (Most people assume that 6, 12, and 24 imply a weight or quantity. See how your mind works?)

3. How could a baby fall out of a 15 story building and live? The baby falls out of a first floor window of a 15 story building. (When you hear 15 story building, we automatically interpret that as the baby falls out of the 15th story window.)

4. In a town in ancient Greece, there was a law stating that all men must be clean-shaven and that no man might shave himself. The only person allowed to shave these people was the licensed town barber. Since the barber was bound by the same law. Who shaved the barber? The barber was a woman. (When asking, "Who shaved the barber," our mind leaps to an assumption that the barber needs to be shaved.)If I recall, I read this one in an old Isaac Asimov book on paradoxes many years ago.

5. Back in old England, the rich poured the tea into the coffee cups first, followed by the milk. The poor did it the other way around, pouring the milk in the coffee cup first, followed by the tea. Why? The poor could only afford pottery cups that cracked when the hot tea was poured in first. Pouring the milk in first cooled the tea to a safer temperature. The rich could afford bone china which did not crack. Therefore they would pour the hot water in first to let everyone know they could afford the more expensive cups. (Most people leap to a solution about the cost of milk versus the cost of tea.)NOTE: I am not 100% sure this is true, but it is a good story nonetheless.

6. Train A and train B are crossing the country, from coast to coast, over 3,000 miles of railroad track. Train A is going from east to west at 80 miles per hour, and Train B is going from west to east at 90 miles per hour. Which train will be closer to the west coast when they meet? When they meet, they are the same distance from the west coast. (How many of you tried to solve this via a mathematical calculation?)

7. Take two apples from five apples. How many do you have? Two. If you take two, you have two. (This one is a little play on words.)

8. Do they have Fourth of July in England? Yes, and they also have a Fifth of July. (Again, another play on words.)

9. What was the biggest ocean in the world before Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513? The Pacific Ocean. (Our mind leaps to discovery equaling existence. Obviously all oceans existed before they were discovered.)

10. A dog is tied to a 15 foot leash. How can the dog reach a bone 20 feet away? The leash is only tied to the dog. The other end is loose. (Leashes are typically tied to something to restrain a dog. So we assume that is the case here.) There is also another answer that is depicted in the image below: the dog is on a 15 foot leash that is attached to both the pole and the dog, yet the dog can easily get to the bone which is 20 feet away.

I've been collecting lateral brain teasers since I was a young child. I love how they trick the brain. They are a form of mental magic. I remember sending these to colleagues back in the mid-1980s when I was working on a large project. Because I have been collecting them for so long, I am not sure of the original sources.

How Could a Baby Fall Out of a Twenty-story Building Onto the Ground and Live?

Source: https://stephenshapiro.com/lateral-brain-teaser-answers/

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