| Author | Message | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Three men are seated at a table. A fourth man comes to the table with four cups of coffee. He evenly distributes the cups among them, then walks away with his cup accompanied by one of the men from the table. After the two men walk away, one of the men seated at the table mutters to the other one "Man, I can't stand coffee." "Me either," says the other man. They continue to sit at the table for a while, but do not speak to each other again or drink any coffee...what's going on? | ||
| Vesica (Vesica)
|
Do all four men know each other? As friends? Relatives? Co-workers? Peers in a profession? Business partners? All human? Is anyone besides the 4 men relevant? Would this work with some other drink, say tea or whiskey? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Do all four men know each other? No As friends/Relatives/Co-workers/Peers in a profession/Business partners? No to all All human? Yes Is anyone besides the 4 men relevant? No Would this work with some other drink, say tea or whiskey? Yes, conceivably, but I'd say there's a good reason that whiskey would not work | ||
| Johanna (Buzzard)
|
Does the reason why coffee works and whiskey does not have to do with: caffeine? alcohol? temperature? serving size? method of preparation? popularity? Is this table in a coffee shop? a restaurant? somewhere else where one might normally be drinking coffee? Is the profession of any of the men relevant? Would this work with four women? with a mixed male/female group? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Does the reason why coffee works and whiskey does not have to do with: caffeine? No alcohol? Yes temperature? No serving size? No method of preparation? No popularity? Well...perhaps Is this table in a coffee shop? a restaurant? Neither of these somewhere else where one might normally be drinking coffee? No, you probably wouldn't see much of it going on Is the profession of any of the men relevant? No Would this work with four women? with a mixed male/female group? Yes, it could work as well with either of these | ||
| Lisa (Dlcygnet)
|
Are these guys on duty? Is this during the work day? Are they on their lunch break? In a lunch room? At a conference? Are free samples involved? Incompetant waiter/waitresses? Any idiots involved in the making of this riddle? | ||
| Jennifer (Tigger32382)
|
is there a logical reason why the first guy brings coffee to all of them? does he know they don't like coffee? | ||
| Vae (Vaetrus)
|
Is it important why the two man walked away? They did it together? Are they colleagues? It wouldn't work with whiskey because everyone loves alcohol? | ||
| Vesica (Vesica)
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Anything to do with: Coffee's freezing point? The reflectivity of black coffee? Is there something gross in the coffee? Did any of them WANT coffee in the first place? Were they ever intending to drink coffee? | ||
| Benjamin Moore (Zenith)
|
do ANY of the four men know any of the other men? Does any one else (relevant) know: All four men? The three sitting at the table? The two that left together? The two that remained? is the type of coffee relevant? how it's made? how it's served? Is their environment relevant? Are they: Inside / Outside urban / suburban / regional / rural environment? in someones house? one of the men's? in a vehicle? -> train? bus? plane? airship? ship? hovercraft? spaceship? submarine? any other sort of transport that is large enough to walk around in and sit at a table? At a campsite / caravanpark / lake/river / natural preserve? At a park having a picnic? On a roof? Other? | ||
| Benjamin Moore (Zenith)
|
Does any one else (relevant) know: etc means: Is there some social connection between these men? Could someone else know all 4/3/2/2 men for the same reasons? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Are these guys on duty? Rephrase Is this during the work day? Yes Are they on their lunch break? No In a lunch room? At a conference? Neither Are free samples involved? No Incompetant waiter/waitresses? No Any idiots involved in the making of this riddle? No, it just took one idiot to think it up and post it  is there a logical reason why the first guy brings coffee to all of them? Yes does he know they don't like coffee? No Is it important why the two man walked away? It's relevant They did it together? Yes Are they colleagues? No It wouldn't work with whiskey because everyone loves alcohol? No, not due to this Anything to do with: Coffee's freezing point? No The reflectivity of black coffee? No Is there something gross in the coffee? No (unless you consider caffeine gross, but that's your problem ;) ) Did any of them WANT coffee in the first place? No Were they ever intending to drink coffee? No - good q do ANY of the four men know any of the other men? No Does any one else (relevant) know: All four men? The three sitting at the table? The two that left together? The two that remained? Likely no to all is the type of coffee relevant? No how it's made? No how it's served? One aspect of it, yes Is their environment relevant? Yes Are they: Inside / Outside Inside urban / suburban / regional / rural environment? Could be any, likely urban in someones house? No one of the men's? No in a vehicle? No-> train? bus? plane? airship? ship? hovercraft? spaceship? submarine? any other sort of transport that is large enough to walk around in and sit at a table? So no to these At a campsite / caravanpark / lake/river / natural preserve? and none of these... At a park having a picnic? not this either... On a roof? Other? Yes, 'other' is the word for it | ||
| Vesica (Vesica)
|
Are they: At a cafe? Restaurant? Coffee shop? Bookstore? Public space? Privately owned space? Do they want some part of getting coffee? The cups? The saucers? Sugar? Cream? Is the person who brought them coffee working at the place? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Are they: At a cafe/Restaurant/Coffee shop/Bookstore? None of these Public space? Yes Privately owned space? No Do they want some part of getting coffee? No-ish, but explore this The cups? Same as above The saucers? Sugar? Cream? These 3 are irrelevant Is the person who brought them coffee working at the place? Yes | ||
| Lewis Zeiters (Lzeiters)
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Is the coffee-bringer's motive for bringing the coffee simply due to his working there, or is there more to it? (ulterior motive, undercover, etc.) OR: is the coffee (or any of the related items) intended for some other purpose besides as a beverage? Do the two men that walk away do so to perform a specific task? if so, is that task relevant? | ||
| Vesica (Vesica)
|
More public spaces: A bar? A hotel lobby? A sporting event? A lounge? A club of some sort? A business office? Are the other three men customers of some sort? Is there any sort of rule about having to purchase something to...X (Where X is use the restroom, sit at the tables, something of that sort)? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Is the coffee-bringer's motive for bringing the coffee simply due to his working there no... , or is there more to it? (ulterior motive, undercover, etc.) Yes, there's more to it OR: is the coffee (or any of the related items) intended for some other purpose besides as a beverage? Yes Do the two men that walk away do so to perform a specific task? Yes if so, is that task relevant? Yes More public spaces: A bar? A hotel lobby? A sporting event? A lounge? A club of some sort? None of these A business office? This is closest Are the other three men customers of some sort? Well, you wouldn't refer to them as 'customers' although you have somewhat of the right idea Is there any sort of rule about having to purchase something to...X (Where X is use the restroom, sit at the tables, something of that sort)? Ah, good thought, but not the case here. There's a small FA in this question that may help the progress of the puzzle if it is cleared up... | ||
| Jennifer (Tigger32382)
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had any of the men actually purchased the coffee? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
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had any of the men actually purchased the coffee? No, good q | ||
| Vae (Vaetrus)
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Are they going to pay? Do they have a purpose for the cups? For the liquid? If the coffee better than alcohol because of its chemical composition? Does the temperature of the coffee matter? Are the two leaving (Let's call them Jake and Shawn?), leaving the building? Going to another part of the building? To another room? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Are they going to pay? No Do they have a purpose for the cups? Yes-ish (there is a purpose for them) For the liquid? There is a purpose for this also Is the coffee better than alcohol because of its chemical composition? I suppose it could be said that this is the case. It's hard to say that coffee is 'better' than alcohol because of this - some careful exploration will eventually reveal why this is the case Does the temperature of the coffee matter? No Are the two leaving (Let's call them Jake and Shawn?), leaving the building? Yes - good qGoing to another part of the building? To another room? Neither of these | ||
| Jennifer (Tigger32382)
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is it very cold where they are? |
