Here is a collection of lateral puzzles, which are stories that can be explainedwith a non-obvious reason. Usually you state the story, then have others ask up to 20 yes or no questions to see if they can figure out the answer.

1. A man pushes his car by a hotel and gets sent to jail.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   He's playing a game of Monopoly
   
   
   
2. A man walks into a restaurant, orders albatross, eats one bite, then kills himself.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   The man was shipwrecked with another man who gave him meat he said was from an Albatross. After being rescued by a passing ship, he went directly to a restaurant to taste Albatross. When it didn't taste anything like what he had eaten on the island, his suspicion was confirmed that he had eaten another person and couldn't stand to live.
   
   
   
3. A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   He's short and can't reach the 12th floor button unless he has his umbrella.
   
   
   
4. A man walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender pulls out a gun and points it at him. The man says, "Thank you," and walks out.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   He had the hiccups. The bartender used the gun to scare the hiccups away.
   
   
   
5. A hunter aimed his gun carefully and fired. Seconds later, he realized his mistake. Minutes later, he was dead.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   It was winter. He fired the gun near a snowy cliff, which started an avalanche. Alternate solution: He shot an elephant with a low caliber rifle. Not powerful enough to kill it, the elephant became enraged and trampled him.
   
   
   
6. A woman has incontrovertible proof in court that her husband was murdered by her sister. The judge declares, "This is the strangest case I've ever seen. Though it's a cut-and-dried case, this woman cannot be punished."
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   The sisters are Siamese twins.
   
   
   
7. A man is lying dead in a room. There is a large pile of gold and jewels on the floor, a chandelier attached to the ceiling, and a large open window.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   The room is the ballroom of an ocean liner which sank some time ago. The man ran out of air while diving to explore the sunken wreck.
   
   
   
8. A man and his wife raced through the streets. They stopped, the husband got out of the car, and when he came back his wife was dead and there was a stranger in the car.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   The wife was about to have a baby and they were driving to the hospital. The husband left to get a wheelchair, but the baby was born while he was gone and the wife didn't survive the birth.
   
   
   
9. A body is discovered in a park in Chicago in the middle of summer. It has a fractured skull and many other broken bones, but the cause of death was hypothermia.
   Show the solution »  Direct link
   A peasant from Europe wanted to go to the United States. Lacking money for airfare, he stowed away in the landing gear compartment of an airliner. He died of hypothermia mid-flight and fell out when the compartment opened as the plane prepared to land.
   
   
   
10. A cabin, locked from the inside, is perched on the side of a mountain. It is forced open, and thirty people are found dead inside. They had plenty of food and water.
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    It was an airplane cabin and the plane crashed into the mountain.
    
    
    
11. There is a bit of water and broken glass on the floor. George and Gracie are dead.
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    George and Gracie are goldfish and their fish tank broke.
    
    
    
12. A man was found dead in a car. The cause of death was a bullet through the head. The doors were locked and the windows were rolled up, yet there were no bullet holes. How was he shot in the head?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    It was a convertible and the top was down.
    
    
    
13. Dave and Bill met at a bar to discuss their plans to overthrow the government. Each man ordered a vodka on the rocks. Bill downed his and ordered another, drinking it in a single gulp. Meanwhile, Dave, who was sipping his drink, suddenly fell forward, dead. Both men were intended to be murdered. Why did Dave die and Bill live?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    There was poison in the ice cubes. The ice cubes melted in Dave's drink so he died, but Bill drank his vodka so quickly that the ice cubes didn't have a chance to melt and release the poison.
    
    
    
14. A man was found dead lying in a field with an unopened package. How did he die?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    He was skydiving and his parachute didn't open.
    
    
    
15. Four men are dead sitting around a card table. One of them was shot. What happened?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    They were all going to die and there was only one bullet in the gun so they played a game of Russian Roulette to see who got to shoot himself to keep from suffering.
    
    
    
16. A man dressed in full scuba gear is found burnt to death in a remote forest. What happened?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    He was scooped up by a helicopter getting water to dump onto a forest fire.
    
    
    
17. There are two rocks and a carrot in a field. How did they get there and why are they there?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    A snowman melted.
    
    
    
18. A woman is murdered in front of hundreds of people, but they all think it's an accident.
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    The woman is a blind trapeze artist who uses the music to time her act. The organist changes the tempo of the music, causing the woman to fall to her death.
    
    
    
19. A dead man is found naked in the middle of the desert with a straw nearby. How did he die?
    Show the solution »  Direct link
    He and a friend were in a hot air balloon when the balloon started losing altitude. After removing all the other weight, they decided to pull straws and the one who got the shortest straw would jump. The dead man pulled it.