lat-puzz.com

by **Balin** » Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:28 pm

It's been over a year. Time to freshen this up.

(As always, can a mod who knows how to pin this to the top of the page please pin this to the top of the page?)

by **WiZ** » Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:08 pm

Aww, I thought this was a new puzzle!

The Chatroom = HAM = 'this'?

by **LemonCurry** » Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:30 pm

The quiet person that I am, today is the first time I have reached 1000 posts on any one internet forum...

by **Doriana** » Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:32 pm

Congratulations!

by **Earnest** » Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:45 pm

LemonCurry you could have done a puzzle on this. Congrats! By the way we should make a pre-COVID Chatroom and a post-COVID one xD

by **WiZ** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:20 pm

Post-COVID? You're an eternal optimist, Earnest. Even we thought we got rid of it, but then we made a bad decision with some desirable foreigners and became re-infected by Putin's seamen.

Also, how 'bout that electoral college? Without it, tens of millions of Americans would have had a good night's sleep last night and not alcohol poisoning. Thinking of you, my American friends, in this difficult and uncertain time.

by **Balin** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:42 pm

Appreciate it, WiZ. I was spared alcohol poisoning by virtue of not having had alcohol but did wake up at 1 AM and was unable to sleep due to electoral stress. It has been an especially rough electoral runup.

by **Doriana** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:33 pm

Super stressed out about the election (and I'm not even American) to the point that I misread "electoral runup" as "electoral prenup". Keeping my fingers crossed for my American friends!

by **WiZ** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:54 pm

"In case of dissolution, both parties are entitled to 50% of the states".

by **GalFisk** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 10:11 pm

"...arranged, as far as possible, in a checkerboard pattern."

by **Balin** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:05 pm

Doriana - I still remember during our meet-up in New York that our discussion veered into whether Trump had a chance of winning in 2016. We saw how that turned out. Hoping there's no repeat.

(And "electoral prenup" is far better than anything the U.S. political system currently spews.)

by **Hobbsicle** » Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:00 am

I don’t see what everyone’s so worked up about. Both candidates claimed victory! That sounds like a real win-win to me.

by **WiZ** » Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:05 am

My hearty congratulations to the Republocrat party as they lead America into a new age of prosperity with their unanimous mandate.

by **irishelk** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 1:39 pm

The Chatroom has become untethered from its moorings! Row, fools, row back to the top of the page!

But seriously, thank you everyone for your well wishes to our lost and confused nation. I too am not sleeping much currently. But hey, reading a lot of bitter and sarcastic memes. So there's that.

by **trebor** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 7:25 pm

Congratulations, America. You made the right choice.

by **Earnest** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 5:36 pm

Post-COVID? You're an eternal optimist, Earnest. Even we thought we got rid of it, but then we made a bad decision with some desirable foreigners and became re-infected by Putin's seamen. --> Yes that's globalization. Same in Italy after the summer...but I mean....media in Italy use to be pessimistic (not realistic) and 80% of the news is about COVID...anxious right? I want to be optimistic on that...at least try to stay. Hope not to contradict myself in a later post xD

BTW congrats USA!!!!

$POILER for Admins: maybe in order to position the Chatroom always on the top of the page you have to open the sources of the webpage and make the div<> element of the post called chatroom fixed on the top. Something like this maybe???:

div.fixed {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
width: 300px;
border: 3px solid #73AD21;
}

by **WiZ** » Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:51 am

I'm relieved that it's over, and relieved at the result. Time to move on and fix things that are hard to fix. I wish Biden, and a hundred million centrists, courage.

by **peter365** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:54 am

HI folks

I've worked my spell on this so it should remain at the top of the page.

by **Earnest** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 5:00 pm

I've worked my spell on this so it should remain at the top of the page.

how did you do that. If it is a spell PM me xD

by **peter365** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:11 am

Ha Ha for spell read moderator priviledges.

Happy birthday to WiZ

by **WiZ** » Tue Nov 24, 2020 2:59 am

Thank you, Peter.

It didn't take long for me to have to tick my first 35-44 box - I was browsing my Facebook feed for birthday messages and found a link to a COVID-related survey from an American university. Sure enough, one of the very first questions. Gender's still the same, though.

by **Balin** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:14 am

The Christmas puzzle is complete and will be up sometime Tuesday. It's styled somewhat differently than previous WCPs, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

by **Doriana** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:47 pm

To celebrate my 10th LTPF anniversary, I posted a rerun of my very first LTPF puzzle. I haven't been the most reliable forum member over the years, but the LTPF is an awesome place and I love coming back after disappearing for months or years :lol:

by **TDGperson** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:18 am

What are some guidelines for when I should consider a puzzle to be solved?

For example, if the solution is some specific but obscure concept (such as the name of a certain mathematical object), should I wait until someone mentioned its name, or should I call it solved when someone figured out most of its properties?

by **Hobbsicle** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:39 pm

TDGperson: Although it's ultimately up to you (the forum is a good place to experiment), you'll find that generally puzzles won't require specific or obscure knowledge, for three reasons. 1) It makes it less intimidating and more accessible to the average person. There won't be that "aha" moment if people don't have the knowledge to "aha" with. 2) The base of users on this forum is pretty small, and the likelihood that someone holds a particular bit of obscure knowledge is even smaller. 3) People will generally avoid Googling; in some puzzles, that will spoil it too early.

That isn't to say that you won't see puzzles whose full solution contains specific knowledge (I've seen some with in-depth historical or medical information in them), but the puzzle is generally set up so that it can be solved without it. So I wouldn't need to specifically say that it was the "1236 Treaty of Kremmen" and which entities entered into the treaty, but I would guess the general circumstances around it, for example, that make it particularly interesting and "lateral", and the puzzle author will then fill in the details in the final solution.

That said, it could perhaps be interesting to experiment with puzzles that specifically allow and encourage extensive Googling. But it would need to be clear up front what people are searching for so that we aren't hunting for extraneous details.

As an example with your previous puzzle about the elliptic curves, I was a math major for a bit before I switched majors, and I've read an entire book (written for the layman) about Fermat's Last Theorem, but I still either didn't know or didn't remember anything about Weierstrass's functions, so I wouldn't have found it without doing some research. The "aha" moment of that puzzle came mainly from realizing that the objects in question were mathematical curves (of some kind) that relate to a torus, that they are used to make equations that help with cryptography, and MAYBE Fermat's Last Theorem, though that is still specific, but it's a little less obscure, perhaps.

by **WiZ** » Sun Dec 06, 2020 7:42 pm

Think of it this way: the most celebrated lateral puzzle of all time would not be the most celebrated lateral puzzle of all time if the solution hinged on the umbrella man being an achondroplastic dwarf.

by **Earnest** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:07 pm

I premise that, as all the community might know, I am not an "inventor of puzzles" but I rather solve them extensively. Hence as as an average "puzzle consumer" I would recommend to go deep but not too deep as well. What I would like to share with you in order both to better exemplify the concept that I guess we are all trying to say and, at the same time, balance the need to go deep when it deals with math, is the book "Mathematical Lateral thinking Puzzles" of Sloane and Des MacHale ([url](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... AdAAAAABAD)[/url]. Now I think that this is a perfect example of balanced between not too in depth mathematical concepts and lateral bites . Personally I found the book very interesting, and also, having a major in Economics but actually doing a PhD in Machine Learning, very instructive.

Bottom line: TDGperson I personally encourage you to carry on with mathematical puzzles since I think that once one is able to laterally think at mathematics, all the abstractions are just a little barrier. But, if you want to make them more appealing and know when it's time to spoil a solution, I recommend you to take a look at this book. Really suggested for all of you guys!

by **GalFisk** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:40 pm

Did any of you watch the Starship test flight? That was amazing!

by **Hobbsicle** » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:22 pm

I watched some clips, including the, er, fireworks finale. Really cool.

Also, happy birthday to Balin! 29 years old. You’re in your prime. Next year, you won’t be. The year after, you will be again.

by **Balin** » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:39 pm

Thanks Hobbs! (As I'm in grad school for teaching math, I'll be borrowing that joke for use and re-use.)

by **WiZ** » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:47 pm

You even nabbed reply #29 in the Chatroom. Happy birthday. May you live a long and happy life, or be found dead in a field clutching a broken match, whichever is your preference.

Speaking of stealing jokes, don't forget in 3 years time to use the one about only being able to celebrate for half a minute.

by **WiZ** » Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:52 pm

Also, is there a snappy way to define 'FA lurking'? I know it means 'This is the most correct answer at face value but I acknowledge that at least one obvious interpretation of it would be incorrect or lead your mind down an irrelevant path' but that lacks a certain punch.

by **Earnest** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 9:37 am

Happy birthday!!!!

by **irishelk** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:53 pm

How about this, WiZ: "If I were a robot I would just give a straight answer, but as a fellow human, I recognize, and feel you are owed a heads-up, that you are heading down the wrong path."

by **WiZ** » Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:58 pm

Interesting. Are they necessarily on the wrong path, though? I think there's an element of presupposition there - the setter is acknowledging 'yes, I think I know where you're going with this question; I will answer both it and the one I believe (rightly or wrongly) you are going to ask next'.

by **Hobbsicle** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:57 am

A lateral Christmas story: I received an email from a listener to my podcast, with something of a complaint. She had been enjoying the podcast with her family on a road trip, "up until the point where you spoiled Santa Claus. While I'm sure my kiddo had some doubts, I was hoping for one more holiday with the magic."

Racking my brain as to when I might have done that, I realized that it was when I had shared WiZ's puzzle, "Two Words", in which he writes the "From Santa" gift tags for a neighbor, because the neighbor's kids would recognize their father's handwriting. Little did WiZ know that, by helping a neighbor child keep believing in Santa Claus, he would spoil that belief for a child across the world.

I apologized and told her that I would add a heads-up to the episode to avoid the situation in the future, and she was gracious and understanding, but the mischievous part of me wanted to suggest she tell her child that it's not that Santa isn't real, it's just that he doesn't visit New Zealanders.

by **WiZ** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 2:07 am

What, you think the one OECD country without any active community transmission is going to open its borders to some bastard who goes to literally every house in the world?

We've had to delegate the responsibility this year, which is why our unemployment rate is tracking well below all forecasts in the wake of lockdown.

by **Earnest** » Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:37 am

Guys sorry for my absence but I needed a stop. Btw I would like to wish you all a very lateral Christmas with delay and a happy new Year. Hobbsicle, where can I find your podcasts in Italy? iTunes Store?

by **Admin** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:16 pm

Happy New Year to all puzzlers.

I hope that 2021 is better for you and for all of us.

by **Balin** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 3:10 pm

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to a joyful 2021.

I've posted the 2020 POTY thread. Could a mod please pin it to the top of the Active page? (I know I'm a mod, but I cannot figure out how to get the thread to stay in place, a la the Chatroom.)

by **Hobbsicle** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 5:43 pm

Yes, Earnest, should be able to find it on iTunes or Spotify, or a number of other places. “Brain Drop Puzzles” is the name of it.

by **Enjay** » Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:53 pm

Hobbsicle - I really enjoyed your podcast!

by **WiZ** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 3:27 am

Happy (belated) New Year, everyone! Tau hou hari! I hope 2021 brings... well, an end to this flipping plague. And some degree of continued mental stability and financial security for you and your loved ones. Funny how your wish-list changes at times like this.

by **Lynne** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 4:09 pm

Hello friends! Maybe I should make this a lateral puzzle, but I think I am one of the few in the world who actually came out of lockdown in 2020.

I had been housebound since February 2016 due to being unable to walk any distance. I finally had a hip replacement last January (having had my op cancelled twice). Since then I have been able to take a walk each and every day, either round the local streets or round the town park. I still need to use one crutch due to separate balance issues but I feel I've rejoined the human race.

The gentle rhythm of life at home with just the two of us is OK but of course I miss our family. We saw them briefly last August but didn't get over to Norfolk to spend Christmas with the wider family. We've gone no more than one trip of 25 miles since Easter 2019. Of course, all hoped for trips have been delayed for the forseeable future.

I've learned to look for the positives, while sympathising deeply with those who have suffered significant losses of any kind.

May 2021 be kind to you.

by **irishelk** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:44 pm

Thank you for sharing that Lynne, and I'm glad to hear that your recovery has progressed so much! I too hope we all have a much improved 2021.

by **trebor** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 5:19 am

Congratulations, Lynne! What an ordeal the last several years must have been for you. Where do you live? Is your region handling COVID well enough that you can enjoy some of your new freedoms?

I am coming off the end (kind of reluctantly, if I'm honest) of my ten-day quarantine. My partner and I had been isolating as best we could, but I was still being made to go into the office for one of my jobs, and I contracted COVID sometime in late December. The numbers here are still staggeringly high, and once I at least realized that neither I nor my partner were going to require hospitalization, I was enjoying the knowledge that I didn't have to go into the office and worry about catching COVID for a while. Although the first few days of having symptoms, waiting for the results, the guilt of having given it to my partner, not knowing how bad it was going to get, trying to think of if I had any close contacts, etc. were pretty awful.

The virus, for both of us, was mild, so we were lucky. I'd bought a HEPA air purifier to do my best to try to trap the particles the virus could latch onto in my office, worn 3-ply, polypropylene masks, taken my students at my other job online (I'm a piano teacher in the evening), and petitioned my day job numerous times to allow us to work from home. It was incredibly angering that some of my elected officials (not in the party I support, at least) took Hawaiian vacations and appear to be fine, whereas we cut our contacts, did curbside pickup for all our shopping, cancelled Christmas, and avoided seeing friends and all that and we still got it. But my province has just over a million people total population, and we broke 400 daily new cases yesterday, so...

by **Earnest** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:03 am

Happy for you Lynne. Hobbsicle very cool podcasts!!!

by **WiZ** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:26 pm

Trebor: Commiserations on the rubbish Christmas present, but I'm pleased that yours was a mild case. I hope that there are no further complications.

Looking at the numbers you posted, I'm guessing you're a Saskatchewanian?

by **trebor** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:03 am

Correct, WiZ!

by **Lynne** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:47 am

We live in the heart of the Land of Eng and the region is typical of the rest of the country. We were put into Tier 4 and now full lockdown but it's made no difference to our lifestyle as we get food deliveries as much as possible, and a trip to the park daily is as far as we go. I was angry beyond measure at our stupid Prime Minister out cycling 7 miles from his home when two women were fined for driving 5 miles to a reservoir to take a distanced walk. Their fine was cancelled, no doubt due to the PM. BTW someone we know had the vaccine before Christmas and has now tested positive for Covid.

by **Hobbsicle** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:21 am

Thanks, Enjay and Earnest! And glad you're doing alright, Trebor.

I'm working on compiling some more lateral thinking puzzles for another "season" of my podcast, and would like to get some more puzzles that I don't already know the answer to (so I can have others host the puzzles on occasion). If you've been on the forum for a while, and have authored some puzzles you like from, say, 2016 or earlier, then consider messaging me some links. Could be a fun way to revisit some old puzzles you've made. The ones that work best are typically on the easier side, solved in around 20 posts or less on the forum, or otherwise succinct in the answer. You'd get credit for anything used. WiZ, Balin, and IrishElk had some puzzles on there last season.

by **Admin** » Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:40 am

Hi Hobbsicle,
What is the link for your podcast please?

by **Hobbsicle** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 3:14 pm

Hi, a few links to the major hosts (iTunes, Spotify, Google) can be found at https://braindroppodcast.com/about. You can also listen directly from that site, plus it's on various other podcasting services, if you search "Brain Drop Puzzles". Thanks for checking it out!

by **irishelk** » Sun Feb 07, 2021 3:32 pm

Ooh, heard one of Galfisk's puzzles on the new Futility Closet episode, well done!

by **peter365** » Mon Feb 08, 2021 3:31 pm

HI all, sorry i haven;t been as active as i once was on the forum of late. Working from home for nigh on a year now has left me little appetite for any online activity come down time. I've a few ideas for puzzles so I'll be getting back into the swing of things. Hope you're all doing well and keeping safe.

by **Eden** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:08 am

Glad to be a part of lateralpuzzles.com

by **Liquizt** » Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:45 pm

Hello Everyone!

I've been gone so long my username was available again and I could re-register with it... (^_^')

I've got some puzzle ideas but I'll warm up first by solving a few

by **peter365** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 3:38 pm

Welcome back Liquizt. I remember you well from the old days.

by **peter365** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 3:45 pm

Eden wrote:Glad to be a part of lateralpuzzles.com

Hi Eden , welcome to the forum. I took the liberty of moving your greeting to the chatroom rather than as a stand alone topic in the archives.

Happy puzzling .

by **JenBurdoo** » Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:18 am

Long time no see, Liquizt. And welcome to Eden!

by **Earnest** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:22 am

Hi guys. It's been aa while. I am writing my PhD thesis and my parents got COVID in he meanwhile so it's a quite difficult period. Hopefully I'll be soon back in the forum my lateral friends <3

by **trebor** » Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:24 pm

Best wishes to you and your parents, Earnest.

by **Doriana** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 12:33 pm

Wishing your parents a speedy recovery, Earnest!

by **Earnest** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 5:07 pm

Thank you, guys <3

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:52 pm

Hi, everyone. FAWM is well and truly over, so expect to see more of me in the months to come.

Two bits of minutiae:

* I've started posting a Lateral Puzzle of the Week at work and opening it up to the Property Rights team to solve. This week's one was the one about identifying the single real flower in a room of thousands. Most of the proposed solutions involved fire, weed killer, or waiting for it to die. I have forwarded the responses to HR. My team is not coping well with the 20s.

* My mother has started to insist I call her before her birthday, so I'm no longer wearing the same shirt. Also, my wife fancies me in green, so I now own multiple green shirts. I still like the puzzle.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit, although the rest of you may have to wait a few hours. Cheers.

by **Earnest** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:12 am

Hi Wiz, I did not know about the puzzle of flowers. Assuming that you have enough time to choose it, does the solution involve watering the flowers and choosing the only one that grows?
If instead, you have to choose it on the spot, it might depend on the type of flower (e.g. the true one iss the one still in the bud).

by **WiZ** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:21 pm

Aww, how nice to see a solution that involves nurturing the flower rather than destroying it (and everything around it). The 'patch' I applied to the puzzle to discourage those sorts of solutions was to impose a time limit of one hour - but the solution would not need most of this hour.

by **Admin** » Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:03 pm

Hi,

I am pleased to say that Des MacHale and I have at last got round to doing a podcast. Latest episode is on Lateral Thinking Puzzles and mentions this forum.

On Podbean
https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-wmyqk-58885f

RSS feed
https://feed.podbean.com/laretal/feed.xml

Also available on Amazon Music, Apple iTunes and Spotify podcasts.

Please subscribe and like (if you do).

Thanks

Paul

by **WiZ** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 8:51 pm

Hi, Paul.

I enjoyed your Podcast - was nice to hear your voice (and Des' - I'd seen his name on all the books, but wasn't familiar with his writings and hadn't interacted with him online).

Was a little apprehensive about a second LTP podcast coming out of the forum, but the two have quite a different vibe. I liked the most theoretical and academic side of Desperate and Appauling, whereas Brain Drop reminds me of the evening sessions I'd have with my friends where we'd solve a few puzzles over a beer and some top banter.

by **TDGperson** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:54 am

Hobbsicle wrote: 3) People will generally avoid Googling; in some puzzles, that will spoil it too early.

I see. That's where I went wrong. I thought that after people figured out it was about elliptic curves, they would be able to google things and figure out the rest of the puzzle.

But instead, people got stuck and couldn't make any further progress.

by **Liquizt** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:40 pm

WiZ wrote:This week's one was the one about identifying the single real flower in a room of thousands.

Assuming the "thousands" implies thousands of artificial flowers that resemble the real flower (rather than 'thousands' of people, 'thousands' in money, 'thousands' of images of flowers, 'thousands' of artificial flowers that all look alike but nothing like the real one...), the difficulty of this puzzle lies in knowing which properties of the real flower the artificial ones copy. If it's just the general appearance under the visible spectrum then perhaps the puzzle could be solved by releasing a bee - able to see colours of the real flower that our beyond our human perception, the bee should find it fairly quickly. If you can control conditions of the room such as light, heat, and humidity, the real flower would respond to these in ways artificial ones wouldn't. If we can presume the flowers are all in soil perhaps there's some visible sign of the flower drawing water which we could look for... etc.

I wonder, whether the solution you have in mind would work for an escape room situation in which you are trapped in a room with thousands of artificial flowers lining the floor, walls, and ceiling with one real one among them? Would it still work if the artificial flowers weren't all imitations of the real one but each an imitation of a unique variety?

by **Admin** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:57 pm

Hi Wiz,

Glad you liked the podcast. Please subscribe and catch the latest episodes.

Paul

by **trebor** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:20 pm

Here’s to more puzzling for me in the coming weeks as my contract comes to a terminus and I don’t have 60-hour weeks anymore! Ever so close to the finish line.

by **Admin** » Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:58 pm

In the latest episode of our podcast we discuss wonderful words from banshee to crepuscular and Des sets Paul a tough new lateral thinking puzzle. https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-wmyqk-58885f

by **Earnest** » Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:19 pm

@Admin are you planning to do some other book involving mathematical lateral thinking? I loved that book and to the best of my knowledge I haven't found anything like that on the market

by **Doriana** » Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:13 pm

I don't usually share personal stuff on the forum (except for the things I can turn into puzzles), but I had a rough couple of months, dealing with some mental health stuff and an international move in the middle of a pandemic. So I did what every millennial would do and wrote a short essay about *gestures vaguely at everything*. Hope you're all hanging in there!

by **Earnest** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:52 am

@Doriana. First of all, glad to know your real name. I searched your name on social media but did not manage to find you. Anyway, I really understand you both as a Ph.D. student and as a human being. I had similar issues and still trying to recover as well. Two solutions worked for me for the time being: "take it easy, none is rushing but you" (or Hakuna Matata) and "if others made it, I can do it"

by **WiZ** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:06 pm

Thank you for sharing, Doriana. I'm happy, and a bit touched, that you would want to share this with the LTPF family. We've most of us been at this so long I'd like to think we can reach out to the group for support or a listening ear when we need to.

Life has a way of ganging up on you even when we're not trying to deal with a pandemic. Even if one is coming through it relatively unscathed, it doesn't mean everything else will be easy. I'm glad you were able to do what is right for you and seek help, and equally glad they were able to provide it.

You also write very well, but I've yet to meet anyone from Germany whose English was worse than mine

by **WiZ** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:27 pm

Also, I was reading the Wiki page on Nijmegen and saw that a few of the council seats belonged to the Conservative Liberal Party. I'd love to read some of the policies of the Oxymoron Party.

by **peter365** » Thu Apr 22, 2021 3:26 pm

Hi Doriana

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I do fear the real cost of the pandemic will take a long time to reveal itself and it will mostly be an emotional one.

I haven't seen my own parents both of whom are in their 80s since November despite the fact that they only live about 100 miles away. That's been tougher than i imagined especially as my mother has had a major surgery this morning and will be in Intensive Care for a week or so (all early indications were that it was a success thank goodness).

The great learning from this for me is that i took far too much of my life for granted and i certainly won't be doing that again. I hope the world joins me in that but i have my doubts.

My very best to you and thanks again for sharing.

by **Earnest** » Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:07 pm

I really agree with WiZ though, compared to most of you, I joined the group later on.
Thank you Doriana for sharing. My first message might have sounded a bit detached but I did not mean to of course xD

by **trebor** » Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:46 pm

Thanks for sharing, Doriana. The pandemic has been...yeah. I've been able to cobble some work together and for a while there had good reason to get out of bed most days, but other days are just a sack of bricks. I've got my fiancee with me, but I'm even quick to judgement with her now, and it can be difficult to slog through the days. (Plus, pretty sure I'm undiagnosed ADHD, so going from an existence that, admittedly, was untenable but very full with short contracts, travel, new flashy things, etc., to a stable relationship, being in one place, not having my career anymore, and actually being forced to confront boredom has been extremely difficult on my mental health some days.)

All this to say, thanks for making me feel a little less alone. Sorry you've been dealing with all these issues. Brave of you to write and photograph it, and congrats on getting help. That is something I'm still working on.

by **Doriana** » Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:52 am

Thank you all for your kind words. So many people reached out to me after reading the essay because they are going / went through similar situations. There's still some sort of stigma attached to mental health issues, but I think more and more people are being open about their struggles and the nature of the conversation around mental health is changing for the better.

On a less serious note:

WiZ wrote: but I've yet to meet anyone from Germany whose English was worse than mine

Back when I worked in outdoor education, I had a supervisor whose English wasn't quite "the yellow of the egg", as the German idiom goes. He was showing some international visitors around and wanted to tell them that "the bees lay their eggs", but what he actually said was "the beans lay their eyes" :lol:

by **trebor** » Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:08 pm

When I was in Germany (and didn't know much German, which is still the case), I found it was incredible that most young Germans spoke better English than most monolingual English speakers, and often beautifully. The language education system in schools there must be superb. Are students given a choice between many languages to learn?

by **Doriana** » Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:19 pm

Most students take six or more years of English, and many kids learn at least a second foreign language. The second foreign language is usually Latin, French or Spanish, although some schools also offer less common languages such as Russian, Dutch, Italian or Ancient Greek. I learnt Latin, English, French and Spanish at school (in that order - yes, my first foreign language was one that nobody speaks, but it's what inspired my passion for linguistics).

by **WiZ** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:41 am

If peas and potatoes can have eyes, I don't see why beans can't. They have kidneys, after all.

I ran a puzzle half a decade ago about an encounter with a tour guide in Slovakia, which I set in the first person. In truth, the first tourist to repeat the phrase correctly was from a group of Germans who was able to repeat the phrase with native fluency without skipping a beat. I am convinced that Germans have innate linguistic superpowers.

by **JenBurdoo** » Sat May 08, 2021 3:01 pm

<sigh> I'm not very good at running puzzles. Spoiling my three dead ones and going back to solving for a while.

by **WiZ** » Mon May 10, 2021 11:13 pm

A shame, as those were three strong examples of applied lateral thinking.

It's interesting - that sort of puzzle basically requires the solver to apply the same creative cleverness as these historical figures did. A bigger ask than simply looking at a statement and filling in the gaps. I think the small numbers and slow pace of this forum works against this, unfortunately.

by **irishelk** » Sun May 16, 2021 12:18 pm

Jen, I always like your puzzles a lot but seem to have the toughest time thinking up questions for them. Not a weakness to my view, but I know it gets very dull to have a puzzle sitting idle, and I usually just $poil them too.

When I jot down puzzles for the future, I really need to write down what the answers are also. A couple months ago I remember proudly writing a very clever one: "When did a whale fight a king?"

Anyone have any clue? :lol:

by **JenBurdoo** » Sun May 16, 2021 5:49 pm

Haha! Something to do with the country of Wales? A Viking chieftain in the North Atlantic? Some encounter of one of the Dukes of York during their naval service?

I can think of a rabbit fighting a president... and winning.

I often feel like I've answered questions incorrectly or misleadingly. At least the tangents puzzlers go off on make me think so.

by **WiZ** » Sun May 16, 2021 9:03 pm

Was he trying to exonerate William Wallace after Edward I threw him in the tower for treason? And he beat a path down the Thames to Traitor's Gate chanting 'Free Willy! Free Willy!'?

by **LemonCurry** » Mon May 17, 2021 8:00 am

Was this a game of Chu Shogi? This is a variant of Shogi which is no longer popular, and had the Whale as a piece, and of course a King.

by **irishelk** » Mon May 17, 2021 11:46 am

Wow, I love all these answers! Lemon, I think it might have been something similar, a game or other cultural thing where something was named after a king and something else represented a whale...

Or it might have been a case where part of a whale was used in a subversive way? Like a corset or whale oil? I can't believe how thoroughly it's left my brain lol.

by **WiZ** » Mon May 17, 2021 9:22 pm

Chu Shogi pieces also include blind tigers and drunk elephants. This variant sounds pretty wild ngl

by **trebor** » Sun May 23, 2021 7:56 pm

Jen, I love your puzzles. So please, keep posting! I was enjoying the camel one. Although I think my favourite might have been the one about the slave being blown over enemy lines. I often learn something interesting from yours.

That said, I know what it's like to question your puzzle-setting abilities. Or at least be anxious about them. I've hosted only two puzzles my entire time on the forum, and I think I got too pedantic with them. Gotta try again soon though, to do my part.

Were the whale and king symbols of sports teams?

by **peter365** » Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:12 pm

Hi everyone , I know things are very quiet in Lateral Land at the moment but i thought i'd pop in to say hi and to let you know that i've done a moderator shift and moved stacks of solved puzzles out of the active section. Thanks to everyone for keeping the lights on in our beloved forum. I'm posting the easiest puzzle ever just to get back into the swing of things.

by **irishelk** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:28 pm

Well, I'm glad it's been a bit slow, as I was just coming in to apologize for leaving my puzzles hanging for a while. Moving, applying to jobs, all that "real life" garbage...all outstanding questions answered now.

Hope everyone is doing well.

by **WiZ** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 8:58 pm

Glad all is well, if a little busy. I'm a bit relieved - seeing a chatroom post after a long absence does make me wonder if the hand of COVID has been moving things about.

by **Doriana** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:05 pm

Glad to see you back, irishelk!

In other news, I finally defended my PhD today. Guess you can call me Dr.oriana now :lol:

by **WiZ** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 2:51 am

Congratulations, Doriana! A remarkable achievement. And it's always useful to have a doctor around LTPF, what with all these dead people that keep popping up. And you learned a bit about pulse oximeters on the way.

Earnest, you're next.

by **LemonCurry** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:08 am

Congratulations, Doriana

Must have been not easy to get a PhD thesis together in Covid times.

by **WiZ** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:47 pm

I'm trying to devise some new puzzles, but they're too easy even to post as OAATPs. You'll probably still enjoy them, though:

At two minutes to 12, a woman looks at her watch and gasps. She then hurries to her local medical centre. But she has no appointment to keep. What is going on?

and

A priest is taking a leisurely stroll when he is dismayed to hear an exchange of swearing and blasphemy coming from around a corner. He turns the corner but sees nobody. After a few minutes, he finds the culprits, but says or does nothing to them. Why not?

by **peter365** » Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:12 am

I feel in the second one the culprits are parrots?

by **Doriana** » Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:15 am

In the first one, does the woman discover something on her wrist that requires medical attention?

by **Balin** » Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:22 pm

Sorry I've been lax about forum presence; summer classes and summer employment have been in the way.

And congrats on the PhD, Doriana!

by **Enjay** » Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:15 pm

Is the woman's watch a smartwatch?

by **WiZ** » Sun Jul 25, 2021 11:28 pm

Hmm. Both appear to be marginally more difficult than I had anticipated. I've run them both as OAATP puzzles with even tighter constraints about earlispoiilng, as I don't think puzzles running in the chatroom is something we should encourage.

by **irishelk** » Tue Jul 27, 2021 3:49 pm

Awesome, congratulations Doriana!

I just got the news that I will be teaching for the first time! Starting in my own sixth grade English classroom at the end of August.

by **trebor** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:43 pm

Congrats, Doriana!

I have been trying to check the forum regularly, but sometimes I don't have the mental energy to do anything other than think about the puzzles. Trying my best to formulate on or two as well.

by **Doriana** » Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:31 am

Fun lil something I found on the interwebs: The Divergent Association Task - the goal is to come up with 10 words as different from each other as possible - I thought some of you might enjoy this! On my third try, I scored in the 99% percentile, anyone wanna try and beat that? :lol:

by **Vagary** » Mon Aug 09, 2021 9:49 pm

Thx Doriana, got 92%. That was quite interesting.

by **Jenny** » Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:53 pm

I feel like Latventures deserve some recognition, like an award of some sort. Maybe in a separate category, like 'Latventure of the Month/Year' or something?

by **WiZ** » Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:01 am

I'm all for celebrating a good puzzle, but this particular field wouldn't be too competitive - search results suggest that we've had two Latventures since 2015... although one or two may have slipped through the cracks if they somehow ran their course without anyone using the word 'latventure' at any point.

Right now, we're barely solving a puzzle a month.

On another note, happy birthday to Peterqeu (39), Peterede (39), Peterany (39), Peterjvz (39), Peterqvc (39), Peterbtj (39), Petertmc (39), Peterfof (39), Peterfgk (39), Peteraql (39), Peterezn (39), Petercoj (39), Peterghs (39), Peteromg (39), Petergyf (39), and Petermmg (39)! I can only assume our Dubliner admin has been having some fun with a duplicator à la Calvin and Hobbes.

by **peter365** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:22 am

Yes I'm having fun deleting all of the bot posts. I'm a big Calvin and Hobbes fan by the way.

Oh and while I live in Dublin I am most definitely not a Dubliner