5 Lateral Thinking Puzzles (With Hidden Answers & Step-by-Step Solutions) – Set 2

Hidden Answer He’s too short to reach the 10th-floor button—except on rainy days, when he uses his umbrella to press it.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Morning rides down require only one button (lobby), which he can reach.
2. Evenings: he can’t reach the 10th-floor button, so he presses the 7th (highest he can reach) and walks the rest.
3. On rainy days he carries an umbrella, letting him reach the 10th-floor button.
4. The behavior depends on reach, not preference or exercise.
   

Hidden Answer It was a lighthouse light. Turning it off removed the sailors’ navigation reference, and ships strayed onto the rocks.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. In fog, ships rely heavily on fixed visual markers like lighthouses.
2. “Turning off a light” suggests a single critical beacon, not city power.
3. With the lighthouse dark, captains misjudged their positions.
4. The result: ships ran aground despite no other failures.
5. The puzzle hinges on the special role of a lighthouse.
   

Hidden Answer His horse’s name is “Friday.”

Step-by-Step Solution

1. The riddle encourages you to count calendar days.
2. But the word Friday can be a proper noun, not a weekday.
3. He rides in on his horse Friday, stays three days, and rides out on the same horse.
4. No date trick—just a name misdirection.
   

Hidden Answer The surgeon is the boy’s mother.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Many people unconsciously assume “surgeon” = male—that bias is the trap.
2. If the father died, another parent who can say “my son” is the mother.
3. No adoption or step-parent twist is required (though those could also fit).
4. The solution challenges assumptions about roles.
   

Hidden Answer Let some air out of the tyres to lower the truck, drive out, then reinflate.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. The obstacle is clearance height, not length or width.
2. Lowering the vehicle’s ride height solves the clearance problem.
3. The quickest field method: deflate tyres slightly, then reinflate after clearing the bridge.
4. It’s lateral because it changes the vehicle, not the bridge or road.