go to third KLT set
Here is the second set of the best ‘Kosher’ lateral thinking puzzles. As before, you need to be able to think ‘outside the box’ in order to solve these puzzles. Nothing in them should be taken for granted - nothing is obvious. Read each very carefully. Look for the answer that best answers the question and facts given. Best of luck.
The answers to these puzzles can be found by clicking here - ANSWERS
(KLT#21) Who messed
up the lawn?
Max was walking
past Benny’s house one day when he noticed 5 pieces of coal, a carrot and
a scarf lying on Benny’s lawn. He thought that was odd so he knocks on
Benny’s door and asks, “Why did you put those bits and pieces on your lawn,
Benny?”
“I didn’t put them
there,” says Benny,“ in fact, nobody put them on my lawn. But there is
a perfectly logical reason for their being there.”
WHAT IS THAT REASON?
(KLT#22) The taxi
driver mystery
Rebecca was in a
taxi on her way home. Max, the taxi driver, knew she was a well-known chatterbox
and didn’t want to engage in conversation with her. So he pretended to
be deaf and dumb. He pointed to his ears and mouth to indicate to her that
he couldn’t hear or speak. This ruse seemed to work. The journey was peacefully
silent.
When they arrived
and Rebecca had got out the taxi, Max pointed to his meter. Rebecca
looked at the meter, read what she owed him, paid him and walked off. But
she almost immediately realised that Max couldn’t have been a deaf mute.
HOW DID SHE KNOW
THIS?
(KLT#23) The special
book mystery
Moshe was talking
to Jonathan one day.
“In one of my books,
Jonathan, the end is in the first half of the book and the preface is in
the second half. Not only that,” said Moshe, “but the foreword comes after
the epilogue, and the index precedes the introduction.”
“That’s amazing,”
said Jonathan, “What kind of book is that?”
HOW DID MOSHE ANSWER?
(KLT#24) The car
park scam
Saul owned a private
outdoor car park. His charges were £1 per hour or £5 for the
whole day.
One snowy winter
evening, Saul arrived to lock up for the night. He asked his attendant,
“So how much did we take today, John?”
John replied, “Sorry
boss, we only took £50. We had just 10 cars in and they parked all
day. The last one has just left.”
Saul quickly deduced
that John was lying to him about the receipts.
HOW DID JOHN COME
TO THIS DECISION WITHOUT ASKING JOHN TO SHOW HIM ALL THE RECEIPTS?
(KLT#25) Abe the
Great’s Achilles heel
It’s hard to believe
I know, but Abe is the strongest man in the world. Calling himself Abe
The Great, he won the title in 2001 and has held it ever since. His speciality
is lifting heavy weights above his head and holding them there longer than
anyone else can.
One day, his friend
Cyril asks him, “What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever held, Abe?”
Abe replies, “There
is one thing that weighs almost nothing yet I always find it impossible
to hold for more than a few minutes.”
WHAT IS IT?
(KLT#26) The sauna
murder mystery
Avrahom and his
3 friends Yitzhak, Benny and Hyman were members of their local health and
fitness club. But as you would have guessed, they didn’t exert themselves
much at the club – maybe a game of cards or a short swim. One day all four
of them went for a session in the sauna. They got undressed and entered
the empty steam room. Avrahom had brought his latest (and expensive) Sony
walkman with him, Benny had brought his solid silver thermos flask with
him, whilst Yitzhak and Hyman had brought books to read. 15 minutes after
they had entered the steam filled room, a loud cry of pain was heard. Immediately,
the manager came in to investigate and found one of Avrahom’s friends dead.
He immediately barred anyone from entering or leaving the room and called
the police. When the police arrived, they discovered that the man had died
from a stab wound to the chest. Yet all they found in the sauna were
the body (of course), Avrahom and his 2 remaining friends, 2 books, an
empty thermos flask and a walkman. They couldn’t find any weapon and they
confirmed that no one else had entered or left the steam room since the
murder.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED?
(KLT#27) The case
of the missing night
Lionel is that rarest
of people, a Jewish polo player. Whilst playing polo on Good Friday,
Lionel injures his leg in a fall and his friends immediately take him to
hospital. He spends just 2 nights there and leaves on the Monday.
HOW CAN THIS BE
SO?
(KLT#28) The taxi
murder mystery
Moshe calls for
a taxi to pick him up from his hotel. When it arrives, Moshe gets in and
tells Harry, the driver, where he wants to go. Nothing further is said
by either man. Harry then drives Moshe to a secluded spot by a railway
line and kills Moshe. Harry and Moshe had never met before and Harry’s
behaviour was completely uncharacteristic of someone known to be kind and
placid.
WHAT WAS THE MOTIVE
OF THE KILLING?
(KLT#29) The wet
and dry mystery
Melvyn has two passengers
in his car as he drives slowly through Edgware - one is in the front and
the other in the back. When they arrive at their destination, they meet
up with 4 others. As they all get out, it starts to rain heavily. Six of
them start walking fast but still get wet. However, the passenger from
the back of Melvyn’s car remains completely dry, even though he makes no
attempt to hurry and is wearing no hat, coat or umbrella.
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
(KLT#30) The high
finance problem
Benjamin took a
chance. He moved his car from Pall Mall to a hotel on the Strand but soon
discovered that the move would bankrupt him.
HOW?
(KLT#31) The Car
Crash mystery
Unfortunately, Moshe
and his son Simon are involved in a car crash. Although Moshe does not
survive and dies at the scene of the accident, Simon is extracted alive
from the wreck and is rushed to hospital. When Simon arrives at the hospital,
the surgeon who is waiting to operate on him says, “I can’t operate on
this boy, he is my son.”
HOW CAN THIS BE?
(KLT#32) The black
out mystery
Issy is walking
down a black street dressed all in black – he is wearing black shoes, black
socks, black trousers, a black pullover, black gloves and a black balaclava.
Even the streetlights in the black street are off. Suddenly, a black Mercedes,
with its lights off, speeds towards Issy. But at the last moment, the car
screeches to a halt in front of him.
HOW DID THE MERCEDES
DRIVER SEE ISSY IN TIME?
(KLT#33) The case
of the lucky man
Isaac went early
to his friend’s party. As soon as he got there, Isaac drank a glass of
punch from the punch bowl. But he then received an urgent message
and left the party early. He later found out that everyone else at the
party who drank some punch subsequently died of poisoning.
WHY DIDN’T ISAAC
ALSO DIE?
(KLT#34) The mysterious
barman
Hymie goes into
a wine bar, of all places. He goes up to the barman and says, “Glass of
water, please.”
The barman immediately
takes a gun from under the bar and points it at Hymie’s head in a menacing
fashion.
Hymie looks at the
barman and says, “Thank you.” He then walks out of the bar.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
(KLT#35) A case
of tattoo artistry
Would you believe
it but Moshe wants a tattoo on his arm. He goes into town to check out
the only two practicing tattooists there so he can decide which one to
use.
The first parlour
Moshe visits was a bit run down. The tattooist there shows Moshe his arm
- on it was a recent tattoo of an alligator. But Moshe is not very impressed.
The second parlour
he visits was quite smart and nicely decorated. The tattooist there shows
Moshe a recent tattoo of a ring-necked parakeet on his arm. This tattoo
is very good and quite artistic. Moshe is very impressed, yet he decides
to go back to the first tattoo parlour to have the work done.
WHY DID MOSHE CHOOSE
THE FIRST TATTOOIST?
(KLT#36) Falling
out of love mystery
Melvyn lives in
a lovely seaside town on the South coast with his wife Hetty. One day,
after he has a blazing row with Hetty, Melvyn rushes out of the house in
a terrible mood. A little later, he jumps head first over a very high sheer
cliff face. But that evening, he returns home to Hetty, completely unharmed.
HOW?
(KLT#37) The strange
case of the dog’s ball
Benjamin is a lovely,
but naughty, King Charles spaniel. His owners are out shopping and he is
in the garden wearing a muzzle and tied to a 10metre lead. Benjamin then
sees a nice ball to play with but the ball is 20metres away. Yet soon,
Benjamin is playing with the ball.
HOW DID BENJAMIN
GET THE BALL EVEN THOUGH NO ONE ELSE WAS IN THE GARDEN AND THE BALL DID
NOT ROLL TO HIM?
(KLT#38) The Polar
expedition decision
Shlomo, Abe, Issy
and Louis were on an expedition together to the North Pole and, not surprisingly,
were in difficulties. They were facing a freezing night and were down to
their last match. They have a small gas fire, an oil lamp and a stove full
of wood.
WHICH SHOULD THEY
LIGHT FIRST TO SURVIVE THE FREEZING NIGHT?
(KLT#39) The case
of the strange holidaymaker
London in April
is well known for being very rainy and all the locals wear raincoats. But
not Avrahom from Tel Aviv. He is on holiday in London and has no coat or
hat or umbrella. After a nice afternoon tea he decides to go back to his
hotel by walking across St James Park. When Avrahom gets back to his hotel,
he is bone dry.
HOW?
(KLT#40) The mysterious
directions
Benjamin and Hyman
get lost while walking in the forest.
(Serves them right,
you might say, for being in a forest rather than at home with their lovely
families)
Benjamin starts
walking in a northerly direction and Hyman starts walking in a southerly
direction. 15 minutes later, they meet each other.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?
(KLT#41) The strange
case of a lovers tiff
Rifka has invited
a group of her friends round to her house one evening. They are all sitting
around a table when Rifka asks Moshe to hold her hand, then goes into the
kitchen to get some drinks. When Rifka returns, all the others are accusing
Moshe of being a cheat.
WHY ARE THEY CALLING
MOSHE A CHEAT? BOTH HE AND RIFKA ARE SINGLE, SO WHY ALL THE FUSS?
(KLT#42) The bus
driver mystery
Sidney is 14 years
old and is about to leave to go to Brent Cross shopping centre to get some
new shoes. He says goodbye to his dad, who is half asleep in his favourite
armchair, and goes to catch the bus. Sidney only has to wait for two minutes
before his bus arrives. Old Mrs Levy gets onto the bus just before Sidney.
The bus driver smiles at Mrs Levy and says, “That’s my son just behind
you.”
HOW CAN THIS BE
TRUE?
go to third set
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