Comments on Existence is Wonderful: A Real Life Lateral Thinking Puzzle

Yay! I am a lateral thinker! (Do I get a certifica...

2010-09-16T07:47:10.846-07:00

Yay! I am a lateral thinker! (Do I get a certificate?) ;-)

Blork: And we have a winner! You wrote: <...

2010-09-04T10:35:33.650-07:00

Blork: And we have a winner!

You wrote: "For example, if you had taken off the diffuser to change the bulb, and had placed the diffuser on the table (on top of the scrapbook paper) then the standard array of dried up flying insects that always accumulate in such fixtures might have fallen out onto the paper."

That, in fact, is exactly what happened. The previous evening, the light had burned out, and my partner had changed the bulb. I'd been busy with something else at the time and had only half paid attention to this, so it took me a few minutes to recall the bulb change and figure that Matt had probably put the diffuser on the table during the process.

I purposely didn't mention anything being done to the light in my post because that would have given away the solution (obviously). That's part of how lateral thinking puzzles work...you basically offer only a few bare facts about a situation and then the challenge is to infer a rational explanation for how the situation came about.

I find these sorts of puzzles interesting in part because they generally involve needing some bit of scientific or physical knowledge -- in this case, I see the significant bit of critical background info as being the fact that insects tend to be attracted to lights. So, in any case, good job!

My inclination is that it has something to do with...

2010-09-04T08:55:03.709-07:00

My inclination is that it has something to do with the overhead light, but you would have had to do something with the fixture in order for that to be involved. For example, if you had taken off the diffuser to change the bulb, and had placed the diffuser on the table (on top of the scrapbook paper) then the standard array of dried up flying insects that always accumulate in such fixtures might have fallen out onto the paper.

But you didn't mention having done anything with the lamp.

Another possibility -- again based on speculation of activities not mentioned -- is that you have previously stored the scrapbook paper in the wire storage bin, in a shelf below where you had stored some fruit. Over time, some various fruit flies that were partying with the fruit met their ends and died on the scrapbook paper, which you later moved to the table without noticing it was a tiny graveyard.

...or something like that!

My initial best-guess is the light-bulb continued ...

2010-09-03T19:14:50.064-07:00

My initial best-guess is the light-bulb continued to influence the gnats flying behavior, and some/all of them injured themselves, by bouncing into the light-fixture, to a point where they could no longer fly in a stable way and/or feed themselves. The random assortment of paper and/or art-supplies may have been enough of a secondary-attraction for the gnats to seek resting-spots and/or food.